Final Fantasy VII: Another Side
by Mystwalker
Summary: What if Genesis had caused the Nibelheim Incident instead of Sephiroth? What could have changed? Zerith, Cloti, Sephissnei, hints of Yuffentine and Tselena later in the story. Complete, sequel coming soon.
1. File 001: SOLDIER Honor pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By: **

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **I was playing through Crisis Core again when I got this idea. CC was a fantastic game, but the story was pretty much one huge train wreck where everything gets worse. When I was complaining about this to my friend, he told me "why don't you just write a fanfic where it turns out differently?" So, here you go!

Those of you that are here because I told you to look out for an FF story on my **Golden Sun **fanfiction **A Different Kind of Storm**, this is not it. That one should be up eventually. But enjoy this one anyway.

X

**File 001: SOLDIER Honor**

"_Whether your words are lies created to deceive me or the truth I have searched for all my life, you will __**rot**_."

_The smell of smoke made him drop the file he was holding. The folder hit the ground, papers scattering across the basement floor. He spared them a cursory glance. The folder he had been holding was the last file he intended to read. The last—and most important file. The one that would explain everything. In the dim light of Shinra Mansion's basement, he could make out some of the words—Sephiroth. Jenova. Project S. Cetra. _

_He looked away and placed a hand over his face, feeling a shudder run through him. After reading for days on end, the words swam in front of his eyes, blending into one another and making it difficult to focus. But he had to continue reading. He had to know. He could piece together the contents of the file on the ground based on what he already knew. It wasn't too difficult to extrapolate based on existing evidence, but reading the file would give him the answers he wanted. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. _

_The smell of smoke intensified, muffled sounds reaching him from where he stood in the basement. They were sounds he knew well. They had become as familiar to him as air during the course of his life. Voices talking over one another in varying degrees of panic and urgency. Screams. The sound of frantic footsteps. He glanced towards the corner of the room where Masamune waited, propped up against the wall. The sword's hilt glinted in the unsteady light, both a request and a reminder. He looked back at the scattered papers on the floor. He had to know…_

_The screams seemed to him to become louder, the heat more real. In the darkness, he thought he heard the swish of a leather coat, the rustle of black feathers. Angeal's face flashed into his mind for a moment, a single white wing extended. His friend was glaring at him, an unspoken command in his eyes. It was all an illusion, he knew. A trick of his tired mind. His sanity was…fragile at the moment, for lack of a better word. But illusion or not, Angeal's eyes burned into him. His eyes widened and he took a step back from papers on the floor. _

_The shadow figure of Angeal seemed to step forward, planting his feet firmly over the file. _

_He turned on his heel quickly, his hand closing around Masamune's hilt. The feeling of the sword in his gloved hand woke him up slightly, giving him some sense of place. He turned his head, but the room was empty. The hallucination—Angeal was gone. _

_He took a deep breath and ran out the door. _

X

He awoke to darkness.

Sephiroth sat up in bed, his eyes already adjusted to the gloom. He looked around the small room, his left hand already closed around Masamune's hilt. The room was dark, the only lights in the room coming from underneath the heavy curtain that passed for a door and from a digital clock beside his bed. The clock was the only thing that told him it was already eight in the morning. The room had no windows, and no light came in from the outside.

He placed his free hand over his face, taking a deep breath. He hadn't expected to stay asleep for so long. He lowered his hand, throwing the blanket off himself and sliding out of bed. He put down the sword just long enough to pull on his boots, then stood up, walking over to the curtain. He braced himself for the sudden burst of light and pulled the curtain away, stepping through it and into the main room.

The fluorescent lights that lined the ceiling made it look almost like it was daytime. It was empty. It was also cold. Sephiroth was used to dealing with harsh environments, so he ignored the cold for now, focusing on his task. He walked around the larger room, his boots making soft sounds against the metal floor. Like he usually did every morning, he checked the locks on the door, making sure they were all engaged. He checked the security system, making sure that no wires had been cut and no alarms had been tripped. Satisfied that everything was functional, he looked around again, making sure for the second time that he was alone. His eyes drifted over the magnet that was stuck to the fridge. It had been moved from its usual place in the upper right corner to the middle of the door, signifying that his sole companion had left their hideout out of her own volition. He walked over to the second curtain that hid the former storage room she called her own room, pulling it apart slightly to look inside. No monsters lurked in the darkness. No SOLDIER or Turk hid in the corner.

He let the curtain fall again and only then did he put down Masamune, propping the blade up against the table. He turned the dial on the thermostat, turning up the heat slightly. Normally, he wouldn't risk such a luxury, but winter was coming, and this high up in the mountains, it was warranted. He pulled out an old white mug from the supplies cabinet and filled it with the coffee that was still in the machine.

Sephiroth sat down in the chair facing the door and took a sip, feeling the warmth run through his body. He looked up at the corkboard that had been pinned up on the wall across from him, scanning the various pieces of information and pictures on them. There was nothing new. There hardly ever was these days. His eyes drifted over to the first two pictures, a pair of Polaroids that showed two figures being pulled out of the wreckage of the Nibelheim reactor, supervised by a man in a white lab coat.

His fingers curled tightly around his mug as the memories came back to him in full force, accompanied by the wealth of information he had uncovered in the mansion. Hatred coiled inside of him like a venomous serpent, and it was all he could do to not lash out and destroy the photos.

Hojo.

The urge to destroy—to kill—blossomed inside him and he clutched his head with his free hand, resting his elbow on the table and propping it up. It pounded inside him as it had intermittently ever since the incident at the reactor and he took a deep shuddering breath. He would _not _let it win.

"Sephiroth…"

The sound of her voice brought him back to his senses. He opened his eyes, not turning around to look at her. "Have you thought about it?" he asked.

"There isn't a price you can place on freedom."

That pass-phrase, like the magnet, was another precaution. He relaxed slowly, satisfied that it was her. He turned around. She was dressed casually, a thick winter coat draped over her shoulders. Flakes of snow coated her dark coat and her wavy brown hair. There were dark circles under her eyes. He wondered for a moment if she had been out all night. Wordlessly, he stood up, picking up a second mug and filling it with coffee as well as she hung up her coat, sitting down at the table. He set the mug down and she nodded, taking a sip.

"Did you find out anything new?" he asked.

"Shinra has promoted two more 2nd class SOLDIERs," she said. She took a long sip. "I didn't recognize the names."

"Two more?" asked Sephiroth.

"The qualifications for 1st Class have gone down since the incident," she said. "…Apparently they're going for quantity over quality."

He nodded. It was a trend they had been monitoring over the past few years, and it came as no surprise. He took a sip of coffee, glancing at her as he waited for her to continue.

"The Turks, as far as I could tell, are still investigating AVALANCHE. There's rumors that a second group going by the same name has been making an appearance."

He nodded again. It was interesting news, but not the sort that he was waiting for. She knew it as well, because she looked up at him over her cup of coffee. "…You were right about Nibelheim," she said. "There's talk about Shinra scientists being spotted in the area. I could go…"

He shook his head. "Too risky," he said. "If Shinra is controlling the town, you'd be spotted easily."

"I have a better chance of slipping through than you do," she said. It was true, and the reason why she was the one going out in search of information. He was too recognizable, whereas she was still capable of slipping through the cracks. Even so, there was a difference between visiting remote towns and digging up news and walking right into Shinra's clutches. He looked up at her. It was easy to forget what she was capable of, looking at her, and it was easy to forget what she was trained to do. Even in her old uniform, she didn't exactly make an intimidating figure. He could easily beat her in a fight.

But unlike him, Cissnei wasn't just trained to fight.

He stood up, picking up Masamune in his left hand.

"Monitor the situation," he said. "Focus on Nibelheim. If you find anything definite, we'll talk."

She nodded, turning her head to watch him as he headed for the door.


	2. File 001: SOLDIER Honor pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **I'll be updating this story alternately with my **Golden Sun **fic (that I put on hiatus for Christmas but that's coming back online as soon as I finish this up). Hope you guys enjoy this, and feel free to check out **A Different Kind of Storm **if you don't mind hopping to another fandom. For FF:VII stories, I have **Sins of the Father, **which is on hiatus until further notice. I still have ideas to continue it…just not much interest.

**Blooming Delirium – **Thanks! Glad you like it! Hope you enjoy this one!

X

**File 001: SOLDIER Honor**

"_Those wings…I want them too." _

Angeal was dead. He knew that. He had killed him himself.

But he was also _**here**_**. **

It felt like a lifetime ago, but the memories returned to him piece by piece as his eyes snapped open, the world around him a green mako-laced haze. He didn't know how long it had been since the last time he opened his eyes. Time flowed differently for him. It messed with his head, turning the past few…hours? days? years? into a confusing jumble of voices and images. But one thing was clear.

His eyes widened as he saw his mentor standing in the center of the lab, facing him. There was a stern look on his face, a command in his eyes. He could almost hear Angeal's _voice_. Dreams, honor, pride…all things that he had almost forgotten, and all things that returned to him at that moment.

He would not give up. Not here.

Zack placed his hands on the clear glass in front of him. He took a deep breath, their faces flashing through his mind in quick succession.

Angeal, Sephiroth, Tseng, Cissnei, Aerith, Cloud…

He let out a shout and struck hard, the glass shattering beneath his hands.

X

Sephiroth's eyes snapped open, Masamune lashing out like a whip as it sank into the monster's flesh, sending a trail of red blood onto the snow. The sword continued its arc, blood spraying behind it as he finished the movement, bringing the sword back to rest with another crisp movement. He looked up, scanning the mountainside. The sun's light reflected off the snow, creating a white glare. His enhanced vision allowed him to see through the light just as it allowed him to see better in the dark, and he spent his time now quickly scanning the mountain for any disturbances. He frowned. Had it simply been a trick of the light?

He couldn't shake the growing feeling that something wasn't right. It had been two days since he dreamed of Nibelheim and the hallucination he had had of Angeal in the basement, something he hadn't done in the past few months. Now…

He could have sworn he saw white feathers falling down from above, catching sunlight.

Sephiroth shook his head, attaching Masamune to the magnetic sheath at his back. He was simply over thinking things. Angeal and Genesis had been on his mind since the dream he had had two nights ago. Of course some of the things he saw would remind him of them. He looked away, turning back to the snow-covered landscape that was, at the moment, refreshingly free of monsters. He looked back down at his gloved hand, clenching it into a fist slowly.

Angeal…

X

_The flutter of wings alerted Sephiroth to his friend's presence. He looked up from the file he was reviewing in the data room, turning to face Angeal. The SOLDIER 1st Class—ex-SOLDIER, Sephiroth reminded himself—closed the door behind him, folding his white wing against his back and crossing his arms as he leaned against the door. Sephiroth frowned. _

"_You shouldn't be in here," he said. As far as Shinra was concerned, Angeal was more trouble than he was worth. Even after assisting them with the attack by Genesis…_

"_Are you going to report me, Sephiroth?" asked Angeal, his mouth turning up in a brief smile. It didn't reach his eyes. Sephiroth met his eyes coolly for a moment before turning back to the file. In one smooth motion, he buried the data on Project G beneath a mound of other papers. Angeal's eyes followed the movement, but he didn't say anything, although his frown deepened. _

"_Why are you here?" asked Sephiroth. _

"_Genesis has been sighted in Modeoheim." _

_Sephiroth's eyes widened briefly at that, and he quickly looked away, his eyes narrowing in anger. Genesis. A name he didn't want to hear. He had always known that Genesis could be petty, but after that assault on the Shinra Building… _

"_So?" he asked, his words coming out more clipped and angry than he intended. "It's none of my concern."_

_Angeal sighed heavily, looking for all the world like a long-suffering parent having to deal with squabbling siblings. Not that Sephiroth had any first-hand experience with that. "…How long are you two planning on keeping it up this time?" he asked. _

_That made Sephiroth look up. "This isn't like the other times," he said. He refrained from mentioning that the other times Genesis's green-eyed monster had reared its ugly head, he hadn't led a force of deserters imbued with his DNA on the company building to kill the head of the Science Department. _

"_No, Sephiroth, it's not," said Angeal. "That's why I'm here." _

_Sephiroth didn't say anything, waiting for Angeal to speak. His friend paused, looking down at the ground as if to collect his thoughts. _

"_The company will be sending Zack to Modeoheim." _

_He nodded at the words. It was something Sephiroth had been expecting. Zack Fair was technically the company's only other operational 1st Class, and he would not be emotionally compromised while chasing down Genesis—although there was a part of him that almost dared the company to send him after his former friend to show them just how "emotionally compromised" he was at the moment. _

_There was something else in Angeal's expression though, something he left unsaid. It was a look that Sephiroth understood. He had seen it in the faces of Wutain soldiers he had killed. It was the look of a man who was resigned to his fate, prepared to die for the things he believed in. He did not like seeing that look on Angeal. _

"…_You'll be following them." It wasn't a question. Angeal didn't bother denying it. He sighed again, lowering his head. _

"_I want you to promise me something," said Angeal. _

So, it's true, _thought Sephiroth. _He's preparing to die.

_The part of him that was still thinking rationally reasoned that he needed to stop his friend. He needed to force Angeal to remain in Midgar, even lock him up for his own protection. But even as he considered that, Angeal looked up at him. It wouldn't work, he knew. Shinra would have him executed eventually, and if he fled, he would spend the rest of his life in hiding. There was a silent plea in his friend's expression, almost a request to be allowed to die with honor. He swallowed, working past the sudden inexplicable knot in his throat as he nodded. _

"_What is it?" he asked. _

"_I'm leaving Zack to you." said Angeal. "…Keep an eye out for him." _

"_I will," said Sephiroth, nodding. _

"_And also…" said Angeal. "…Hold on to your SOLDIER honor." _

_He paused for a moment, looking up at Angeal's eyes. _

"…_I will," he said. "I promise." _

X

_Nibelheim burned. _

_The flames roared all around him, consuming everything they could touch. People screamed, the smell of burning wood and burning flesh filling the air. Frantic voices blended into one another. He couldn't distinguish one from another, not in his current state of mind. Even here, standing in the middle of a burning village, his mind was still filled with the reports he read, snatches of text reading themselves to him at random intervals. _

_Hojo, Gast, Jenova, Genesis, Hollander…their voices overlapped, building up into a tide that was almost too much to resist. It would be so easy to just break, to let himself slip away. He felt oddly disconnected at that moment, like he wasn't the one inhabiting his own body. He tightened his hold on Masamune, the sword anchoring him to reality. The sights, sounds, smells, and voices rushed over him in full force like a wave and he clung to the destruction, to the death around him. _

"_Genesis!" he called towards the flames. "You've gone too far this time." _

"_Oh, no, Sephiroth," came the answer, taunting him. "You haven't yet seen how far I can go…" _

_He looked up, seeing a figure in red leather flying over the burning town, a single black wing extended over his left shoulder. He looked down at him at the same time as he looked up, a smirk on his face and malice in his eyes. He flew lower, heading towards the reactor. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. _

"_Sephiroth!" _

_He turned his head briefly to see Zack standing in front of him, a curtain of fire between the two of them. The SOLDIER's expression was stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sephiroth realized with a disconnected sense of amusement that he must look quite a sight at this moment. Pale, barely sane, and holding onto a naked blade in the middle of a burning town. He felt his mouth turning up in a smirk despite himself and he quickly dispelled the amusement, clutching tightly at the remnants of his sanity. _

"_I'm coming to get you," he said to Zack, turning around and walking briskly into the flames. He needed to get to the reactor before Genesis could do any more damage. That was his mission at the moment, and if he held onto that, he could stay sane. _

_He meant, of course, that as soon as he finished with Genesis, he would come back to retrieve Zack and the remaining Shinra infantrymen and that they should hold out until his return. However, as he heard Zack shout a curse and run after him, he realized that _"I'm coming to get you_,_"_ wasn't the best thing to say to reassure his colleague that he wasn't a homicidal maniac. _

_But he couldn't turn around. The flames crackled behind him as he ran up the steps, heading towards the reactor. _

X

"Sephiroth!"

Cissnei caught him just as he entered the compound, nearly at the entrance to their underground hideout. He frowned at her, her voice shaking him out of his thoughts. She was dressed for work, he realized, in dark clothes that wouldn't obstruct her movements. It wasn't the black suit that she used to wear for a uniform, but it was close enough. Rekka, her red and white four-pointed shuriken, was slung over her back, and her expression contained barely restrained urgency.

"I'm glad I found you," she said. "There isn't much time."

"What happened?" he asked, already walking towards the old machinery shed. Four years had taught him quite a lot about Cissnei. She wouldn't be acting like this if it wasn't urgent. She fell in step beside him, although she had to jog to keep up.

"My source just contacted me," she said. "There's been a sudden spike of activity in Nibelheim. Shinra troops have been swarming all over the town, and the residents have been evacuated."

"Sudden?" He was at the door now, working on the lock. He had it open within moments, letting it fall into the snow as he pulled the doors open.

"Last night," she replied.

The vehicle they had come here in was parked in the corner, fresh snow still on its tires from Cissnei's last information run. She shot towards it, heading for the driver's seat. He raised an eyebrow at her and she gave him an apologetic smile. She did not, however, offer to let him drive. He opened the door to the passenger seat quickly and got in as she started the car.

"Did your source happen to say what caused it?" he asked as they drove out of the abandoned facility.

"Apparently?" she said. "Two of Hojo's subjects escaped. They were being kept in the Mansion."

His eyes widened briefly, his mind quickly working through the implications of that. The Polaroids still pinned to the corkboard flashed into his mind quickly, one after another. Two figures, one black-haired and one blond, being pulled out of the reactor…

"We are _not_driving there," he said.

"I thought you might say that," said Cissnei with a smile, stopping the car. She unbuckled her seatbelt, getting out. Sephiroth followed her. Ahead of them loomed the chopper, like a single black spot in the snow. He frowned, looking from it to her. The chopper that Zack and Tseng had crashed in during their visit to Modeoheim had been a project for her over the last few years. He had helped her with it on many occasions—his training had included a brief overview of mechanics—but privately he thought it was a waste of time.

"Is it flight ready?" he asked, turning towards her skeptically.

"We'll find out," was the grim reply as she moved towards it, opening the metal door.

X

**A/N: **The "I'm coming to get you" line is canon. My sister demanded I explain it in my fanfiction, so…here you go. Blame it on Seph's crumbling sanity and a poor choice of words.


	3. File 001: SOLDIER Honor pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **This is the last part of File 001. The story will follow the main game up to a certain point, and then it's going to break away. It'll have some changes, obviously, but only a handful of drastic changes to the plot for a while. The final scene was written to **The Price of Freedom** playing in the background, if you want to play that and read the scene at the same time. Enjoy!

**Ninja-Yuffie92 – **Thanks! Glad you liked it and found it interesting! Hope you like this chapter!

**LittleMissMuddle – **I'm glad you like the concept! Thanks for your review! About Jenova, she's going to figure into the plot a lot in later chapters, but you're right about her effect on Sephiroth. A constant headache and white noise. Maybe she'll become a little harder to fight after a certain event that's going to happen later on, but that option's pretty much closed to her. Fortunately for her, though, she has _other _choices.

**Blooming Delirium – **You'll get the last bits of the Nibelheim Incident in this chapter and in the next File. Cissnei's role in what happened will also be explained a bit. As for there being any other Turks in on this, at the moment, it's just her and maybe some NPCs. I'm glad you like what I did with Nibelheim, and thanks for your support with this story!

X

**File 001: SOLDIER Honor**

"_I have 23 tiny little wishes, but you probably won't remember them all, so I'll combine them into one. I'd like to spend more time with you…" _

Aerith…

Zack stared at the letter in his hands, his fingers curling protectively around it. He lowered his head, feeling a knot form in his throat as he remembered her, his memories suddenly becoming so vivid he thought he could almost touch her. Her voice, her eyes, the smell of flowers that hung around her…

How long had it been? Was she still waiting for him?

His next thought as he put the letter back into his pocket was that Tseng better have kept his promise to keep her safe.

"Cloud…I have to go to Midgar," he said, turning towards his friend. Cloud, of course, didn't say anything. He continued to stare ahead, dressed in the SOLDIER 1st Class uniform that Zack had found for him. Zack smiled, leaning forward.

"You wanna come?" he asked, grinning.

X

The chopper—predictably—crashed. Thankfully, Cissnei was enough of a Turk to keep the damage and the noise to a minimum. He set her down on the ground beside the wreckage, pulling his black wing back against itself. It disappeared in a rain of feathers, going wherever it went when he had no need of it. Cissnei placed a hand on her head and shook it, before getting to her feet.

"Thanks," she said.

He nodded in reply, sweeping aside the black feathers on the ground with his boot as he turned to face the wreckage. He didn't need the reminder that he was less than human, even if they would be in a worse condition without it. She turned as well, hugging her arms.

"Not…what I expected," she said.

"Still better than it could have been," he said.

"Mm, I suppose," said Cissnei. "It carried us far enough, at least."

He nodded. They were in the Nibel Plains, which, while not quite Nibelheim, were close enough. Zack would have at least been able to escape this far, unless the experiments had impaired him that much. As far as they knew, no SOLDIERs had been dispatched to deal with the situation.

Cissnei moved forward, towards the wrecked helicopter. The door had been pulled off most of its supports. She pulled it aside with a grunt of effort, pushing it to the ground with a clang before reaching inside and pulling something out from underneath one of the seats. He observed from a distance as she turned it over, inspecting the inside. It was a Shinra army helmet, still relatively intact. She swept aside her hair and placed it on her head, pressing the buttons that he knew would activate the features that allowed the user to zoom in on distant objects. She looked around. After a few moments, Cissnei pulled it off, tucking it under her arm.

"It still works," she said, answering his unvoiced question. "I'll scout ahead. Try to stay out of sight."

Sephiroth nodded again. Although he knew that he could easily handle any number of Shinra grunts that came after them, it would be inconvenient to have to deal with them and look for Zack at the same time. He waited in the shadow of the wreckage, leaning against the metal as he waited for her to come back. Sephiroth looked out at the plains, his eyes focusing on the black feathers that littered the ground around the wreckage.

Nibelheim. He knew it was inevitable, but he didn't think he'd be back here like this.

"_Genesis!" _

_He didn't shout so much as project his voice, pitching it to carry the same way he would have if he were giving orders on a battlefield. It bounced off the metal walls of the Nibelheim reactor, though, making it seem louder than it actually was. Genesis stood at the top of the steps in front of the now-open door, turning towards him with a smirk on his face. He held the Rapier in his right hand, the runes on the blade glowing brightly. The degradation had turned his hair a mix of auburn and white, gray spreading down his shoulders and over his clothes. On the landing in between the two flights of stairs lay their guide up the mountain, curled up on one side, her fists clenched. _

"_Sephiroth, how nice of you to join me," he said. "Have you reconsidered my request?" _

Go to hell.

_The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say anything, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Genesis glared at him. _

"_No?" he asked. "Too bad." _

_He turned around heading into the chamber. His words bounced off the walls as he held up the dumbapple in his left hand. "My soul, corrupted by vengeance / Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey / In my own salvation / And your eternal slumber…" _

_He grit his teeth, tightening his hold on Masamune as he ran up the steps, following Genesis into the chamber. _

He opened his eyes to the sound of soft footsteps on the grass. Cissnei walked towards him, the Shinra helmet resting on her head. She frowned, pulling the helmet off and setting it down on the ground before sitting beside him.

"He's alive," she said. "The second experiment's with him. He seems to be suffering from severe mako poisoning. I couldn't get close enough to know for sure. Zack mistook me for a Shinra infantryman and shot at me with a sniper rifle."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said. "Zack's a terrible shot."

"Hn," he said in response, turning his head slightly to look at the crest of the hill. A lighthouse stood in the distance, a beacon of bright light wheeling over their heads. "You lost them?"

"The last I saw, they were stealing a Shinra motorcycle and preparing to leave," said Cissnei. "He was heading towards the highway."

"He's heading to Midgar," said Sephiroth.

"Probably," agreed Cissnei, nodding. "Aerith is there, after all."

"Was that her name?" asked Sephiroth. He knew that Zack was seeing somebody in the slums. It was the talk of the SOLDIER floor for weeks. He had never bothered to ask about her, though, believing that Zack's personal life wasn't relevant. He regretted it now. Knowing where she lived would give him some idea as to where Zack was going. Cissnei nodded.

"Aerith Gainsborough," she said. "We had her under surveillance for some time. She lives in the Sector 5 slums."

He looked up. "Surveillance?" he asked, surprised. "Why?"

She wrapped her arms around her knees. "I suppose it doesn't matter now," she said. "Aerith is an Ancient. The last one. She escaped from the company's laboratory with her mother as a child and was adopted by a woman in the slums."

Ancient. Not a word he wanted to hear at the moment. He frowned, remembering what he had read in Shinra Mansion. Was this Aerith girl of the same race as Jenova, then?

"The mother?" he asked.

Cissnei shook her head sadly. "The company found her dead on the train platform. It was fourteen years ago, about eight years before I joined the Turks."

He looked at her. Cissnei could be no older than twenty or twenty-one, and yet she claimed to have been a Turk for six years? Just how old had she been when she joined? She looked up at him, noticing his expression. Cissnei smiled slightly.

"I was fourteen when I joined," she said, looking away. "The youngest person to ever successfully join the Turks." Cissnei shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of a bad memory. He kept silent, not asking her any questions. The information wasn't relevant to him. There was no point in upsetting her. She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky. "…In any case, we need to move," she said. "The Turks will be in the area soon, if they aren't already. And Midgar's crawling with troops."

He nodded, getting up. "We'll need another mode of transportation," he said.

"That shouldn't be a problem," said Cissnei, getting up as well. "I have another contact around the Gold Saucer area. But…" She folded her arms and turned towards him, frowning. "…to get there…"

He looked at her, realizing what she was asking. Slowly, he nodded, his black wing extending again.

X

The car ran through the wasteland, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake. Sephiroth glanced over at Cissnei, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, staring down at the GPS in her hand. They had picked up Zack's trail again outside Gongaga. "How much farther?" he asked.

"A few more miles," said Cissnei without looking up. "If you keep going straight, this should lead us to the ridge overlooking the city. Hopefully we won't run into any patrols." Even as she said it, she placed one hand on Rekka, as if reassuring herself that the weapon was there. Sephiroth nodded, turning back towards the road. If they did run into patrols, they would have to fight them. There wasn't any other way.

A figure suddenly dropped down in front of them. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and he slammed on the brakes, turning the wheels so that the car skidded to a stop. He opened the door, jumping out before the car stopped completely. Sephiroth reached up, pulling Masamune from his back and pointing it at the figure. Cissnei got out of the car as well—he heard her footsteps behind him and the sound of metal against cloth as she pulled Rekka free.

Genesis smirked at them, standing in the middle of the wasteland. He held his Rapier in his hand, the blade pointing towards the ground. He was dressed in his usual red leather coat, his reddish-brown hair half-covering one of his eyes.

There were no signs of degradation.

His eyes widened. Genesis smirked. "Surprised?" he asked, taking a step forward. "I don't need your cells anymore, old friend. Why would I need a copy's cells when I could acquire the real thing?"

Jenova. He clenched his teeth as white hot pain suddenly shot through his head, accompanied by a jumble of images and memories. Shinra Mansion's basement, the reactor, Jenova's body behind the doll, Genesis falling backwards, slipping just out of reach…

He held Masamune with both hands, raising it up and pointing the blade at Genesis. From beside him, Cissnei ran forward, swinging one of Rekka's points at Genesis. He raised his sword to block her, the shuriken striking the Rapier's blade. Cissnei jumped back as Genesis moved to strike, flipping over in the air and landing on her feet.

"Stay out of this," said Genesis, smirking at her. "I'll have my copies keep you company."

Gunfire rang through the air as two winged Genesis copies appeared. Cissnei jumped back, her eyes narrowing as she threw Rekka at one of them, rolling to the side as the second shot at her. The shuriken slashed the copy in the side as it dodged, and Cissnei reached up from her crouched position, catching it as it returned to her. She ran out of the way of another attack, jumping into the air and charging at the copy she had already injured.

Sephiroth raised Masamune to block Genesis as he ran towards him, blocking all of his strikes with ease. He jumped back, twisting his body around as Genesis thrust forward with the Rapier, its deep red blade passing just an inch from his torso. He swung Masamune with his left hand, aiming for Genesis's head. Genesis quickly jerked away, bringing the Rapier up for an upward slash. Sephiroth jumped back to avoid the attack. Genesis swung his free hand around, fire coating his fingertips as it raced towards Sephiroth. He blocked the flames with his blade, jumping into the air.

The wind whipped around him as he rose. Genesis rose up to meet him, extending his wing and propelling himself through the air with a flap. Sephiroth spun sharply to avoid the thrust, his own wing extending again as he pulled away from Genesis, then rushed forward from the side with an attack of his own. Genesis blocked it with his sword, the two of them falling to the ground together. Sephiroth looked up over the clash of blades, meeting Genesis's eyes.

_Genesis swung his Rapier, breaking the stalemate between them. Sephiroth jumped back, landing on the black metal floor of the chamber just beyond the reactor. His friend rushed forward again, his mako blue eyes wide and crazed as he stabbed his sword through the air. Sephiroth blocked it, the sound of steel on steel ringing through the chamber. _

"_Sephiroth!" _

_He barely looked up at the sound, seeing Zack entering the chamber. The dark-haired 1st stopped, his eyes widening as he saw the battle in front of him. "Genesis…" he said, understanding dawning in his eyes. Sephiroth quickly pushed back against Genesis, causing him to lose his balance and sending him stumbling towards Zack. Zack looked up at him, a conflicted look on his face for a moment before he nodded, pulling his Buster Sword from his back…_

The two of them landed on the ground, the force of the impact sending them skidding apart. Genesis ran towards him, exchanging another volley of strikes and parries. There was something different about Genesis, besides the lack of degradation. He seemed stronger somehow. Sephiroth heard a crash coming from Cissnei's fight, but he couldn't spare her a glance. He grabbed the sword with both hands and swung, steel ringing on steel as Masamune drove Genesis back. He jumped back, his red cloak fluttering around him as he landed on the ground.

Sephiroth leaped forward, taking his chance. Genesis's eyes narrowed and he leapt into the air, spreading his wing and hovering in place as he stared down at Sephiroth. He glanced at something in the distance, then smirked.

"You'll need to hurry, if you're planning to save the puppy," he said.

He flapped his wing once, sending him shooting into the sky. Sephiroth spread his wing, about to take off after him.

"Sephiroth, wait!" said Cissnei.

He turned towards her. She was shaking out her left hand, Rekka impaled on the ground about a foot from her. The two Genesis copies were lying around her, green light surrounding them as they faded away. Her eyes were wide. He froze, realizing why.

The copies were dead, their guns lying on the ground beside them. But gunfire still rang from somewhere in the wasteland.

X

The Shinra infantrymen raised their guns. Zack barely felt the hits now; they just blended in with everything else. He clenched his teeth, holding tightly to his Buster Sword as he charged forward. He shouted out a battle cry, slashing the sword downwards. Three more infantrymen fell as he spun around, trailing blood in a half circle around him as he slashed at two more. It wasn't enough. They just kept coming. He stumbled back against the shots, letting out a grunt of pain.

_Not yet…_he thought to himself. _I can't die yet…_

Aerith's face entered his mind again, her voice washing over him in a flash. He closed his eyes briefly and took in a breath, feeling a tingling feeling wash over him and heal some of his wounds. It wasn't enough, but it kept him standing a little while longer. He rushed forward, letting out a shout as he placed his sword at his back. He remembered Angeal as he neared the next infantryman, punching him squarely in the face. He ran through a series of punches and kicks that Angeal taught him, three more infantrymen falling to the ground before he grabbed his sword. Zack straightened up, remembering Sephiroth as the Buster Sword fell in eight quick slashes, killing another one.

The field was strewn with bodies, but it was only three-fourths of their number. There were still enough of them standing in front of him, guns pointed at him. Bullets flew over his head and against the Buster Sword's blade, a few of them sinking into his skin. He thought of Cloud, lying on the ground with mako poisoning, and about how he needed to save him. It gave him a little more strength as he jumped into the air, spinning the Buster Sword overhead. Rocks fell down, slamming into the infantrymen.

There were still more of them. He groaned as they shot at him, swinging his sword to kill another one of them. Blood dripped down his arms and into his gloves. He wasn't sure if it was his or not anymore. He could feel the life slipping from him with every breath—his mako-enhanced body the only thing keeping him alive at the moment. He stared at the army in front of him and did a quick headcount before raising his sword up, rushing at them.

_Aerith…_he thought, closing his eyes for just one moment as he thought of her. _…I'm sorry. _

The sound of steel rang through the air, the Shinra infantrymen on either side of him suddenly falling to the ground. Zack's eyes widened and he turned his head. Sephiroth and Cissnei came into view, Sephiroth coming in from his right and Cissnei from his left. Sephiroth swung Masamune through the air effortlessly, taking out a handful of grunts. From his left, Cissnei spun around, artfully dodging a hail of bullets as she manipulated a spinning Rekka around her body. The two of them crossed paths, cutting through the remaining soldiers easily as they crisscrossed across the field.

He fell to his knees, his strength spent as the last infantryman fell at Sephiroth's hands. The silver-haired SOLDIER flicked his blade, the blood flying off Masamune in a line. He ran over to Zack just as Zack fell backwards, placing Masamune on the ground and catching Zack with one arm. Zack leaned back and realized belatedly that a green light was surrounding Sephiroth's free hand. A Curaga Materia?

"You're…a little late there, Sephiroth," he said, grinning as he looked up. Sephiroth faded in and out of focus for a moment.

"We would have come on time, if you could take a normal route to Midgar," he said, frowning at Zack as he continued his work.

Zack let out a short laugh. "Where's the fun in that?" he asked, then hissed in pain as some of the bullet wounds made themselves known.

He turned his head slightly to the side to see Cissnei bending over Cloud, checking his pulse quickly. "Hey, Cissnei," he said, grinning. "Long time no see."

"Stop moving," snapped Sephiroth. "You're making this harder than it has to be."

Cissnei looked up, smiling at him. There was relief in her eyes, and worry. Zack saw her glance at his injuries for a moment. "Hi, Zack," she said. "Don't worry us like that again." She looked around the battlefield, then turned to Sephiroth. "We need to get out of here," she said.

"Understood," replied Sephiroth smoothly. Cissnei ran off, out of his field of vision. Zack turned his head to follow her, but was stopped by both a sudden stab of pain and an impatient glare from Sephiroth. A few moments later, he heard a motor running. A car pulled into his view and Cissnei got out of the driver's seat, running forward and holding on to his legs.

"Do you have him?" asked Cissnei.

"Mm," said Sephiroth, shifting around to hold him under the arms. Zack braced himself as the two of them lifted him, and managed to only grimace in pain as the two of them maneuvered him into the backseat of the car. Sephiroth got in beside him, continuing his healing. Zack extended a hand towards the Buster Sword on the ground.

"My…sword," he said.

Cissnei walked over to it and picked it up. It was too heavy for her to lift; she had to use both hands to do it. Zack watched as she placed it in the trunk of the car, and only when the lid was shut did he relax. As he watched, the front door opened, and Cissnei helped Cloud in, strapping him in. Cloud's head lolled forward. As always, his eyes were open, but there was no response. Cissnei ran around and got into the driver's seat, buckling herself in.

"We're in a hurry," she said, starting the car. She turned around to face him, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Zack. It's going to be a rough ride."

"I'll manage," he said through clenched teeth. Cissnei nodded, and didn't give him any warning as she slammed on the accelerator, sending the car screeching away from the battlefield.

**END FILE**


	4. File 002: A Group of Vigilantes pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **I've never played **Before Crisis** and all the information I have about it comes from the Final Fantasy Wiki. Those of you that actually know more about the game than I do know that I'm messing with canon a bit here by shifting certain events to earlier than they actually happened…I think. So…just ignore it for now, if that's possible. As for names, I had to come up with them on the fly, so hopefully they work out.

One last quick note. Cloud's personality is based off his Crisis Core personality and not his FFVII personality, because a lot of that personality came out of Zack dying and Cloud believing that he was Zack.

**OhJay – **You didn't really think I'd let him die, did you? *hugs Zack* He's my favorite character in this game, lol! I'm glad that you like that I saved him! Thanks for the review and your support!

**Blooming Delirium – **Zack's death was one of the things I wrote this story to fix, because I could barely play the last parts of the game knowing this was going to happen. Sorry for cutting it close, haha. I wanted to keep you guys guessing! Thanks for your review!

X

**File 002: A Group of Vigilantes**

Cloud felt like he was waking up from a _very _long dream.

He opened his eyes, the world around him blurry for a moment before coming into sharp focus. A lamp hung overhead, casting orange light across the small room. He blinked, raising a hand to his head and running it through his spiky blond hair. Where was he? He remembered only bits and pieces from their escape. He remembered Shinra Mansion and Nibelheim fleetingly, something in Gongaga, an army of Shinra infantrymen in the wasteland…

His eyes widened and he sat up, the motion making him suddenly dizzy. He placed his hand on his head as he tried to get the world to stop spinning, his stomach heaving in a way that nearly made him sick.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty," said a voice from beside his bed.

Zack sat on a stool against the far wall of the room, his legs spread apart slightly and his hands on his knees. He was shirtless, a roll of white bandages wound tightly across his chest and arms. Zack grinned at Cloud, and Cloud's eyes widened further as he looked at him.

"Zack…the fight…" he began. "Are you…?"

"I'm alright," said Zack, still grinning. "Cissnei thinks I might set off a metal detector, but I'll live."

"Ciss…nei?" he asked.

"You'll meet her later," answered Zack. "She's a Turk, or, well, she used to be. She helped us out back there, outside Midgar."

He nodded slowly, taking in a slow breath. His mind felt like it was running at half-speed. He knew he should recognize words like "Midgar" and "Turk" but it felt like he was thinking through a fog. Vaguely, he remembered Shinra employees in dark suits, and a large city above and below the plate…

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Kalm," said Zack. "We're in hiding at the moment."

"Kalm…" he repeated, running the name through his foggy mind. "That's…near Midgar, isn't it?"

"Pretty close," said Zack, nodding. He leaned forward slightly, frowning at Cloud. "How're you feeling?"

Cloud frowned, considering how to answer that question. "Weird…" he said. "I can't really remember much. I _am _Cloud…right?"

"No, your name is Jack the Chocobo Man. You're actually half-Chocobo, and lived on the outskirts of Kalm before I found you and took you under my wing."

"_Zack_!" exclaimed Cloud, turning towards him angrily.

"Your name is Cloud Strife," said a silver-haired man, entering the room and peeling off his gloves. Cloud went rigid, watching as he crossed the room and came to a stop in front of him. "Your hometown is Nibelheim. You were a member of Shinra's forces until the incident at Nibelheim four years ago where Hojo took you as one of his experiments. You and Zack managed to escape, and were on your way to Midgar when you were attacked by Shinra troops."

Cloud's eyes widened as he stared at him, the memories coming back to him in a flash.

_Sephiroth! _

He remembered walking to the reactor, his breathing heavy from panic. There was a dark-haired girl on the ground. Zack lay unconscious on the steps, the Buster Sword resting at the foot of the steps. His breathing quickened. He remembered running up the steps before he could think about it, remembered seeing Sephiroth standing in front of Jenova with Masamune in his hand. He remembered blood dripping from the sword's blade, the floor littered with black feathers…His own hands closed around the Buster Sword's hilt…

"You!" said Cloud, throwing the covers off himself and getting up. Sephiroth turned his head, regarding him coolly.

"Relax, Cloud," said Zack, sighing. "Sephiroth didn't cause the incident. Genesis did."

Genesis…

The name brought another memory, that of a man with auburn hair and a red leather coat, already degrading by the time Cloud first met him. He looked up at Sephiroth, his eyes widening in sudden horror. Genesis had caused Nibelheim. Genesis had hurt Zack. But he had…

"Don't bother," said Sephiroth, frowning at him. "I wasn't fully myself at the time. If you hadn't stabbed me, I might have remained that way."

Cloud nodded, his mind still working to make sense of what he had just been told. Four years…Names and faces of people in Nibelheim flashed through his mind, and he felt a sudden flash of grief. His mother, Tifa's father, and all the people that he knew…

He stared down at his gloved hands.

"…I…worked for Shinra?" he asked.

"That's correct," said Sephiroth.

Cloud frowned, looking down at his uniform. "…Was I…first class?" he asked.

"No," said Sephiroth, flatly.

"You were an infantryman," said Zack, standing up. "You wanted to be in SOLDIER, but you didn't make it in. Although…" He grinned slightly, stepping away from the stool and folding his arms. "Right now…you're more like a SOLDIER 3rd Class."

"Huh?" asked Cloud, blinking at his friend. Zack stepped to the side, away from the room's sole mirror.

"See for yourself," he said.

Cloud frowned, walking over to the mirror. He stared at himself. He was dressed in a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform, but if what Zack said was true, then he wasn't really a 1st. What was he supposed to be looking for? His face still looked the same. He looked a little older, maybe, but it had been four years. What…?

Then, he saw it. He hadn't seen it at first. His natural eye color had already been blue.

"…Mako eyes," he said.

"A result of Hojo's experiments," said Sephiroth. "You were exposed to the same substances that a SOLDIER recruit is exposed to, albeit for a much longer period of time."

"So, basically…" began Cloud.

"You're as good as a SOLDIER," said Zack, grinning. "With all the perks." He reached behind him, taking hold of a Shinra issue sword. He picked the sword up by the hilt, tossing it at Cloud. "Think fast!"

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise but his hands reached out, catching the sword by the hilt before he even realized what he was doing. Zack's grin widened and he picked up the Buster Sword, raising it over his head.

"Defend yourself!" he said, rushing towards Cloud.

"Hey, w-wait!" said Cloud, attempting to hold the sword in a defensive position. The Buster Sword slammed into the Shinra issue, sending Cloud stumbling backwards. He landed on his rear, the sword in his hand. Zack frowned from above him, shifting the Buster Sword to one hand and scratching his head.

"This is gonna take some work," he said.

"Indeed," said Sephiroth, looking at Cloud.

X

A few hours later, Cloud sat in the room that connected to the bedroom, a cup of coffee in his hands. He was sitting at a small wooden table next to a flight of stairs that led above ground, sipping slowly at his drink. Zack sat across from him, one arm draped over the table as he leaned against the wall. Sephiroth stood on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall as well.

The door at the top of the stairs opened, causing all three of them to look up. Sephiroth and Zack straightened up, their hands hovering just over the hilts of their respective weapons. Zack relaxed when he saw Cissnei coming down the steps and Sephiroth did too, returning to leaning against the wall. Cloud frowned up at him, still looking confused. A man followed behind Cissnei, somebody that Zack thought he had seen before, but he had been drifting in and out of consciousness by the time they finally arrived, and he wasn't so sure.

He had black hair that came almost to his shoulders. It was slicked back so that it fell out of his face. His eyes were dark blue, hidden beneath a pair of glasses. A jagged mark stretched down from his right eye. It looked like a tattoo or a scar. He was dressed in a dark blue shirt and a pair of black pants, but from the way he moved, it was easy to imagine him in a suit. A katana was belted to his waist, and his hand lingered just a few inches from the hilt.

"Hey, Cissnei," said Zack, greeting her cheerfully even though he kept his eyes on her companion. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Shion," she said. "He used to be a Turk, like me. We're staying at his house."

Zack frowned at Shion before nodding, extending his hand towards the ex-Turk. "Zack Fair," he said, "Good to meet you."

Shion smiled slightly, accepting Zack's hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you too."

"So, did you just happen to have a hidden basement?" asked Zack with a grin, releasing Shion's hand and looking around. Shion smiled and shrugged.

"I'm a little paranoid," he said.

"We all are," said Zack. He turned towards Cloud. "Cloud, Cissnei. Cissnei, Cloud."

"Uh…nice to meet you," said Cloud.

"You too," said Cissnei with a smile. "Nice to see you up."

Sephiroth frowned, turning towards her. "What did you find?" he asked.

"It's safe for you three to come upstairs," she said. "Shinra's stopped looking for you in Kalm."

Shion folded his arms. "But they haven't stopped looking for you completely," he said. "They've heightened security around Midgar. It would be dangerous to try and get in without help from the inside." He frowned, looking up at Sephiroth. "They don't know you're involved," he said. "It looks like they think that Cloud helped Zack finish off the remainder of the infantrymen and that the two of them are either dead or in hiding. There was no mention of Cissnei either."

Sephiroth nodded. "Good," he said.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you like. I'll set up a mattress in the study."

He nodded again, moving past Shion and Cissnei and heading for the stairs. Zack stared after him as he closed the door. "Sheesh," he said. "The least he could do is say 'thank you'."

"Don't worry about it," said Shion.

Zack sighed, running a hand through his hair. Shion's words about Midgar came back to him. If he couldn't get into Midgar, he couldn't see Aerith. It was probably for the best. If he made contact with Aerith, they'd just use her to get to him. He clenched his fist in anger.

Shinra…

"I can't believe this," he said. "After everything we did for them."

"That's Shinra for you," said Shion with a shrug. Zack looked up at him in surprise.

"Didn't you work for them too?" he asked.

"Not by choice," said Shion, frowning. "Well…not fully."

"What do you mean?" asked Zack.

Shion shook his head, exchanging a quick glance with Cissnei. When he did speak, he said something else entirely. "Zack Fair…You're Michael Fair's son, aren't you?"

Zack's eyes widened. "How do you know my dad?" he asked. He knew there were Turks in Gongaga when he stopped outside there, but Shion couldn't have been there. That was only about a week ago. Shion smiled slightly.

"Take a guess," he said. "Although…you probably wouldn't recognize me. I was in and out of your neighborhood a few times."

Zack frowned. Shion did look a little familiar, although he couldn't place where he had seen him before. But what did Shion have to do with his dad? He looked up in surprise when he realized the answer.

"No way!" he said, pointing at Shion. "You're from Gongaga?"

"Born and raised," said Shion. "What a coincidence, huh?"

"No kidding," said Zack, grinning. "Wow. I was starting to think I was the only one. How'd you end up with the Turks?"

"Long story," said Shion. "Let's just say…it was a choice between working for Shinra or staying in prison."

"Ah," said Zack. "One of _those_ cases."

Shion nodded. "Exactly," he said. "Well, you two can head upstairs. I'm sure you're tired of being down here."

He stepped aside, clearing the stairway for them. Zack nodded, heading towards the steps. Cloud followed him, slightly hesitant. Zack paused on the first step, turning back towards their host. "Thanks," he said.

Shion nodded in reply, and Zack continued walking up the steps.

X

He found Cissnei in the backyard after dinner, looking up at the stars. Zack closed the door behind him slowly, but it wasn't slow enough to go unnoticed. She turned her head towards him, but relaxed when she saw it was him, turning back towards the sky. He followed her. From somewhere in the yard, he could hear the sounds of Cloud practicing with his sword—his grunts of effort coupled with Sephiroth's clear instructions.

"What's up?" he asked Cissnei.

"Nothing," said Cissnei, turning towards him. "Just glad to be out of the mountains and…" She smiled slightly as Cloud slipped, letting out a shout of surprise. Sephiroth immediately followed up with a sharp correction. "…enjoying the after dinner entertainment."

Zack laughed. "Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Glad I'm out of that situation."

"It was good for you, though," said Cissnei. "Training with Sephiroth, I mean."

"I guess," said Zack, shrugging. "Just…I thought _Angeal _was tough."

He folded his arms, listening as they started up again. Four years. It was hard to believe that he had been missing for that long. Did she still remember him? She'd probably given up on him by now. He frowned, realizing that there was something he didn't quite understand. He looked back at Cissnei.

"How'd _you _end up working with Sephiroth?" he asked.

Cissnei smiled at him. "Long story," she said.

"I've got time," said Zack, sliding his hands into his pockets. Cissnei frowned and folded her arms, twisting away.

"…When Genesis showed up around Nibelheim, Tseng wanted an active Turk to check it out," she said. "I was the closest, so he sent me. But by the time I arrived, the town was burning to the ground and everything was over. I checked around the mountain, and saw Sephiroth lying in the caves next to one of the mako springs. He was hurt pretty badly."

"So…you saved him," said Zack.

Cissnei shook her head. "Not quite," she said. "He was still conscious, so I bandaged him up as best as I could and used Materia on him. I told him to wait in the caves while I found someone from Shinra to help and he told me that he wasn't going back to the company." Her frown deepened. "He was…upset. It's hard to explain, but he wasn't exactly…calm, you know."

He knew. He had seen the look in Sephiroth's eyes that night in Nibelheim. He looked like he was only a little bit away from losing his mind.

"…That's when you left the company?" he asked.

"Let me finish," said Cissnei. "I thought he was just rambling, so I took a path out of the cave to head to the reactor to find someone. But instead of heading to the reactor itself, I ended up on a ridge overlooking the whole thing. That's when I saw Hojo carrying you and Cloud out."

"…I see," said Zack. He didn't remember much of that himself. He remembered opening his eyes to hear Hojo talking over Cloud, but that was it.

"…I remembered Sephiroth saying something about Hojo's experiments while he was rambling and…it just clicked," she said. "…I took a few pictures and went back to the caves. We slipped out and ended up in Modeoheim."

"The abandoned reactor," said Zack.

Cissnei nodded. "We spent the next four years trying to find you two, but we didn't know where Hojo took you, and we couldn't get close enough to Nibelheim to find out. The moment we heard about trouble, we took off."

"Thanks," said Zack. "…For that, I mean. If you two didn't show up…"

"Well, we did," said Cissnei, smiling slightly. "Don't worry about it too much."

Zack looked up suddenly as he heard Sephiroth raise his voice, correcting Cloud on his stance. He winced. "Think I should go rescue Cloud?" he asked.

"Leave him for a little while," said Shion from behind them. Zack turned to see the kitchen door open, the former Turk standing in it. "He's improving."

"I guess you're right," said Zack. He frowned, looking over at the two of them. "I'll get them in another hour."

X

A few months after their arrival in Kalm, Cloud walked through the market, a basket in one hand and a list in the other. Zack and Sephiroth were working on something, and Cissnei and Shion had disappeared somewhere, leaving him to get everything together. He reached for a stack of apples, selecting one and placing it in the basket.

"Cloud…?"

He looked up in confusion at the sound of his name. A dark haired girl stood beside him, staring at him. She was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of black shorts, and there was a look of complete shock on her face. His eyes widened as he saw her.

"I…know you…" he said slowly.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**A/N: **Yes, I got Shion's name because that's what a lot of people misread Tseng's name to be and it just stuck for me when I read it. Oh well…


	5. File 002: A Group of Vigilantes pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **Sorry this one is so late. I've been doing a lot of traveling lately because of college starting again and stuff (but my semester got delayed because of **two **snow days, so I should be updating regularly now, lol!) Enjoy the chapter! I hope I didn't stretch things too much with my deviations from the storyline.

Also, I have a question. I have a little FFVII story called **Sins of the Father**, and lately I've been torn about whether or not to continue it. Do you guys think I should? You don't have to answer, but if you have an opinion, let me know. Thanks!

**HazzaTL – **I completely agree with you. I like Cloud's personality in CC, which is why that's the one I'm working with now. It's not completely the same since he _is _affected by the things that just happened, but it hasn't completely changed either. Thanks for the review!

**Bright Misdreavus – **Thanks! Glad you liked it!

**OhJay** – Yep, you're right! And Aerith will be making an appearance, although it's some time before that happens yet. First, I've gotta get them INTO Midgar, lol!

**Blooming Delirium – **Ah, Zack. Where would we be without you? Can't wait until he meets Yuffie, that's going to be fun to write. We're going to meet all the other FF7 characters, or at least all the major ones. And I hope I gave Tifa a good enough excuse to be in Kalm!

**Riku Uzumaki – **The answer's in this chapter. I hope it isn't too much of a stretch. I needed a way to get them into Midgar, and Tifa's it. Thanks for the review!

X

**File 002: A Group of Vigilantes**

"Tifa…"

The name came to his mind before he had any idea where it came from, and it hung in the air between them before he realized he had spoken it. He knew her. He was sure of that. Snatches of memory came back to him all at once—Nibelheim, the reactor, Tifa—further back than that—the water tower, Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. He placed a hand on his head and staggered back, the sudden influx of memories making him dizzy for a moment. In an instant she was in front of him, reaching out and steadying him.

"Cloud!" he heard her say, as if from the other end of a tunnel. "Cloud! Cloud!"

Cloud opened his eyes and took a deep breath, shaking his head as the memories faded away.

"Cloud, are you alright?" she asked, a concerned look on her face as she watched him.

"…I'm fine," he said. He took a deep breath and bent down, picking up the fallen apples. She helped him, placing them in the basket.

"Cloud, where have you been?" she asked, placing the last apple in the basket. "After Nibelheim…"

He hesitated, worried that her words would trigger another attack. When they didn't, he shifted the basket's weight to one arm and turned towards her. "Long story," he said. "…What are you doing out here?"

Tifa paused. "Long story," she said. "…I…uh…started a bar in Midgar."

"You _what_?" asked Cloud, turning towards her in surprise.

"…and I met some people," she finished, ignoring him.

"You started a bar in Midgar…" repeated Cloud. He felt dizzy again, and wondered if this was another relapse or just an effect of Tifa's words. "Where?"

"Sector 7," said Tifa. "…In the slums."

Cloud took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. After everything that had happened to him, the idea that his childhood friend—was that what they had been?—was now running a bar in Midgar's slums wasn't the strangest thing he had heard. Still, it had been a little unsettling. He frowned.

"You didn't answer my question," he said. "…If you're running a bar in Sector 7, what are you doing in Kalm?"

She looked away, shifting uncomfortably. "…Like I said," she said. "Long story. And I can't really talk about it…out here…" She looked up at him. "Are you…staying somewhere?" she asked.

Cloud hesitated for only a moment.

X

Sephiroth leaned back against the chair's wooden backrest and sipped at his coffee, his eyes closed as he tuned out to the world around him. He had learned to remain calm in stressful situations during the Wutai War, where he had been forced to take whatever little sleep he could get, even if it was broad daylight and other infantrymen were drilling and shouting around him. It was a technique that had come in handy for blotting out the usual noise of footsteps, clanking metal, and loud conversations but still made him aware of suspicious variations. He found that although he had learned it to deal with the noise of a war camp, it worked equally well with Zack's incessant chatter.

"…don't get out of here soon, I'm just gonna—hey, are you _listening _to me?"

Give the puppy his due, at least he was quieter now than he had been as a SOLDIER 2nd Class. Sephiroth sighed and put down his cup, opening his eyes. "Where would you go?" he asked. The nice thing about Zack was that he only had to listen to the first two sentences most of the time. The rest of the rant would be more of the same.

Zack frowned, considering the question. He scratched the back of his neck, then shook his head fiercely. "I don't know," he said. "But dammit, Sephiroth, we can't just _sit _here! You and Cissnei must have had some sort of plan besides saving me!"

"Survival."

"That's one hell of a boring plan," retorted Zack.

"Go if you want," said Sephiroth. He closed his eyes and took another sip of coffee. "Might I suggest a bulletproof vest?"

Zack scowled. "Not even funny," he said.

Sephiroth sighed again. He had felt it ever since Genesis appeared, a dull throbbing at his temples. It wasn't unbearably painful—in fact, if he didn't think about it, he didn't even notice it—but it was always present and was there every time he looked.

"We're going to find Genesis," he said. "But first Cissnei and Shion have to give us a lead."

"Find him and what?" asked Zack.

Sephiroth didn't answer, setting his cup back down on the table. He opened his eyes to see Zack looking at him.

"I see," said Zack, sliding his hands into his pockets and looking away.

A knock at the door made them both look up. Sephiroth instinctively reached behind him, where Masamune was resting on the wall behind his chair. Zack didn't reach for the Buster Sword, but he did look more alert.

"It's Cloud," said the familiar voice of the young ex-infantryman. "I'm back."

Zack frowned, walking over to the door and unlocking it. Cloud pushed it open and stepped inside, a basket of apples resting on his arm. Sephiroth turned his body around to face the door as someone else walked in behind Cloud—a young woman. Zack immediately turned to stare at her as well.

It was their young guide from the mountain.

Her eyes drifted from Zack to Sephiroth. She immediately turned towards him, her fists clenched and her face contorting in anger. "It's you!" she said.

"Not I," said Sephiroth. "Genesis."

He was getting tired of explaining himself. Did he really look like the type to go that crazy? Tifa took a step forward, but Cloud immediately thrust out an arm, stopping her.

"He's telling the truth," he said. He hesitated for a moment. "As far as I know. He saved our lives." Cloud looked up at Zack for confirmation. The 1st Class nodded.

"Cloud…" he said. Sephiroth said nothing, glad that Zack had spared him the trouble. Cloud frowned and looked up at his best friend and mentor.

"…She's not going to say anything," he said. "You can trust Tifa."

Zack sighed, but relented. Sephiroth nodded at her, since she was still watching him like he might get up and strike at any moment. He looked over her posture casually. She was tense, but it wasn't the tenseness of someone preparing to flee. Her stance seemed casual, but it would transition easily into a defensive maneuver if she wished it. Or an offensive one.

Somebody had taught the young lady how to fight.

"Miss Lockhart," he said, inclining his head slightly. "It's good to see you well."

"Yeah," said Zack. "Even though Cloud here doesn't know the meaning of secrecy. What can we do for you?"

"Tifa…" began Cloud, "…was just about to tell me how she ended up running a bar in the Sector 7 slums."

Sephiroth and Zack exchanged quick glances. "You came from Midgar?" asked Zack. Tifa nodded, and Zack turned back towards Sephiroth. He frowned.

"…Go down into the basement and get Shion and Cissnei," he said. "They'll want to hear this too."

Zack nodded, turning and heading towards Shion's hidden flight of stairs.

X

"…That's the last time I saw him," said Zack, finishing his recounting of the Nibelheim incident. The six of them were sitting around Shion's dining table, going over the events for Tifa's benefit. Cloud found himself listening too. He had never really heard everyone's versions of what had happened at Nibelheim, just bits and pieces of everything.

Sephiroth nodded, affirming Zack's story. "He was enraged because I wouldn't share my cells with him," he said. "Genesis decided to bypass me and go straight for the…" He hesitated for a moment. "…the source."

"So that's what happened, that day at the Reactor…" said Tifa.

Zack nodded, grinning at her. "Sorry we couldn't let you inside," he said. "Shinra business and all. But we left you with Cloud to protect you."

Cloud flushed, looking down. Tifa hadn't known it was him then. He had been wearing the helmet, and he had tried to stop her from entering. Tifa looked at him, but said nothing about it for the moment. "What happened when you came in, Cloud?" he asked.

"…I saw you," said Cloud. He kept his eyes glued to the table. "And Zack. I saw the Buster Sword, and Sephiroth standing in front of that…tube. And I assumed…" He trailed off, not looking up at the silver-haired SOLDIER.

"I had just defeated Genesis and thrown him off," explained Sephiroth. "I was…examining that…thing. I wasn't quite myself. It was like I had been put in a trance by it. Cloud…" He gestured at him. "…assumed the worst and stabbed me with the Buster Sword. I retaliated, but he was able to use Masamune as leverage with which to toss me into the mako pool."

"Which is how I found him," said Cissnei, "And how Hojo found them." She gestured at Zack and Cloud.

"Once I came to, we escaped," said Zack. "But by then…"

"Four years," said Tifa.

"Exactly," said Zack, nodding.

Tifa frowned, placing her hands on the table as she absorbed that new information. They sat in silence for a moment before Cloud looked up at her. "What did you want to talk about, Teef?" he asked.

Tifa sighed. "…I don't know if I should," she admitted.

"If you're worried about Shinra, don't be," said Shion. "…None of us have any love lost for that company."

"You're not loyal to it anymore," said Tifa, looking up. Her dark eyes hardened. "…But would you be willing to destroy it?"

"If need be," said Sephiroth with a frown, turning towards her.

Tifa looked up at him, as if trying to judge his sincerity. Then, she nodded. "…We might be able to help with that," she said. "…I'm with AVALANCHE."

The surprise in the room was almost palpable as everyone looked up at Tifa. Only Sephiroth didn't seem too surprised. "Which one?" he asked. From his tone, he could have been asking her what drink she wanted instead of which terrorist organization she was involved in.

"The newer one," she said. "…We're getting ready to do a job. I'm in Kalm because I heard that there was an ex-Shinra employee living here."

"…And you wanted to hire me out?" asked Shion from the other end of the table. He leaned back in his seat and tilted the chair on its back legs, folding his arms at her. She nodded. "What sort of job?"

"Taking down a Mako Reactor," said Tifa.

"Hmm," said Shion. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Taking down a Mako Reactor would inconvenience them, but you'd have to take down more than one to actually cripple them."

She nodded, still watching him. The four other people at the table didn't speak, watching the exchange between Tifa and Shion carefully. The ex-Turk frowned. "I'm going to have to decline," he said. He offered Tifa an apologetic smile. "It's an intriguing prospect, but I'm retired."

"You say that, but you still wear your sword," said Tifa.

Shion frowned, placing a hand on the hilt of the katana that Cloud knew was called Murasame. "Old habits," he said. He looked up at the other four. "But if the rest of you want to take on Miss Lockhart's offer, I'll be willing to hold down the fort."

They exchanged glances. Zack was the first person to speak. "Well," he said, grinning at Tifa. "I'm not gonna complain if she gets us into Midgar."

"You're just looking for an excuse to stretch your legs," said Sephiroth, glaring at him.

"Aw, Seph, how'd you know?" asked Zack with a smile.

"Zack, don't be rash about this," cautioned Cissnei from next to Cloud. Zack turned towards her.

"You want to take a crack at Shinra too, right?" he asked. Cissnei lowered her eyes and didn't answer. Zack frowned and turned towards Sephiroth.

"What about you, Sephiroth?" he asked.

Sephiroth frowned. "I'm…indifferent," he said.

"Come on," said Zack. "I know you of all people want to get back at them. And if we're in Midgar, we might find something about Genesis."

Sephiroth nodded. "…You have a point," he said. "Cissnei?"

"If both of you are going, I'm going too," she said. "…Besides, you'll need me."

"Fair enough," said Zack. He grinned at her, and then turned towards Cloud. "And you're coming too, of course. This'll be the perfect chance to test your skills."

Cloud nodded. "I…I guess," he said.

"Then it's settled," said Zack. He looked up at Tifa. "We're not exactly Shion, but getting two ex-SOLDIERS and an ex-Turk can't be that bad. And Cloud, of course."

"Thanks, Zack," said Cloud sarcastically.

"Anytime," said Zack, nonchalant. He looked at Tifa. "Is that okay with you? You'll have to get us into Midgar though."

"It…It's fine," said Tifa. She nodded. "I'll let the others know."

"Do you have a planned date?" asked Sephiroth, turning towards her.

"Early December," said Tifa. "…I'll keep you posted."

Sephiroth nodded in reply.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	6. File 002: A Group of Vigilantes pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **A lot of the dialogue in the latter half of this chapter is pulled straight from some of the cutscenes, with some original dialogue to make up for the new characters, and with some things changed (for example, Zack and CC!Cloud being more receptive to Barret's lectures about the dying Planet). I hope it works alright. Next chapter will be the last chapter in this particular file. Those of you waiting for Aerith…you'll get a glimpse of her in File 003.

**Riku Uzumaki – **Yes he is! But that goes without saying, lol. Thanks for the review.

**OhJay – **It's going to start differing once they get out of Midgar, but some things are going to stay fairly accurate. I'll let you know right now that there will be a lot more villains in this story, due to the fact that…well, they have Sephiroth with them, and we need more villains/stronger villains so that this doesn't turn into "Sephiroth beats up everything while the other guys watch and just help him against Genesis to make that battle easy".

**Rododeth0891 – **Thanks! Glad you like it!

**HazzaTL3 – **The thought crossed my mind, lol. Don't worry. I might not be the fastest updater in the world, but I won't wait that long. Thanks for the review!

**LittleMissMuddle – **Aww, warm and fuzzies 3. I'm glad you like it, and thanks a lot for your review and support. Every review means a lot to me!

X

**File 002: A Group of Vigilantes**

The air under Midgar's plate was warm and almost suffocating, and it was the beginning of winter. He knew for a fact how uncomfortable the slums could be in the summer, when the plate above blocked sunlight but retained heat. The air was polluted, and there wasn't a single scrap of green anywhere.

But to Zack, it felt just like home.

He crouched on top of the moving train, grinning slightly as he reached behind him and pulled out the Buster Sword. He held it in both hands, taking a deep breath as he pressed his forehead to the cool metal of the blade. Somewhere in this city, currently on the other side of it, was Aerith. Somewhere in this city, above the plate, was Kunsel. Somewhere in this city, where the train was headed, was a mako reactor that needed blowing up.

He felt his mouth curl up into another grin as he replaced the Buster Sword, looking straight ahead of him.

"Alright," he said, "Let's do this. Sector 1 Reactor, here I come."

X

"Is he really going to be okay up there?" asked the brown-haired AVALANCHE member,—Jessie, she had said her name was—craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of Zack from inside the train.

"Don't worry," said Sephiroth from where he stood, leaning against the opposite wall. "Zack never could do things like a normal person."

She looked at him uncertainly, clearly unsure, but she didn't ask any more questions, going over to one of the seats on the train and sitting down. He smirked slightly, folding his arms. A part of him could almost understand Zack's restlessness. Zack wasn't the only one that had gotten…a little bored over the past few years. He was considerably more patient, but he had to admit, the change from Modeoheim to Kalm had been a welcome breath of fresh air.

And they were back here again, where it had all begun.

"Cloud," he said, looking up.

The blond infantryman jumped to his feet. Sephiroth glanced at him. He supposed some things would never change. Cloud was dressed in the SOLDIER 1st Class uniform he had been wearing when he came to. It was, Sephiroth supposed, the most combat ready thing the blond owned in any case. The pauldron on the right shoulder had fallen off in the trip from Midgar's outskirts to Kalm, making it look strangely asymmetrical. Sephiroth picked up a sword that was propped up against one of the chairs, turning it over and offering the hilt to Cloud. Cloud took the sword from him uncertainly.

"Are you ready for this?" asked Sephiroth coolly.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Cloud, testing the sword's weight in his hand before attaching it to the magnetic sheath behind him. Sephiroth watched him, raising an eyebrow.

"Stay behind Zack and me," he said. "Don't attempt to engage any SOLDIERs you come across if you can help it. You should do fine."

"You might even keep from embarrassing yourself when we bring you back home to Tifa," said Cissnei with a smile from her seat behind Cloud's. Cloud's face reddened. "C-Cissnei!" he said.

Sephiroth smirked, shaking his head. Out of the four of them, only Cloud had been allowed to visit AVALANCHE's headquarters beforehand, mostly because of Tifa. The rest of them had only been given a vague idea of where the headquarters were. "Don't embarrass him," he said to Cissnei. "He'll lose his focus."

Cissnei smiled and shook her head, turning to look out of the window. He and Zack were still wearing the clothes they had worn as members of SOLDIER, but Cissnei had not put on her Turk suit. She was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, dark pants, and black boots. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless gray vest, one that he strongly suspected was bulletproof. She had Rekka in her gloved hands, and appeared to be checking the weapon's sharpness.

"…Are _you _ready?" he asked, when she noticed him watching.

She smiled and shrugged. "I'm a Turk," she said. "I'm always ready."

"Hn."

She looked down and back at her weapon, her smile fading as she examined it again, examining it with movements so precise that she had probably done this sort of thing hundreds of times. He continued to watch her. Satisfied, she stood up, fastening Rekka to her back. She walked out of her seat, stopping directly in front of Sephiroth. Cissnei turned to pass him, stopping directly in front of him and placing her hand on his chest lightly.

"Don't lose your focus," she said with a smile and a wink, her hand falling to her side as she walked towards the back of the car.

He frowned and turned, walking towards the opposite end of the car. Barret Wallace, the large, rather temperamental leader of AVALANCHE, looked up at him as he passed.

"Hey! Pretty boy!" called Barret. Sephiroth ignored him. HIs goal in Midgar wasn't to aid them, no matter how appealing the prospect of getting back at Shinra was. It was to find information about Genesis. Of course, as a SOLDIER, he had no problem with taking orders…if the orders happened to come from authority he could respect.

"Listen to me when I'm talkin' to you!"

Sephiroth sighed inwardly and stopped walking, turning his head. "My name is Sephiroth," he said, keeping his tone even.

"I don't care if your name is Prince James the fifteenth!" growled Barret. "I took you on for this job because Tifa asked me to. But I don't trust you. If you and your SOLDIER buddies pull any funny business…"

"I assure you," said Sephiroth impatiently. "…_that _will be the least of your worries."

The train slowed to a stop, bells ringing to signal its arrival at the station. Sephiroth quickly spread his legs slightly, bracing himself for the stop. He slid backwards slightly as the train finally stopped. Barret stumbled forward, grabbing onto one of the seats with his human hand to keep himself from falling over.

From across the train, Cissnei was getting up. She met his eyes, nodding at him. Cloud was standing up as well from the middle, one hand on the hilt of his sword. From outside, he heard a shout quickly cut off by a grunt, followed by a thud. The doors opened.

"Shall we?" asked Sephiroth with a smirk, pulling Masamune from his back with his left hand and walking past Barret towards the door.

X

Zack grinned as he released his hold on the second guard, dropping him to the ground. He straightened up, turning his head as Sephiroth stepped out of the train. "Yo!" he said, waving his hand in the air. "Saved you some fun!"

"I see," said Sephiroth. Cissnei leaped out from behind him, rushing at one of the startled guards. Before he could react, she had ducked under his arm, slamming her fist into his jaw. Sephiroth swung Masamune around, slashing at another pair of guards. Cloud blocked a guard's attack with his sword—something Zack noticed and smiled at—before pulling back and punching him squarely in the chest.

Behind him, a guard moved, attempting to surprise him. Zack's grin widened. The sound of his feet on the stone of the platform had given him away.

"Whoa there, buddy," said Zack, sidestepping the blow. "I can't let you do that."

He moved in, pulling his fist back and slamming it into the guard's gut. He fell over with a groan and Zack straightened up, looking around at the others. Sephiroth replaced Masamune, turning to look at him. The other AVALANCHE members were already running.

"Alright!" said Barret, leaving the train. "Follow me!"

Zack nodded, running towards the Reactor. Sephiroth moved ahead of them, slashing at the two infantrymen that jumped out to stop them with two rapid slashes. The two infantrymen fell to the ground, and Sephiroth ran past without even slowing down, Cissnei behind him. Zack glanced at Cloud, who was watching the performance with a slightly awed look on his face.

"Lesson one, never get in Sephiroth's way when he wants to get somewhere," he said. He clapped Cloud on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll get there."

Cloud nodded, and the two of them started running again.

They met up with the group outside the entrance to the Reactor. Zack slid his hands into his pockets, tilting his head up to look at it. It was a massive structure, glowing with the pale green light of mako energy. He had been in this particular reactor once before, for an inspection back when he was still an infantryman. That was before he had met Angeal. Jessie was kneeling in front of the gate, working to get it open.

As Zack watched, Cissnei walked over to her, crouching down and quietly pushing her hands aside as she typed in a few codes. One of Barret's men—Biggs—turned towards him and Cloud.

"Wow! You used to be in SOLDIER, huh?" he asked.

"Well, I—," began Cloud. Zack interrupted him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That's right," said Zack.

Biggs looked impressed. "…Not every day you find one in a group like AVALANCHE," he said. Jessie looked up from her work with Cissnei, turning her head to face them. "SOLDIER?" she asked. "Aren't they the enemy? What are they doing with us in AVALANCHE?"

"We're a special case," said Zack.

"They _were_ with SOLDIER, Jessie!" said Wedge, the last member of Barret's crew. "But they quit and are working with us now." Jessie frowned, looking away and getting back to work.

"I didn't catch your names," said Biggs.

Zack grinned and stood up straight. "I'm Zack," he said. "SOLDIER 1st Class. Well…formerly." When Cloud didn't speak, Zack nudged him.

"Ah…Cloud," he said.

"I'm Cissnei," said Cissnei with a smile, looking up.

"Sephiroth."

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie turned to stare at Sephiroth, wide-eyed. At that moment, Barret came running over to them. "The hell are you doin' standing around here?" he asked. "I thought I said not to move as a group! We'll meet at the bridge in front of the reactor!"

"Door's open," said Cissnei, standing up and stepping back as the door opened. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, turning towards them.

Sephiroth nodded, stepping inside. Cissnei followed him. The three of them stared after him.

"Sephiroth…" repeated Wedge.

"_The _Sephiroth?" asked Biggs.

"The Sephiroth," confirmed Zack, grinning at him. He placed his hands behind his head. "Just don't ask him to sign autographs."

"Wow…" said Jessie.

Barret cleared his throat. "Get movin'!" he yelled. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie jumped, straightening up and running through the gate. Zack nodded, doing one squat to ready himself before straightening up. "Showtime," he said, patting Cloud on the back before walking forward.

Barret stopped them at the entrance.

"Ex-SOLDIERs, huh?" he said. "I don't trust ya!"

"Don't have to trust us as long as you can work with us," said Zack. "Isn't that right, Cloud?"

"Mm," said Cloud, nodding.

"Tch," said Barret, glaring at them before turning around to run into the reactor.

X

They left Wedge behind to secure their escape route, running into the reactor. By the time Cloud and Zack were inside, Cissnei was already tinkering with one of the brightly colored door panels, making suggestions to Biggs based on her knowledge of Shinra's security system. Sephiroth stood at the top of the stairs, watching the entrance carefully.

"This your first time in a Reactor?" asked Barret as they approached.

He and Zack exchanged glances.

"Hardly," said Zack. "We worked for Shinra, remember?"

Barret frowned at them. "This Planet's full of mako energy," he said. "People here use it every day…" He paused, clenching his fists. "It's the life blood of the Planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with all these weird machines."

"The life blood of the Planet…" said Zack, scratching the back of his neck. "…I never thought of it that way before."

"…But if they keep sucking it up, won't they end up bleeding the Planet dry?" asked Cloud.

Sephiroth frowned. "Eventually," he said. "I suppose."

Barret glared at him, then turned back to the two of them. "Alright!" he said. "You come with me from now on."

Zack and Cloud nodded, the three of them walking over to the door. Cissnei straightened up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Code deciphered," she said, pressing on the door panel. The door opened. They moved into the next room, where Jessie ran up to the door and pressed her hand on the panel. "Code deciphered," she echoed, opening the door and letting them through.

They rushed through, entering the elevator and the reactor itself.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	7. File 002: A Group of Vigilantes pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.

**A/N: **Skipping the "this isn't an ordinary reactor" part, because I think that was supposed to be Zack or something, and he's not dead. And a note on spell names, I'm using the Crisis Core style for most of them, so Bolt is Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga…etc. I hope that's alright.

Another note on weapons, the people with specific named weapons will not be changing them. That is, Seph will keep Masamune, Cissnei will keep Rekka, Zack will keep the Buster Sword. (Do you really think any of them would _sell _those?), but everyone else is fair game.

**OhJay – **Yes, it means some OCs. Hopefully they won't be the annoying kind, though. Thanks for the review, and hope you like this chapter!

**ghost of gene rayburn – **I really appreciate you taking the time to review now, and I'm glad you like it! Yeah, I'm trying to go without many changes, although at some point, the changes are going to add up and the story will take a completely different turn. But I'm glad you like it. Thanks!

**Blooming Delirium – **Yes, it kind of did but I needed a reason for Tifa to be in Kalm and that's what I came up with on the spot. I might change it if I ever go back and edit. And I'm glad you liked that self intro. It was fun to write. No, I'm not specifically referring to Deepground since I haven't played Dirge of Cerberus, and I don't particularly want to reference things I don't know about, but…it might be a bit Deepground-esque. Just tossing that out there. It just won't be them specifically.

X

**File 002: A Group of Vigilantes**

"Elevators…" said Zack as the door closed behind them and Cloud moved over to press the button Jessie indicated, nearly colliding with Cissnei in his attempt to squeeze around everybody. "Nice."

"Something on your mind?" asked Sephiroth, looking up.

"Just thinking about that time we chased Hollander down in Sector 5," said Zack, grinning slightly as he laced his fingers together behind his head. "We actually had to climb up and down ladders then."

"Well," said Sephiroth, smirking slightly. "It _has _been five years."

"That's progress, I guess," said Zack, turning around to face the others as the elevator began to move.

Barret snorted from the center of the elevator, his arms folded. "If that's progress, I don't want nothin' to do with it." They looked up. Cloud turned around from his position near the switch to face him. Barret frowned and lowered his arms, realizing he had an audience. "Little by little, the reactors'll drain out all the life. Then that'll be that," he explained.

"It's not my problem."

The voice came from Sephiroth. Cissnei turned towards him in surprise as Barret turned, gesturing wildly with his gun arm. "The planet's dyin', Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth shrugged his shoulders. "That's what you're here for," he said. "I have something else on my mind."

"Sephiroth…" said Cloud, lowering his eyes.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" asked Zack.

"I don't need to be lectured on the fate of the planet every time I mention technology," said Sephiroth. "We're here on a job. Have you forgotten, Zack?"

"Well…no…" said Zack. "But…"

The elevator stopped, the door opening. Sephiroth moved past Cissnei and the others, walking out of it. "Finish the job," he said. "Then worry about what path you're on."

Barret clenched his human hand into a tight fist, his shoulders shaking with suppressed rage. Cissnei stared down at the ground. "…He…has a point," she said.

"You too, Cissnei?" asked Zack.

Cissnei tucked her brown hair behind her ear slowly. "…We have a job to do," she said. "…Getting emotionally involved isn't going to help us finish it." She looked up at Zack and Cloud, smiling apologetically. "Sorry…" she said. "I guess I'm still a Turk inside. We should go. Before security finds us."

Zack, Cloud, Barret, and Jessie nodded, and the five of them ran out of the open door.

X

They emerged on a metal platform. Zack grinned as they began running down the stairs. "Well, this is more like it!" he said, pulling the Buster Sword from his back and slashing at the 1st Ray that blocked his way without even looking. He jumped over the second one, running down the stairs after Cissnei as the Turk spun around, Rekka flying through the air and severing one Grunt's head before returning to her gloved hand.

"Cloud, I left you the other one!" called Zack, running down the stairs.

"The…other…?" said Cloud, skidding to a stop and bracing one hand against the wall while he held onto the railing with his free hand. "Zack!" The second blue and red 1st Ray swiveled towards him, its gun locking on. From ahead of them, Zack turned his head and raised an arm. "Don't worry! You'll do fine!"

Cloud took a deep breath and pulled the sword from his back, dodging the first attack and slashing at the monster. He was surprised at the ease with which his body moved. A maneuver like this would have been a lot more difficult as an infantryman. Was this the power of SOLDIER? His blade bit into the steel around the monster, slashing through it in one clean strike. From above him, Barret was shooting at another monster on the landing. Cloud stared down at his sword as the two halves of the 1st Ray fell on either side of him.

"I…I did it…" he said.

"Good!" called Zack from the second flight of stairs. "Now hurry up!"

"Ah—mm!" said Cloud, quickly attaching his sword to his back and running down the steps.

He met up with Zack near the door. Zack slashed with the Buster Sword, a single small green robot falling to the ground. Electricity crackled around it for a moment, as it shut down with a final weak cry of "Warning! Warning!"

Sephiroth frowned, straightening up from where he stood over another robot. "Mono Drives," he said.

"Definitely," said Cissnei.

"This is bad," said Zack.

"Define 'bad'," said Cloud.

"Yeah!" said Barret. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"…It means they know we're here," said Sephiroth. "And they'll be coming."

"Then we have to hurry," said Jessie.

Cissnei nodded, opening the door. "Stealth's useless now," she said. "Let's go for speed."

"Can do!" said Zack with a grin as the door opened and they started moving through it. Cloud put a hand to his sword hesitantly, following them through. Zack saw this, turning around to face him. "We'll make a SOLDIER out of you yet," he said, ruffling Cloud's hair. Cloud jerked away. "Zack!" he said. "Get off!"

"Yet?" asked Jessie. "I thought he was already _in _SOLDIER."

"Long story," said Zack. "Tell ya later!"

He picked up speed, running ahead of them and jumping over a break in the walkway after Cissnei. Sephiroth was already down the ladder. Zack swung himself over the side, grasping one of the ladder's rungs with one hand and lowering himself down. "Ah, here are the ladders," he said.

"Shut up and climb, Zack," said Sephiroth, already on the catwalk below. Cissnei dropped down from the third to the last rung, landing in a crouched position on the catwalk and following. Zack followed as well, turning to look back at Cloud. "Try not to look down," he said teasingly.

"Ha ha," said Cloud, picking his way across the catwalk and following them.

"I'll stay here," said Jessie, stopping. "You guys go on ahead."

Zack nodded, running onto a platform after Sephiroth and climbing a second ladder. Cloud hesitated, turning towards Jessie. "Be careful."

She smiled. "Don't worry about me," she said.

He nodded, running onto the platform and following them down the ladder. Cloud dropped down behind the others, climbing over the pipe and getting back on the walkway. There, he stopped just behind Zack, Barret, Cissnei, and Sephiroth. A large machine stood in the middle of the walkway, guarded by two Grunts.

"That's…!" said Zack.

"You know it?" asked Cloud, already drawing his sword.

"I field tested it," replied Zack. "Well…its older brothers, anyway."

"Great," said Cissnei dodging an attack by a grunt and slashing at it with Rekka. "So it's programmed to fight _you." _

"Hey, I can fight it back too!" said Zack. "You will not _believe _how many missions they put me through to make sure these things worked."

"Reminisce later, fight now," groaned Cloud from where he stood on the walkway, one of the Sweeper's arms blocked by his sword.

"Oh, right!" said Zack, pulling the Buster Sword from his back and rushing in. He slashed at the Sweeper's arm, severing it from his body and quickly slashing horizontally to bring the machine down. Cloud exhaled, wiping the sweat from his forehead and sheathing his sword. "Sorry about that, buddy."

Cloud raised an eyebrow and followed Barret as they ran towards the reactor.

"Zack," said Sephiroth, stopping suddenly as they reached the other side.

Zack and Cissnei stopped and turned around to face him, Barret and Cloud hesitating from near the door. Doors were opening on the other side of the catwalk, revealing three Sweeper-like machines. Unlike the Sweepers, though, which were orange colored, these were three different colors. One of them, which had missiles mounted on its back, was olive green. Another, with spikes protruding from its arm, was blue. The third, with spinning blades at the ends of its limbs, was yellow.

Zack whistled. "They really rolled out the red carpet, didn't they?" he asked.

"Did you field test these two?" asked Cissnei.

"More or less," said Zack. "Let's just say it's not a new idea…"

Sephiroth held Masamune in both hands as they approached, turning his head towards Zack. Zack nodded, looking back at Barret and Cloud. "We'll hold them off here," he said. "Finish it!"

Cloud and Barret nodded, and Cloud started moving towards the reactor room.

"Cloud!" called Cissnei.

Cloud stopped, turning around. Cissnei tossed something towards him, then moved to pull Rekka from her back. He caught it, eyes widening. "Hurry!" said Cissnei with a nod.

"Mm!" said Cloud, nodding his head and following Barret into the room. When the two of them were gone, Zack grinned, rushing towards the three robots with Cissnei and Sephiroth.

Zack reached the Needle Machine first, blocking one of its thrusts with the Buster Sword and twisting around to get inside its reach. Sephiroth jumped over him, rushing towards the Launcher Machine. He cut through one of its missiles with Masamune, dodging the second and rushing closer towards it. From his other side, Cissnei ran at full speed _on _the catwalk's railing, jumping into the air and twisting her body around gracefully as she narrowly avoided the Chain Machine's claws. She slashed out with Rekka, drawing a line of sparks down the Machine's front as she dropped into a roll and avoided another slash.

Zack slashed along the Needle Machine's length, the Buster Sword scraping off a layer of metal and revealing the wiring underneath as he quickly rolled away from another thrust, heading around to the machine's back. His eyes narrowed as he held onto his sword, mentally cycling through his Materia as the Buster Sword's length crackled with electricity. He pulled the sword back and thrust it forward with a shout, electricity crackling around the machine as it stumbled forward. It lashed around, trying to get at him, and this time succeeded, the tip of one of its spears brushing against his side. It drew blood, but it was a small injury. His eyes narrowed and he sheathed the Buster Sword, running underneath one of its thrusts and pulling his fist back. He could practically hear Angeal's voice in his head.

_Prove your honor to me! _

_You got it! _

Zack's eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath, rapidly punching and kicking the Machine. He finished it off by diving at it, orange light surrounding his fists as he slammed into it with both hands. It flew back, crashing against the railing with a jarring _clang_. He picked up the Buster Sword and thrust it into the Machine once, destroying the control system. Zack took a deep breath, placing a hand over his injured side and turning towards Sephiroth and Cissnei.

Sephiroth stood in the center of a flurry of small contained explosions, Masamune moving so quickly that all that was visible was a silver streak and an orange burst of fire whenever he cut through one of the missiles. He spun around, his silver hair streaming behind him as he slashed at the Launcher Machine eight times, each move amplified by the close quarters the catwalk necessitated. Zack could use Octaslash, and did on numerous occasions, but Sephiroth made it look like he wasn't even thinking about it. The Launcher Machine fell to the ground in pieces.

Cissnei's Chain Machine, meanwhile, was covered in a crisscross pattern of slashes, sparks erupting from the wounds. It was still fighting, though, turning around and slashing at her constantly. She darted in and out of its slashes, managing to sneak in and strike and pull away just in time. Zack realized that he had never actually _seen _Cissnei fight. The young Turk jumped up into the air away from one of its arms and the second caught her just as she was turning, the edge of the saw ripping a line of blood through her right arm. Cissnei's eyes widened and she fell back, _off _the catwalk.

"Cissnei!" shouted Zack, running to the railing.

A weight attached to the end of a thin rope suddenly flew up, wrapping itself and the rope around the catwalk railing. Cissnei swung below the catwalk and came up the other side, her eyes narrowed as she kicked the Chain Machine from behind. Her momentum sent the Machine flying off the edge of the catwalk and to the ground below. She landed on the catwalk in a crouch, releasing her rope and taking a deep breath as she stood up.

Zack stared at her in surprise as she dusted herself off, wincing slightly as she touched her injured arm. Sephiroth was also watching her, although his expression was contemplative, and not surprised.

"Nice job…" said Zack.

Cissnei smiled, tossing her hair back with her uninjured hand. "Well," she said, "While you've been lying around for four years, _I've _been working."

"Hn…" said Sephiroth in reply.

Cissnei walked over to him, still smiling, and looked off the edge of the railing. "Do you think that's all?" she asked.

"Probably," replied Sephiroth, sheathing Masamune.

At that moment, the alarm went off, bathing the Reactor in a red light.

X

Cloud ran down the catwalk towards the main part of the reactor after Barret, the sounds of fighting echoing from behind them. He clenched his teeth together, hugging the box Cissnei had given him to himself with one arm and speeding up, nearly tripping over something small and round on the floor of the catwalk as he ran over it. His hand shot out, grabbing onto the railing for support as he stumbled. Barret turned around to face him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Cloud, looking down at the ground. A glowing green ball lay at his feet. "Just nearly tripped over this. What's a Materia doing here?" He picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

"No clue," said Barret. "Take it and move, we gotta job to finish!"

"Right!" said Cloud, pocketing the Materia and heading over to the Reactor.

"When we blow this place, it ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk," said Barret. He gestured at the main part of the reactor. "Cissnei gave you the bomb. Set it up."

Cloud hesitated, looking down at the box he was holding. "Shouldn't you do it?" he asked.

"Jus' do it!" said Barret. "I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'!"

"Fine," said Cloud, walking up to the reactor. "I'll do it."

Cloud stopped in front of the reactor, hesitating for a moment. He crouched down, putting the box on the ground and opening it. He tried not to think of the fact that he had never actually set up a bomb before, picking the explosive up out of its padded case. His Shinra training had covered explosives, so he should be fine.

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!" said Barret impatiently.

"Yeah, sorry," said Cloud. He set the bomb up, attaching it to the back of the valve where he thought it would do more damage. He straightened up, an alarm suddenly going off as he did so. Cloud looked around.

"Heads up, here it comes!" said Barret.

That was about the only warning he had as a red mechanical scorpion dropped down from the ceiling, standing on the platform in front of them. Cloud jumped away, saving himself from getting pinned under it. He straightened up, one hand going to the hilt of his sword.

"Don't chicken out on me now!" said Barret, checking his gun arm with his human hand.

"Don't worry. I won't," said Cloud, drawing his sword and pointing it at the robot. The scorpion raised its arms, a green light scanning its surroundings before settling on Cloud. His eyes widened, a memory suddenly coming back to him. It was a fragment from his time in Shinra. He saw himself standing in a large metal room with the other infantrymen, listening to a demonstration of some sort.

The Guard Scorpion…

"Barret, don't attack while its tail is up!" said Cloud, mentally searching through his Materia. He spun his sword over his head without even thinking about it, putting it in its sheath.

"What's that?" asked Barret. "Attack when it's tail is up?"

"No, _don't _attack!" said Cloud. "I said _don't _attack!" He raised his hand, lightning crackling down the length of his arm. A bolt of lightning crashed down from above, slamming straight into the scorpion's center.

"Don't attack. Gotcha," said Barret, raising his gun arm and firing several rounds at the robot. Cloud's eyes narrowed as the robot raised its arms, the outer shell pulling back slightly to reveal its guns. Just as he heard the click that meant it was ready to fire, he jumped to the side, most of the bullets hitting the floor or bouncing off his sword. One of them caught him in the leg as he spun in the air, and he grunted in pain when he landed. Cloud didn't hesitate, holding up his arm and casting Thunder again.

"Why aren't you attackin'?" asked Barret.

"It's weak to lightning," said Cloud, wincing as he placed a hand to his wounded leg. "Trust me."

"Gah!" said Barret, shaking his head. "Whatever! Here!"

He tossed a bottle towards Cloud. The bottle shattered in the air, light green liquid surrounding him. Cloud felt the wound in his leg close up. The Guard Scorpion raised its arms again, green light sweeping the area before stopping on Barret.

"Thanks," said Cloud, getting up and casting Thunder again. "Heads up, it's shooting at you next."

"Hah! Like that's gonna scare me!"

The Guard Scorpion suddenly turned around, raising its bladed tail. It thrust downward, towards Barret. "Whoa!" exclaimed Barret, jumping back and away from it. He jumped too late, the tail ripping a gash down the front of his chest as he landed on the ground. He grunted in pain, pressing his hand to his chest and shooting at it with his gun arm. "I thought you said he was gonna _shoot_!"

"I messed up, alright?" replied Cloud, casting Thunder again.

Barret's eyes narrowed and he raised his gun arm. At the same time, the scorpion raised its tail. Cloud's eyes widened.

"No! Barret, don't!" he yelled.

Too late. Barret shot at the Scorpion. It raised its tail further, an ominous whirring sound coming from its arms. Cloud cursed under his breath and threw a Potion at Barret, closing up the wound on his chest. He pulled his sword free from its sheath, holding it in the defensive position Sephiroth had taught him.

_This is gonna hurt…_he thought.

The Scorpion swept its tail from left to right, a blue laser firing from its tail and striking the both of them. Barret shouted as it hit him. Cloud bit back a scream, feeling the laser sear his flesh. It knocked him back, and he quickly jumped to his feet, breathing heavily.

"Holy crap," said Barret, getting back to his feet.

"That's why I said not to attack!" shouted Cloud, annoyed. He reached into his pocket, taking out a Potion and tearing the cap off with his teeth, downing it in one gulp. Barret did the same.

"I've had jus' about enough of this!" said Barret, spreading his arms. Cloud nodded, thunder crackling up his extended hand again. "Big Shot!" Orange light surrounded Barret, an orange ball of fire forming just in front of his gun arm. It blossomed, becoming bigger and bigger. Barret shouted and braced himself, the ball of fire flying towards the Scorpion. A bolt of lightning hit just behind it, sending the Scorpion staggering.

"It's still standin'!" said Barret. "How the hell is it still standin'?"

"Shinra technology at its finest," muttered Cloud, gritting his teeth as the Guard Scorpion locked onto him again. Barret shot at the Scorpion as Cloud raised his arm, casting Thunder. He could feel the constant casting starting to drain on him, using up his energy. The Scorpion immediately turned around, stabbing its tail at Cloud. A scream ripped itself from Cloud's throat as he was thrown back, a large stab wound in his shoulder. He landed on the reactor floor.

"Cloud!" shouted Barret.

"I'm—I'm fine!" he said, placing one hand on his injured shoulder and pressing against it as he pushed himself to his feet. His eyes narrowed at the Scorpion as he felt a sudden surge of energy run through him. He pulled his sword from its sheath and held it in both hands. "I'm ready to finish this!"

He felt the power surge through him as he held onto his sword tightly, raising it into the air once before charging at the Scorpion. He shouted in defiance, jumping into the air and bringing his sword down straight over the monster's head. He felt it tear through the metal already damaged by his constant casting and Barret's bullets, drawing a line right down the center of the Scorpion. The Scorpion shook once before collapsing onto the ground, sparks flying harmlessly from it. Cloud landed on the ground and sheathed his sword, taking deep breaths as Barret let out a whoop of triumph. He walked over to Cloud from behind, placing his human hand on his shoulder.

"You did good, kid," said Barret.

"Thanks," said Cloud, in between breaths. He frowned, noticing something on the wreckage of the robot. He walked over to it, picking it up. It was one of the robot's guns, but it looked just the right size for Barret's gun arm. "Hey…Barret. Can you use this?"

Barret frowned and stared at it critically, then glanced at the name on the side. "Assault Gun?" he asked. "Yeah, probably." He reached up to his gun arm, and as Cloud watched, pressed a button on the side. The gun fell off, revealing the stump of Barret's arm covered by a metal plate. He fixed the Assault Gun to it, the metal whirring as it adjusted to his arm. Barret raised his arm, looking at it. "Feels pretty good. Good eye, Cloud."

"Thanks," said Cloud. He walked over to where he had placed the bomb. "I activate it?"

"Yeah, go ahead. We'll have ten minutes," said Barret.

Cloud nodded, pressing the red button. A red light went on. "Let's get out of here," he said.

"Good call!" said Barret, running down the walkway. They emerged in the room outside, where Sephiroth, Zack, and Cissnei were waiting expectantly.

"Cloud, your shoulder!" said Zack.

"Leave it!" said Barret. "C'mon, we gotta move!"

Cissnei and Sephiroth nodded, starting to run down the walkway. Zack looked up, meeting Cloud's eyes. Cloud nodded once, breathing through his teeth from the pain in his arm. Zack nodded, beginning to run. Cloud followed. Sephiroth and Cissnei were already on the move, clearing a path for them through the monsters. They met up with Jessie on the catwalk, who was struggling to get her leg out of the gap.

"You alright?" asked Cloud, stretching his uninjured arm out to her.

"My leg got stuck!" said Jessie.

"Sheesh…" muttered Cloud, shaking his head and grabbing onto her arm. He braced himself on the catwalk, pulling her free. "Let's go!" he said, continuing to run.

"Thanks!" shouted Jessie after him, following.

They met Biggs outside the elevator, running towards one of the locked doors. Cissnei pushed him out of the way, entering a quick code. The door opened, and they ran through it, running out towards the entrance of the reactor. Wedge stood there, waving frantically at them. They followed him, running into a tunnel.

The Sector 1 Reactor exploded behind them, casting a huge fireball into Midgar's night sky. Cloud felt the force throwing him outward, pushing him into Zack and making Jessie crash into him. They tumbled forward in a heap, the wreckage of the reactor collapsing the tunnel behind them.

"Everyone okay?" asked Barret, getting up.

"We're fine," said Cloud, scrambling off Zack and helping Jessie to her feet. Zack groaned from the floor, pushing himself up on his arm. "Speak for yourself," he said.

"Fine," said Sephiroth, tying a piece of cloth tightly over Cissnei's injured arm.

"Biggs and I are alright too," said Wedge.

"That should keep the planet going a little longer," said Biggs.

"Yeah…" said Wedge, nodding.

"Okay," said Jessie, getting up from where she was setting up an explosive at the wreckage. "Everyone get back."

They scrambled against the nearest wall. The bomb went off, clearing a path. Cloud and Zack ran through the flames quickly, followed by Sephiroth and Cissnei. Barret jumped through. Biggs and Jessie followed, and Wedge ran through, running around in circles and patting at a tongue of flame on his pants. When it was out, he ran over to the group.

"Alright!" said Barret. "Let's get out of here! Rendezvous at the Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!"

They nodded, going off in separate directions.

"H-Hey…" began Cloud.

Zack grabbed Cloud by his uninjured wrist, pulling him towards the stairs. "You heard him," said Zack. "Let's get out of here."

"Ah, but…" Cloud shook his head. "Never mind," he said. "You're right. Let's run."

They ran up the steps and into the city.

**END FILE**


	8. File 003: A Dying Planet pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I'm probably going to go back and make all the files their own individual chapters in editing. Probably. At the moment, enjoy the broken up files, so that you don't have to wait so long for me to get each monster update out.

**Riku Uzumaki – **I think this chapter might disappoint you a little, and if it does, I'm really sorry. Rest assured that this is still a Zerith story, I just wanted to give Zack a little more depth. Thanks for the review, and I hope this chapter doesn't turn you off completely…

**Shiya64 – **I'm glad you like it! Yeah, Cloud's the character I'm using to show the "leveling up" aspect of this fic. He's starting out the same way he was in Crisis Core, but he'll end this fic at the same level he was in AC, which should be awesome for him. Glad you liked it! And I'm glad you liked Cissnei being here! Cissnei's here because I wanted to wrap up a lot of plot threads CC left undone, and Cissnei is one of them.

**OhJay – **Awesome! I hope it fit well with the battle scene! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry for the late updates. I really need to hurry it up, since there's a long way to go before the end, but since this file doesn't have much battle, it'll probably be up sooner than the last one was (battle scenes are _not _my favorite scenes to write).

**Blooming Delirium – **Haha, I'll take that as a compliment, since that chapter was TWICE as long as all the other chapters. I usually post up short chapters though since it takes me forever to get the long stuff out, and I'd rather post up little updates at a time than keep you guys waiting (hence why the "files" are all broken up into parts.) Glad you liked it!

**HazzaTL3 – **Thanks, I'm glad you think so! This chapter was more emotional than the last one, so I hope it turns out well! Enjoy!

X

**File 003: A Dying Planet**

They ran out into the streets, Zack still holding onto Cloud's arm. The boy was breathing heavily, and Zack knew that his injured arm had to be hurting him, but he didn't slow down. Zack recognized the measured footfalls drilled into most of the Shinra infantry and knew that Cloud's mind was probably shut off somewhere else right now. His body was just focused on moving. The sharp smells of smoke and mako filled the street, and with people panicking everywhere they looked, it was the perfect cover for their escape.

A red-haired woman in a business suit ran past him, knocking into his shoulder on her way out. Zack spun around, turning to face her when he saw a flash of pink fall down out of the corner of his eye. His eyes widened and he froze, letting go of Cloud.

Aerith.

She picked herself up off the ground, brushing her fingers delicately across her dress and balancing her flower basket in the crook of her arm. Zack knew he should have been worrying about her—after all, she was up _here _above the plate and dangerously close to the blast site, but all he could see was pink. A pink dress, a darker pink jacket, even the pink ribbon that she still wore in her hair. She looked up with concern at the wreckage of the Reactor, and he could almost _hear _her voice.

"_From now on," _he remembered himself saying, _"why don't we make a promise every time we meet?" _

"_Promise? For when to meet next time?" _

"_No…more of a "general" promise about meeting. For example, when we meet, you always have to dress in pink." _

"_Heh, don't be silly!" _

"Aerith…" he muttered, letting go of Cloud's wrist. Cloud stopped, a few steps ahead of him. He turned around to face him, a confused look on his face. "Zack?"

Zack's eyes widened as he caught sight of someone about twenty feet away from Aerith, slouching behind a rundown stall. It was difficult to see from this angle, but there was no mistaking that posture, the dark suit and the bright red hair and ponytail.

He quickly ducked into an alley just as Aerith spotted Cloud. Zack pressed his back against the wall and took a deep breath, his hands shaking.

"Excuse me," he heard Aerith say. Even her _voice _was still just as he remembered it. He swallowed, feeling a lump form in his throat. "What happened? Is your arm okay?"

He heard Cloud take in a quick breath and turn around, and Zack closed his eyes, leaning his head back as he heard his friend reply. "N-Nothing…I'm fine…" In a different situation, he would have facepalmed. He made a mental note never to let Cloud make up their cover story. "…You…uh…don't see many flowers around here."

"Oh, these?" he heard Aerith ask, and he could see the smile on her face in his mind. His fist clenched. "Do you like them? They're only one gil. Would you like to buy one?"

_Damn you, Reno. _

"Uh…sure…" he heard Cloud say.

"Oh, thank you!" said Aerith cheerfully. "Here you are!"

He heard footsteps as Aerith walked away. Zack looked around the corner, his eyes narrowing as he saw Reno following her, keeping a few paces behind her. The red-headed Turk didn't seem to have noticed him. Cloud walked back over to him, carrying one yellow flower.

"Uh…Zack…?" he asked.

Zack grit his teeth and let out a shout of frustration, pulling his fist back and punching the wall. The shock of the impact traveled all the way up his arm, making it numb from the wrist to the elbow.

"Zack!"

Zack took a deep breath to calm himself down, looking up at his friend. "I…I'm alright," he said.

"That was your girlfriend, wasn't it?" asked Cloud. "Why didn't you go talk to her?"

Zack sighed and tilted his head back, looking up at the sky. "Yeah," he said. "Good question. C'mon, we gotta move."

He grabbed Cloud by the wrist again, running down the street towards the train station.

Aerith…he should have been happy that she was alive and alright after all this time, even if the Turks were still watching her. He should have been glad just to see her. But it hurt. It actually physically hurt. Because he didn't just want to see her.

He wanted to be near her, to hold her, to tell her how sorry he was for being gone for five years without saying anything. He wanted to run his hands through her hair and be surrounded by the smell of flowers, the same smell that was currently wafting off the small flower that Cloud held in his hand. More than anything, he wanted to finally get down to that church and fix that Gaia-damned flower wagon.

But he couldn't. Because Aerith was still being watched by Shinra, and Shinra, at least the Turks, remembered him.

"Zack!" he heard Cloud say as they ran faster. "Hey, Zack! Talk to me!"

He didn't stop. Bullets pinged off the stone street in front of them as the Shinra infantrymen finally caught on, blocking their way. Zack's eyes narrowed. He wasn't in the mood for this right now. He released Cloud, reaching for the Buster Sword and pulling it out.

"Outta my way!" he shouted angrily, swinging the Buster Sword at the two of them. They fell over, and Zack and Cloud ran past, the blond holding onto his own sword as well. They stopped at an overpass that hung over the train tracks as more infantrymen showed up, blocking all of the roads. He saw Cloud shift his sword to his uninjured arm and swing, taking out one of the infantrymen. Zack moved past him, spinning his Buster Sword over his head and swinging it at the next two. They fell over easily. Cloud took down another one, and the two of them stopped, standing back to back with their swords in hand as they were surrounded by Shinra infantrymen.

Cloud was breathing hard, clearly exhausted. Zack's breathing was getting a little heavy as well; even 1sts were allowed to be tired after taking down a Reactor. He lunged forward at the same time as Cloud did, stabbing through another infantryman. It wasn't enough. Damn it, it _wasn't enough_. Gunfire rang out through the air as the infantrymen shot at him, and he raised his sword, the bullets ricocheting off the blade. One of them glanced off the side of his head, leaving a streak of blood.

In his mind, he went back to that time in the wasteland months ago, as he faced the same infantrymen but in greater numbers, blood running down his arms and soaking through his uniform as he prepared to fight what he thought would be his final fight. It should have been—would have been if it wasn't for Sephiroth.

Shinra.

He had given that damned company everything he had and then some. He had poured his heart and soul into his job, following orders even if he hated them, doing everything he was told just because he believed in people like Lazard. People like Angeal, and Sephiroth, and even that bastard Genesis. He had killed—Gaia, who knew how many people he had killed because the company said they were a threat.

Even Angeal…

His mentor's face filled his mind, his white wings outstretched and his blue eyes blazing not with mako but with fire as he reminded Zack to hold onto his honor…

He had done everything for that company…

And in exchange, they had destroyed him. Locked him away for four years and let Hojo use him as a science experiment, proclaimed him as killed in action to the entire world, including his parents in Gongaga who he hadn't even had a chance to _write to_, had tracked him down like a fugitive when he escaped that messed up torture chamber of a basement, and had tried—almost succeeded—to kill him.

If that wasn't enough, they took away the only thing he loved.

But that was just him. Cissnei. Genesis. Angeal. Sephiroth. Director Lazard. Cloud. Aerith, Tifa, Shion…

Maybe he could forgive what they did to him, but what they did to _them? _

Unforgivable.

His eyes narrowed, and he didn't see an infantryman anymore as he rushed towards his enemy, slashing out with his Buster Sword.

He only saw Shinra.

From below them, he heard a whistle, the overpass shaking as the train started moving under them.

"Zack!"

Cloud put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back forcibly, stopping him from rushing at the remainder of the troops. Zack looked up and turned his head, his eyes widening slightly as he caught sight of the blond and remembered who he was and why he was here. He looked down at the train, nodding once. Without warning, he grabbed Cloud by the arm, running towards the railing. The infantrymen raised their guns and started shooting.

"Hey!" shouted Cloud. "Wait!"

"Hold on tight!" said Zack in response, placing his hand on the railing and vaulting over it. Cloud shouted as they fell towards the moving train below.

X

Cissnei sat on one of the boxes in the train's cargo hold, her sleeve rolled up to her shoulder. Sephiroth stood beside her, one hand hovering over her bloodied arm. Green light surrounded it, coming from Sephiroth's Materia. It twisted around the wound, knitting flesh back together and healing it. She bit her lip, resting her free hand on her knee and reaching out to catch Rekka as the train jostled, stopping the shuriken from falling off the bus.

"Is this better?" asked Sephiroth, pulling back.

She flexed her arm, feeling no pain. Cissnei raised her hand to the injury but found only freshly healed skin and no new blood.

"Much," she said, nodding at him. "Thank you."

He nodded back and said nothing, leaning against the wall. The air in the train was heavy. Cissnei rolled down her sleeve, trying not to worry too much about it.

"…Zack and Cloud never came…" said Wedge.

"…Those two…" began Biggs. "…Think they were killed?"

Sephiroth turned his head sharply, facing Biggs. Cissnei sat up. "I'm sure they're fine!" she said. "Zack won't die that easily."

"Zack and Cloud…" murmured Jessie from her seat, staring down at her hands.

Sephiroth said nothing, but Cissnei noticed that his fists were clenched. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked up at him, but there was no emotion on his face. Even after five years of living and traveling together, he was still difficult for her to read, but she thought she saw something in the way he refused to meet her eyes.

_Zack…_she realized. _His promise to Angeal…_

"Say, do you think they're going to stay on and fight for AVALANCHE?" asked Biggs, looking up.

"How the hell would I know?" asked Barret. "Do I _look _like a mind reader?" He slammed his fist on the box next to him. "Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-ups…"

"…Cissnei? Sephiroth?" asked Jessie, looking up. "How about you?"

Sephiroth didn't respond, or even acknowledge her question by looking up at her. Cissnei stared down at the train floor, her legs swinging back and forth from the motion of the train. "…How about we think that over later?" she asked.

Everyone on the train, even Sephiroth, looked up as they suddenly heard pounding on the door. It came three times, and then the door opened and Zack swung in, one arm slung around Cloud's torso. He landed smoothly in a crouch in the center of the train, releasing Cloud and straightening up. Zack grinned. "Miss me?" he asked.

Everyone jumped to their feet.

"Zack!" said Biggs.

"Cloud!" said Jessie.

Cloud rolled over onto the floor and looked up at Zack, glaring. "Never do that again," he said.

"C'mon," said Zack with a small grin as he moved over to close the door. "Sure, we're a little late to the party, but you have to admit, it was a stylish entrance."

Cloud muttered something about how stylish it would be if Zack were to fall out the door right now, rolling over onto his back. He took a deep breath and jumped to his feet just as Zack pulled the door shut.

"You're damn right you're late!" yelled Barret, pointing at them. "Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"

"It's no big scene," said Zack with a smile, turning around. "Just what I always do."

Barret swore at him, and Cissnei muffled her laughter with her hand. If Zack was put off by the swearing at all, he didn't show it, turning around to face Cloud. "Now…" he said, "About your arm, let's see it."

Cloud winced, but didn't say anything as Zack ushered him over to the seat previously occupied by Cissnei, pulling down the cloth around his shoulder to reveal the wound. Zack winced, and Cissnei frowned. She could tell from here that it was pretty bad—that Cloud was moving around at all after this was just testament to the fact that mako enhancements worked. Zack held out his hand, and Cissnei saw that it was starting to glow with another healing spell.

"Damn. What happened to you?" asked Zack.

Cloud's answer was drowned out in a hiss of pain as Zack's fingers first made contact, quickly giving away to a sigh of relief as the healing went to work. Barret frowned, looking up. "Kid got himself injured fighting that Guard Scorpion. Did pretty well though. Killed it."

Cissnei's eyes widened in surprise and Zack raised his eyebrows, looking up at Cloud. "_You _killed a Guard Scorpion?" he asked.

"I…guess?" asked Cloud, looking back up at Zack. "…It was just a mass-produced model. And Barret helped too."

"Still," said Zack. He let out a whistle. "…You did great, Cloud. Maybe we'll even let you get a drink tonight. From _Tifa_."

"Zack!" said Cloud, turning red.

"What do you think, Sephiroth?" asked Zack. "Think Cloud deserves a drink?"

Sephiroth leaned back against the wall, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Hm…" he said. "I suppose. But don't let it get to your head. Tomorrow we'll start working on the mistakes you made while we were entering the reactor."

Cloud made a face and Zack laughed. "C'mon, Seph!" he said. "Give the kid a break!"

Sephiroth ignored Zack, continuing to talk. "…Two hours. Yes, I think two hours would be appropriate. What do you think, Cloud?"

Cloud groaned. Zack patted him on the back, pulling him away. "We'll just have to make the most of tonight then, huh, buddy?" Cloud looked up at Zack's grinning face.

He groaned again.

Barret laughed, and even Sephiroth chuckled slightly. Cissnei smiled, looking up across the group. Her smile disappeared as she caught sight of Jessie, sitting in her own little corner of the compartment.

Had Cissnei been the only one to notice how Jessie's face clouded over the moment Zack started teasing Cloud about Tifa?

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	9. File 003: A Dying Planet pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I didn't include the scene where Tifa makes Cloud a drink, and I'm really sorry for that, but I couldn't find a way to write it so that it fit well with the chapter. Don't worry, though, I promise there will be some nice Cloti moments coming up. Also, this chapter was actually kind of long, because of the scene at the end that was a last minute addition. Enjoy!

Also, a quick plug right here, if you guys don't mind delving out of the realm of canon, my Aeriseph story **Sins of the Father, **and it's complete prequel **The Hero and the Demon** need some love. You don't have to go read it, and I completely understand if you don't want to, but I'm just tossing that out there.

**Riku Uzumaki – **Well, you know, just by going by the events in the game, Reno has to be kinda a jerk in the next few chapters, but don't worry, Zack will meet Aerith soon! Eventually, or this thing wouldn't be Zerith!

**Shiya64 – **I'm glad you like it! I actually don't really like reading off the cutscenes, but I have to do it to make the story flow smoother. And yeah, Cloud's going to gradually become awesome (if he isn't already). As for those three…no comment, lol. XD Can't think of a way to answer that without giving myself away.

**Blooming Delirium – **I promise you, there will be fluff. But I also ask you to wait a bit, while I give Zack some drama. I have their meeting scheduled for a little bit down the line. First, some stuff has to happen. But yes. Lots of fluffy Zerith fluff when they meet.

**OhJay – **Yay! Glad you liked it! And I'm sorry that this chapter turned out kinda long, then, but I hope you enjoy! As for Aerith and Zack, they're going to have their meeting in…hmm…*looks at outline* File…007. Yeah, I know, it's a ways to go, but you'll still get some Zerith moments even when they haven't met up. Let's just say I'm excited to write the Corneo scene *evil laugh*.

**HazzaTL3 – **Again, not going to answer any questions about Jessie because I don't want to give anything away. Just enjoy it for now. Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you like it!

**floutistvivi – **Here's an update! Hope you like it, and thanks for your support!

X

**File 003: A Dying Planet**

It was a few moments later when Barret straightened up and walked to the front of the car, looking around at the assembled group. "Wake up!" he said. "We're movin' out! Follow me!" He turned, jumping through the door of the cargo hold into the main body of the train itself.

Sephiroth nodded, unfolding his arms and getting up from his position against the wall. Cissnei jumped off the box she was sitting on, and Zack grinned, clapping Cloud on the shoulder. "C'mon," he said, readjusting Cloud's single pauldron before helping the younger man to his feet. Wedge turned and grinned at them.

"Hey, guys!" he said. "You were great back there!"

"Thanks," said Zack, grinning.

"You weren't bad yourselves," said Cissnei. She stepped forward, following Wedge into the next train.

Biggs grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Heh heh…we'll do even better next time," he said, jumping out next.

Zack and Sephiroth exchanged glances.

"After you," said Zack, gesturing towards the door. Sephiroth nodded and took three measured steps forward. He bent his knees and jumped, clearing the gap effortlessly. Zack watched him and glanced behind Cloud. Jessie was standing against the wall, her hands clasped together almost nervously. He grinned and winked at her, one hand on the back of Cloud's head. She looked up at him and flushed.

"Alright, Cloud," said Zack, "See ya in a minute!"

Zack ruffled Cloud's hair and took a deep breath, doing a single squat. Cloud's eyes widened.

"Hey—wait!" he began. Zack ignored him.

"Alley-oop!" he said as he ran towards the gap, jumping at the last moment and landing on the other side. He braced his hand against the wall as the train hit a rough spot, turning around to watch as Jessie walked over to Cloud and started talking to him. It was a bit hard to hear what they were saying, but Zack saw the girl reach forward and nervously wipe the soot off Cloud's face. He grinned.

"Looks like Cloud's becoming quite the ladies' man," said Cissnei from beside him.

"I know," said Zack, "I've taught him well."

Cissnei laughed. "Hmm, I wonder about that," she said, patting Zack on the arm before turning around to walk into the main car, where Barret was no doubt in the process of terrorizing civilians. Zack turned his head towards her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Cissnei smiled and looked over her shoulder, her arms folded. She was walking in that style she always walked in when she was being catty, one foot directly in front of the other. "Just saying I'm not sure Cloud could have learned much from you."

Zack blinked at her as she began walking away again. Then, it sank in.

"Hey! Cissnei!" he called, chasing after her.

X

The train continued down towards the slums. Cloud and Jessie looked up from where they were studying the map of Midgar's Rail System. He glanced back at the screen. He had heard a lot about Midgar's trains—things he hadn't even had the chance to learn while he was living here. He had never really considered what it was like in the slums. Seeing Tifa's bar had been the first time he had really ventured down there. For the first time, he seriously thought about what it meant that Midgar was suspended in the air above the slums.

He shivered slightly and looked away from the window, suddenly feeling a little nauseous. Was it his motion sickness acting up again, or something else? He thought being enhanced with mako would have fixed that problem. Cloud turned towards Sephiroth, noticing that he was looking out of the window as well. The former SOLDIER 1st Class looked up at him, noticing.

"It can be…a little unsettling," he admitted. The train was winding around the support pillar now, so if they looked hard enough, they could see both the plate above them and the slums below them.

Barret looked up in surprise, walking over to Sephiroth's seat. "Huh?" he asked. "Never expect to hear that outta someone like you. You jus' full of surprises."

Sephiroth looked up at Barret for a moment, then closed his eyes, folded his arms, and shrugged. Barret walked away from Sephiroth, heading to the front of the car. "The upper world…a city on a plate…It's 'cuz of that fucking _pizza_ that the people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On top of that, the Reactor keeps drainin' all the energy."

Cloud lowered his eyes. He had spent his entire time in Midgar above the plate. He hadn't even given a second thought to the people below it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zack clasp his hands together and lean forward, looking down at the floor of the car as if he was thinking about something. He frowned, a memory coming back to him.

Didn't people say that Zack's girlfriend lived in the slums?

"Then…why don't the people just move onto the plate?" asked Cloud, looking up.

"They don't have any money, Cloud."

This time, it wasn't Barret who answered, but Sephiroth. He was looking at Cloud, his arms still folded. "It costs money to move onto the plate."

"Some of them love it down there, no matter how polluted or dirty it gets," said Zack. He sighed, leaning back in his seat and placing his arms behind his head as he looked up at the lights. "…Or, you know, for silly reasons. Like being afraid of the sky."

Cloud would have laughed, but the way Zack said it didn't make it seem like a joke. For one moment, Zack seemed…really sad, his face taking on a wistful expression. Barret turned to face Zack, scowling.

"Hey," he said. "This isn't somethin' to joke about!"

Zack didn't respond. He just closed his eyes and smiled. Cissnei, who was nearest, put a hand on Barret's arm to stop him as he moved forward, his fist clenched. Barret glanced at her and muttered a curse under his breath, pulling away.

The train eventually came to a stop, and all of them stepped out of it onto the platform. Barret raised his hands, calling everyone towards him. Zack and Cloud walked forward together, standing next to Sephiroth and Cissnei. Jessie stood on Cloud's other side, a serious expression on her face as she watched Barret.

"The mission was a success," said Barret. "But don't get lazy now. The hard part's still to come. Don't y'all be scared of that explosion! 'Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back at the hideout! Move out!"

"Next one," said Zack as they cleared out, his hands clasped together behind his neck. "He makes it sound like we'll be staying on."

"Will we be?" asked Cloud, following along behind them.

Zack shrugged. "Who knows," he said. "I guess we'll figure that out. Seph? Cissnei?"

Cissnei shrugged her shoulders in reply. "I'm indifferent," she said. "Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth didn't answer. Cloud frowned and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Seeing this, Zack grinned, turning around to face him. "Hey, Cloud!" he said. "What are you doing in the back?" Zack grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, then turned and pushed him in front of the entire group. "You're the only one that knows where we're going, remember?"

"Ah-right!" said Cloud, nodding. "Uh…this way."

He walked through the streets, leading them towards Seventh Heaven. It was a little confusing, since he had only been here once before, but on his way here and back he had picked out landmarks, and he used them to lead the others. He turned at the support pillar, and Zack looked up.

"Man," he said. "Sometimes you just forget how huge these things are."

"Mm," said Cloud, stopping and facing him. "I was looking it on the way in."

"Doesn't it make you a little nervous?" asked Cissnei, hugging her arms. "Living under the plate like this, I mean. If you think about it, if those pillars broke, we'd all be dust."

Sephiroth grunted in reply and said nothing, although he turned and looked at the pillar as if considering it. Zack smiled and stretched. "Well, it's not much different from being out in the field, I guess. Anything can kill you."

"I know," said Cissnei, "But if I'm going to die young, I'd rather do it in a fight and not because a chunk of metal fell on me."

Zack shrugged in reply. Cloud cleared his throat softly, drawing their attention back to him.

"Well," he said. "We should get going. It's just over here."

The three of them nodded, following him to the building. Cissnei shot the pillar one last distrustful look before following them.

They stopped in front of a building with a sign hanging over the door that said "ENTER" in bright neon letters. Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge stood outside, near the steps. Sephiroth looked up, studying it. Then, he nodded his head, as if in approval.

"Mm," said Cissnei from beside him. "Agreed."

"What?" asked Cloud, looking over his shoulder at them.

"It's an ideal hideout," said Sephiroth. "While it isn't the last place they'd look, it certainly isn't the first, and it's not out of place in this environment."

Cissnei nodded. "As long as we can keep Tifa's ties to us secret, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Sephiroth turned to look at her and Cissnei cleared her throat, looking away. "Them," she said. "As long as _they _can."

The four of them looked up at the sound of gunfire. Barret ran out of the bar, chasing out a group of people. They ran down the streets, and Barret folded his arms, walking down the steps. Tifa ran out after him, sighing and looking exasperated. The people ran a safe distance away before stopping, and Cloud could hear parts of their conversation from where he stood.

"_Did you hear…?" _

"_They say that there was a terrorist explosion up above…" _

He frowned, exchanging a worried glance with Zack. Zack frowned as well, nodding once at him.

"Go on ahead," said Barret, turning towards them.

"Ah—yeah," said Cloud, nodding once. "C'mon." He turned, leading the other three up the steps and into the bar. Inside, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were sitting at a table, drinks in front of them. Biggs and Wedge were gulping theirs down, but Jessie sipped hers, watching as the group walked in. A young girl, brown-haired and wearing a violet dress, jumped off the counter, running over to them with a big grin on her face. She stopped a few feet short of them, looking up. Her eyes widened and her face turned red. She quickly turned around, running towards a corner.

Behind him, he heard Cissnei mutter. "Looks like she's afraid of you, Zack."

"Me?" asked Zack, turning his head. "Ha, I think Seph over there scared her off." He looked up suddenly, placing his hand on the back of Cloud's head and pushing it down. Cloud nearly fell over. As it was, he stumbled forward, his arms shooting out on either side of him to keep his balance.

"Yo! Tifa!" shouted Zack with a grin as Tifa ran over to them. "We brought your boy back!"

Cloud grunted and jerked his head away from Zack's hold, reaching up with both hands and shoving him. "Whoa!" said Zack, stumbling to the side. Cloud straightened up and turned to Tifa, his face red. "Uh…hi," he said, raising his hand.

"Welcome home, Cloud," said Tifa, smiling. "Looks like everything went well." She turned, heading over to the little girl. Tifa bent down so that she was eye level with her. "Marlene! Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud and the others?"

The girl looked up and let Tifa lead her over to them. She looked down nervously, shifting her feet around. Cloud thought she looked about four years old. He had met her before, and knew that she was Barret's daughter, but he hadn't really had much time to say anything to her.

"Hey," said Cloud, smiling.

"Hi," said Marlene, giving Cloud a tentative smile.

Zack took a step forward and dropped to one knee. "Hey there, kiddo," he said. "What's your name?"

"M-Marlene…" said the girl.

"Nice to meet you, Marlene," said Zack. "I'm Zack. The nice lady over there is Cissnei, and that scary guy is Sephiroth." He extended a hand towards the girl and she hesitated for just a moment, before smiling at him and taking it. Zack shook her hand.

"Zack, Ciss…nei…and…um…Sefriwoth?" asked Marlene.

"Seph-i-roth," said Zack, repeating each syllable slowly.

Marlene frowned. "Sev-Severy…"

Footsteps sounded from behind him and Cloud turned, his eyes widening slightly as he saw Sephiroth standing right behind him. He moved aside, and the silver-haired SOLDIER walked past him, stopping in front of Marlene.

"If it's too difficult," he began, "Seph is fine."

Marlene looked up at him for one moment before clasping her hands behind her and giving him a bright smile. "Seph," she said.

He nodded at her and turned towards Zack, who was staring openly at him. Cissnei, Tifa, and Cloud were staring as well. Sephiroth looked around, frowning at them. "What?" he asked.

"Uh—nothing!" said Zack. He got to his feet. "Anyway, Tifa, pass me a drink. I feel like I need one."

"Coming right up," said Tifa, turning away from Cloud and running back to the bar. She picked up an empty glass and flipped it over in her hand, setting it down with a _thunk_. "Did you fight with Barret?" she asked as she worked.

"Not this time," said Cloud. "Um…he and Sephiroth got into a bit of an argument, but that's about it.."

Sephiroth 'hmphed' in reply, folding his arms. Tifa smiled at him, handing Zack his drink. "You've grown up," she said, walking over to him. "When you were little, you used to get into fights at the drop of a hat."

Cloud flushed as Zack grinned. "What? This guy?" he asked, pointing at Cloud as he took a sip of his drink.

"That was…a while ago," said Cloud, scratching the back of his head.

Tifa shook her head and leaned forward, spotting the yellow flower in Cloud's pocket. "Flowers? How nice…You almost never see them here in the slums. But…a flower for me? You shouldn't have." Cloud's blush deepened and he cleared his throat, pulling it out of his pocket. "It's—uh…it's for Marlene," he said, holding it out to the little girl. Marlene's eyes widened and she ran forward, snatching the flower before going back to hiding behind Tifa. Tifa smiled at him, putting her hand on the girl's head.

"Sorry, Cloud," she said. "Marlene's a little shy…"

"Seph, want a drink?" asked Zack, taking another sip.

Sephiroth shook his head. "No," he said. "And you shouldn't be drinking either."

Zack shrugged. He smiled, leaning back against the wall and watching as Jessie scolded Wedge for making a mess. "C'mon," he said. "I'm not getting drunk or anything. Just—."

They stopped, looking up as the door flew open and Barret ran in. Sephiroth stepped back and out of the way and Cloud jumped back, hitting one of the tables. The AVALANCHE leader ignored them, running up to Tifa. Marlene let out a shout of delight and ran up to him. "Papa! Welcome home!" she said.

Barret smiled and knelt down, scooping her up into his arms. He put her on his shoulder and stood up. Barret frowned. "Where'd you get that flower?" he asked.

"Cloud gave it to me," said Marlene with a smile.

"Oh…" said Barret. "Did you thank him?"

Marlene frowned, then turned her head towards him. "Thank you, Cloud," she said, smiling. "We'll take care of you."

Cloud smiled back.

"You alright, Barret?" asked Tifa.

"Great!" said Barret. He turned, waving at the others with his gun arm. "Get in here, fools! We're startin' the meeting!" He ran over to the pinball machine and pressed a button, and as Cloud watched, it sank down into the ground. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie jumped in after him, and Tifa returned to the bar, smiling up at Cloud. Zack set down his empty glass and stretched.

"That's our cue too," he said. "C'mon, Seph, Cissnei!" He placed one hand on Cissnei's back and the other on Sephiroth's, pushing them out the door.

"Zack!" said Sephiroth.

"What are you doing?" asked Cissnei. "Hey!"

Zack stopped at the door and smiled, winking at Cloud and Tifa as he pushed the other two out into the street.

"Well," said Tifa, smiling as she ran a hand through her black hair and leaned over the top of the counter. "How about I make you a drink…?"

X

Cissnei turned around the moment Zack released her, watching as the ex-SOLDIER shut the door behind him. "What was _that _all about?" asked Cissnei as Sephiroth glared at Zack, taking a step away from the dark-haired man. Sephiroth nodded.

"Explain yourself," he said.

Zack smiled in reply, leaning against the door. "I just thought Cloud and Tifa needed some time alone." He folded his arms and the smile vanished, his mako blue eyes becoming slightly downcast as he stared down at the ground. Cissnei looked at him and frowned. She had only seen that expression on Zack's face once before, when they were on the beach in Costa del Sol.

"…You really love her, don't you?" she asked.

Zack looked up. "What do you think?" he asked in reply, before turning his head and staring off down the street. A vendor passed by, shouting a chant of "Fresh bread! Fresh baked bread!" He remained there for a while before sighing, straightening up.

"I don't know about you," he said, "But fresh bread sounds pretty good to me. Be right back."

And then he was off, walking past Sephiroth and Cissnei and chasing down the vendor.

Sephiroth sighed, watching Zack go. "I almost worry he might be getting distracted," he said.

Cissnei smiled slightly, folding her arms and walking over to stand beside Sephiroth. "Love…isn't always a distraction," she said. "Sometimes it can give you something to fight for."

"Hm," said Sephiroth, watching Zack. He paused for a moment. "…What do you fight for, Cissnei?" he asked.

She blinked. "Me?" she asked. Cissnei clasped her hands behind her back. "…Nothing special. I fight for me. Because I'm me. What about you?"

"…Same."

Cissnei sighed. "One of these days, we're both going to have to come up with better reasons," she said.

"Mm," said Sephiroth, nodding. "One of these days."

"Hey," said Cissnei, grinning slightly. "Stop repeating everything I say." She reached up to playfully shove him in the side. Sephiroth took in a sharp breath of air and actually flinched, and Cissnei froze.

"…Sephiroth?" she asked.

He said nothing, letting out a breath slowly and opening his eyes. A while ago, they had been clenched shut. Cissnei swallowed, feeling her throat go dry as she pulled her gloved hand back and stared at it. Her fingertips were coated with dark blood. "Sephiroth!" she said. "You're hurt!"

"It's…just a scratch," said Sephiroth, glancing at her.

"It is _not _just a scratch," said Cissnei. She muttered a curse under her breath and looked around, before grabbing Sephiroth's wrist. "Come on." Before he could protest, she pulled him towards an alley beside the building. It had been over an hour since they left the Reactor. Maybe two. How long had Sephiroth been injured and just bearing it?

"Cissnei," he said when she let go of him. "I told you. It's fine."

"No, it's not," said Cissnei. "Take the coat off."

His eyes narrowed at her. "I refuse."

"Sephiroth, I really don't want to remind you of this, but I _was _trained as a Turk. At this distance, I don't need your permission. Take the coat off."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her. She knew the threat was stupid. She might have been able to take Zack out if he wasn't paying attention, but there wasn't much she could do against Sephiroth. Still, she felt like it had to be said. "The Turks teach you to strip people?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed as well. "That's not what I meant and you know it," she said. "Please. Don't you trust me?"

Sephiroth sighed and reached up, unfastening the buckles that held his coat in place. It slipped off him with a whisper and he caught it before it could fall to the ground, stepping out of it and draping it over one arm. He stood there shirtless as Cissnei walked over to his side, examining the wound. She placed her hands on the skin around it slowly and Sephiroth took in another sharp hissing breath.

"Why didn't you heal this?" she asked, examining it.

"Shrapnel," said Sephiroth. "There's a piece stuck inside it. I didn't want the skin to heal over it. I thought I could wait till later."

"Ah, I see it," said Cissnei. "Alright. I'll get it out. You might need something to bite on."

Sephiroth shook his head and Cissnei frowned at him for a moment, before getting to work teasing the piece out. It wasn't the most medically sound way to do it, and it wasn't the most comfortable, but it was the best they could do under the circumstances. Sephiroth didn't flinch or cry out. He just stood there as she worked, occasionally making small, sharp gasps of pain. Finally, the metal piece fell to the ground and Cissnei placed her hands on it, a green glow surrounding her gloves as the skin knit together. When it was finished, she pulled off her gloves and nodded at him, stepping back.

"…Thank you," he said.

"Don't do this to yourself, Sephiroth," said Cissnei, shaking her head. "Even SOLDIERs need help sometime."

He shook his head, slipping his coat back on over his shoulders. It reminded her of the day she found him, lying on the ground by the mako pool. He had tried to refuse her help then as well, even though he was barely able to move. While he was recovering, she would constantly find him collapsed halfway to the door, or leaning against the wall and breathing hard, as if he didn't want to believe he should be staying in bed. She shook her head and sighed. "Sheesh," she said. "You're always like this."

He didn't say anything.

"Seph?" called a voice from the street. "Cissnei? _Seeeppphhh!_ _Ciiissssneeeiii! S—." _

Zack stopped, appearing at the mouth of the alley. He blinked at them. "What are you two doing down here?" he asked, a large bun in his hand. His eyes widened. "Don't tell me—!"

Cissnei rolled her eyes. "Keep your fantasies to yourself, Zack," she said. "We were just talking."

"Oooohhh," said Zack, drawing out the vowels. "I seeeee. Talking. Well…when you're finished talking, it's time to head back in."

He grinned at them and turned around, walking back to the inn. Cissnei sighed, and would have facepalmed if her gloves weren't covered in blood. Sephiroth walked past her, not saying anything. Cissnei looked up at him.

"…Sephiroth," she said.

He stopped, but he didn't turn around to face her.

"You don't need to carry everything by yourself. You know that, right?" she asked.

Sephiroth didn't say anything for a long moment. Then, he sighed. "Cissnei…" he said. "Before you tell people things like that, you should learn how to take your own advice."

Then he was gone, following Zack into the bar.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	10. File 003: A Dying Planet pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Sorry about the lateness. Spring break is coming up, and my college has gotten really demanding, so I'll probably slow down until around March 5, and then I'll pick back up. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, which is the last part of this File. Next File will feature almost all original dialogue, and more exploration into Sephiroth and Zack's characters.

Now, almost everyone asked me if this story was going to be **Sephiroth x Cissnei**. So…all I have to say is…SURPRISE! I tossed that in as a surprise pairing I wasn't listing in the summary, and since your reactions were mostly favorable, I hope it works out. To the person that PMed me about this, you have Private Messaging turned off, so I couldn't give you a reply. Sorry. But yes, this story will include Sephisnei as one of its main pairs.

**Shiya64 – **Yeah, I'm excited for the parts that have more original dialogue. Next chapter will show them in between missions, and will explore the Seph / Genesis / Angeal friendship a little more. It'll also contain more original dialogue, so I hope you like! Oh, and Sephiroth-Marlene interaction, lol.

**Riku Uzumaki – **Well, he's Zack. He's a puppy. Kids love puppies, so kids love Zack. Easy math, lol.

**Extreme uGamer – **Thanks for the review! Your question is answered above ^_^.

**OhJay – **Oh yes, I will be including the Miss Cloud one, with a slight twist. And that'll actually delay the Zerith reunion, but it'll be fun, so I hope you enjoy it anyway.

X

**File 003: A Dying Planet**

Cloud and Tifa both looked up as the door opened and Zack walked in, flanked by Sephiroth and Cissnei. The dark-haired 1st was grinning, as if he had just discovered an amazing joke. "Found them!" he said. "Sorry that took so long!"

"It's alright," said Tifa from behind him, sounding a little disappointed. Cloud frowned and turned to face her. Tifa didn't say anything, shaking her head slowly. "You…better go," she said. "The entrance is over there. Press the button underneath the machine."

He hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "Mm," he said, jumping off of the stool and setting his glass down on the bar. Tifa looked up at him and smiled slightly. "We'll talk later, alright?" she asked.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Zack and the others. Sephiroth and Cissnei had told him earlier that they weren't spending the night, and were leaving as soon as Barret paid them. At least, that had been the plan before the mission. "Yeah…" he said. "Later…"

"Come on, Cloud," said Zack, shifting aside on the platform to make room for Cloud. Cloud nodded and walked over to his friend, stepping around Cissnei and Sephiroth. Zack pressed the button and the platform began to move, the machine and all drifting down and revealing an underground room. Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge were seated around a table, and Marlene sat on a pile of boxes with a toy in her hand, a frown on her face as she tried to get all the squares on each side of the cube to be in the same color. Beside her, Barret punched a punching bag repeatedly. The TV droned on in the background, playing a news report of the explosion.

Cloud stopped and stared at the TV as everyone else looked up at them. The explosion looked a lot bigger on TV than he thought it had been. President Shinra's voice played in the background of the footage.

"…_today, the No. 1 Reactor was bombed. The terrorist group AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for the bombing. It is expected that AVALANCHE will continue its reign of terror. But citizens of Midgar, there is no need to fear. I have immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect our citizenry against this senseless violence. Thank you and good night." _

Zack frowned, looking up from a conversation with Wedge to stand next to him. "SOLDIER…" he muttered, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Even if they aren't as good as they were, they're still a threat." Cloud looked up and faced him, startled. Zack didn't turn towards Cloud, still watching the news. He whistled. "…We really did a number on that Reactor."

"Think it was all because of my bomb?" asked Jessie, shaking Cloud out of his thoughts. He looked back over his shoulder at her. She was seated in front of a computer screen, her hands on her knees. "But all I really did was make it like the computer told me…" Her eyes widened. "Oh no! I must have made a miscalculation somewhere…"

Cissnei shook her head and looked up from where she stood next to Biggs. "It wasn't an issue with the bomb," she said. "You probably just didn't take into account the machinery and the mako itself adding to the blast."

Jessie looked down, obviously not quite reassured. Cloud took a deep breath, and when Zack elbowed him in the side, put a hand on Jessie's shoulder. "It's alright," he said. "We can't change what happened, and we're all alive."

Jessie looked up at Cloud, her face slightly pink. "Yeah…" she said. "You're right…"

Sephiroth didn't say anything, wordlessly taking the cube out of Marlene's hands. The little girl looked up at him in confusion, but didn't complain as the silver-haired SOLDIER began twisting the puzzle around.

Barret looked up from his punching bag. "Yo, Seph! Zack!" he said. "There's somethin' I wanna ask ya."

Sephiroth looked up as Zack turned around, his arms folded. "'Sup?" asked Zack.

"Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?" asked Barret.

Sephiroth and Zack exchanged a quick glance before turning back to Barret. "No," said Sephiroth. Zack nodded. "None on my end either. Right, Cloud?"

"That's right," said Cloud, looking up.

Barret grumbled under his breath and punched the bag one last time. "Y'all sound pretty sure," he said.

"Trust us on this one," said Zack. "We know SOLDIER. If there was anyone from SOLDIER there today…" He hesitated.

"…Not all of you would still be standing here," finished Sephiroth coolly, still manipulating the puzzle around even though his eyes were on Barret. Barret's eyes narrowed, and the big man rounded onto him.

"Don't go thinkin' you're so bad jus' cuz you was in SOLDIER!" he said.

Sephiroth frowned and said nothing. He took a step back and walked away. Barret let out a shout of frustration and reached forward, only to be restrained by Biggs. Cloud watched, eyes wide as the two of them began to push at each other. He took a step forward, about to intervene when Barret threw Biggs off and into the wall.

"Yeah, you're strong," said Barret angrily, turning towards Sephiroth. "Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget that your skinny ass's working with AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas about hangin' onto Shinra!"

Sephiroth didn't say anything, his eyes shadowed by his hair. Cloud saw his shoulders suddenly tense at Barret's words, his fists clenching and unclenching once. He saw Sephiroth take one slow, deep breath and stiffened. He could almost _feel _the dangerous aura radiating from the man. Sephiroth didn't say anything, slowly putting the puzzle on the table and walking away. He walked over to the platform and stepped onto it, pressing the button.

"Hey!" said Barret. "Don't walk away when I'm talkin' to you, you—."

"Barret, stop," said Cissnei, her eyes wide as she turned towards him. Barret glared at her, but folded his arms and said nothing as Sephiroth disappeared from view. Cloud turned towards Zack and noticed that his friend was also tense, his eyes narrowed. Silence hung in the room for a moment as Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie also watched Sephiroth leave.

"…What was that all about?" asked Barret.

"Don't say things like that around Sephiroth," Zack said, looking up, "About hanging on to Shinra. Sephiroth's the last person that would want to do that."

Barret said nothing. Biggs picked himself up off the ground and leaned against the wall, staring at the platform. "What did Shinra do to him?" he asked.

Zack sighed and stuffed his hands into his pocket. "More like, what _didn't _Shinra do…" he said. "Anyway, I don't know the full story myself, and I don't think Seph wants me to tell you what I do know." He frowned, and Cloud saw him reach up, tracing the scar along his jawline. Cloud's eyes widened slightly.

That scar…

He remembered the day that Zack got that scar. He remembered seeing his friend walk out of the bathhouse at Modeoheim, carrying the Buster Sword and bleeding from a cut on his face. He didn't know how to explain the look Zack gave him when he asked how it went. Tseng, the Turk that was with them, offered to heal the wound, but Zack wouldn't let him.

"_It will scar, you know," Tseng had said. _

"_It's fine. I don't care. Let it." _

"I'm not going to say anything either," said Cissnei, shaking her head. She looked up at Barret. "Anyway…let's go upstairs. I want to talk about our money." Barret's eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he was going to punch something again. Tifa immediately stepped forward, placing her hand on his arm to placate him. "You guys go ahead," she said. "I'll take care of it here…"

Zack nodded and straightened up, walking over to the platform. Cissnei followed him. Cloud, who was last, stopped when he felt a small hand tug on the leg of his pants. He looked down to see Marlene standing there, holding the puzzle cube in her hand. All sides of it were now the same color. "…Can you tell Seph thank you for me?" she asked.

"Sure," said Cloud, nodding and following the others onto the platform.

Sephiroth stood in front of the door. He turned his head to look at them as they arrived, his eyes narrowing. He looked away, facing the door again. "Let's go," he said. Cissnei nodded, walking over to the door. "Barret's coming with our pay," she said. Sephiroth barely acknowledged that with an nod, not looking up at her. Instead, he turned, looking straight at Zack. The black-haired first sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Guess we better…" he muttered. "C'mon, Cloud…"

Cloud took a deep breath, hesitating for just a moment. He took a step forward.

The platform clicked back into place, and he heard somebody get off behind him, running up to him.

"Cloud!" called Tifa.

Cloud froze and turned. Tifa stopped beside him, one hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were wide. "Listen, Cloud, I'm asking you," she said. "Please join us."

His eyes widened, and he sucked in a deep breath. He could feel Zack, Cissnei, and Sephiroth watching him intently, and he tried hard not to fidget under the weight of their collective gazes. He looked away from Tifa. If he kept looking at her, he wouldn't be able to stop feeling guilty about this.

"…Sorry, Tifa…" he said, taking a step forward and away from her.

Tifa walked up to him and stopped him, one hand on his shoulder so he couldn't leave. "The Planet's dying. Slowly but surely, it's dying. Someone has to do something."

"I…" began Cloud. He looked up. Sephiroth's eyes were fixed on him, and they were narrowed dangerously. They reminded Cloud of why he harbored a healthy fear of the famous SOLDIER, and why he could believe that Sephiroth had been the one that destroyed his hometown. He shook his head. "Tifa…I really am sorry," he said. He reached up and pulled her hand off him, stepping forward again."

"So! You're really leaving?" asked Tifa, stamping her foot on the ground. "You're just going to walk right out, ignoring your childhood friend?"

Childhood…friend…

A rush of memories came back to him at once, himself and Tifa as children, before her father stopped him from seeing her. The two of them playing together in Nibelheim, getting into trouble constantly, covering his room in crayons…

"…Tifa…" began Cloud, turning around.

"You forgot the promise too…" said Tifa, lowering her eyes.

"…The…promise?" repeated Cloud.

"So you DID forget…" she said. She took a step closer towards him. "Remember? Cloud, it was seven years ago."

Seven years…the night before he left Nibelheim for Shinra. He could see it in his mind, himself and Tifa sneaking out to the water tower. "Yeah…" he said, nodding. "Back then. I thought you would never come, and it was getting cold.

"_Sorry I'm late." _

It was funny how his memories worked. A lot of his past was still fuzzy after Hojo's experiments, but there were times like this when a memory would suddenly come back to him in vivid detail, and he could feel it as if he was experiencing it for the first time. He saw Tifa moving over to him, sitting down beside him.

"_You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" _

"…_Come this spring, I'm leaving town for Midgar." _

"_All the boys are leaving town." _

"_But I'm different from them. I'm not just going to find a job. I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!"_

SOLDIER. Just like Sephiroth…Cloud stared down at his own hand, watching as his fingers curled inward.

So much for that.

"_Sephiroth?" _he remembered Tifa asking._ "The Great Sephiroth?" _

"_Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" _

"…_I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while…" _

He heard a sound. Back then, he hadn't known what it was, or where it came from, and it confused him. He knew now that it had come from Tifa, and it had been a small sob, something he never expected from her.

"…_If you make it, will you be in the newspapers?" _

"_I'll try." _

"…_Hey. Let's make a promise. Umm…if you ever get really famous, and I'm in a bind…you'll come save me, alright?" _

"_What?" _

"_If I'm ever in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to experience that at least once." _

"_What?" _

"_Come on! Promise me!" _

"_Alright. I promise." _

"You remember now, don't you?" asked Tifa, as Cloud looked up. "Our promise?"

He hesitated. "Tifa…" he said. "I'm not a hero…and I'm not famous. I can't keep our promise."

"But you got your childhood dream, didn't you?" asked Tifa. "You joined SOLDIER."

Cloud shook his head, looking away. "Not even that…" he muttered.

"What do you mean?" asked Tifa.

"I mean I couldn't even do that…" said Cloud. He looked back up at her and took a deep breath. "I never made SOLDIER. I couldn't make the cut. Tifa, I failed. I can't keep our promise."

"Then don't do it for a promise," said Tifa. "Do it for me. Please, Cloud."

Cloud looked away, his shoulders slumping. He wanted to stay with Tifa. But at the same time…he didn't want to leave Zack and the others. He didn't want to let them down.

Barret climbed out of the entrance, jumping onto the bar floor. He looked up at them, his eyes landing on Sephiroth. Cloud turned, realizing that Sephiroth already had his hand on the doorknob and had the knob half-turned.

"Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!" said Barret. He reached into his vest, pulling out a bag out of his pocket. "A promise is a promise. Here!" Barret tossed the bag underhand. It sailed through the air in an arc, and Sephiroth stretched out his free hand, catching it easily. He glanced down at the pouch before looking back up at Barret.

"Dunno what the hell went down between you and Shinra," said Barret. "Ain't none of my business. But y'all ain't the only ones Shinra's hurt. Think Tifa wound up in Midgar coz she felt like a change of scenery? Think I got this arm helpin' old ladies cross the street? And if you think Marlene's really mine, you're crazier than I thought."

Sephiroth stared at Barret for a few moments, saying nothing. He sighed, removing his hand from the doorknob and turning to face him.

"Cloud…" said Tifa again.

Cloud took a deep breath and looked around, facing Zack and Cissnei. Cissnei looked up at him and looked away, and Zack sighed, shrugging his shoulders resignedly. He turned back towards Tifa and looked at her again, seeing her both now and then. Cloud squeezed his fist closed once, then turned to the other three. "…I'm sorry," he said. "…I'm staying with Tifa."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Cissnei sighed and folded her arms, looking as if she had expected this all along. Zack sighed again, raising his arms over his head and stretching.

"Well," he said, taking a step forward and clapping Cloud on the shoulder. "I'm not letting you go off on your own." He took a step forward, then turned, facing Cissnei and Sephiroth. Cissnei looked at both of them, her eyes drifting between Zack and Cloud. She shook her head. "All that work to find you guys and keep you alive…" she muttered. "Zack, you really can't sit still, can you?" The ex-Turk clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at Sephiroth.

"Sorry…" she said, going over to join Zack and Cloud. Zack said nothing, stepping aside to make room for her.

"Sephiroth?" asked Cissnei, looking up at him expectantly.

Sephiroth frowned at her and stared down at the bag in his hand. He took a deep breath and sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he tossed the bag back at Barret, who caught it out of reflex.

"For your daughter," said Sephiroth. He stepped forward, towards them.

"You're stayin'?" asked Barret.

"I want the details on the next mission first thing in the morning," said Sephiroth in reply. "And I expect that this one will have some sort of plan. Shinra will have increased their security after this."

He walked past Barret and the others, heading back towards the platform.

"We'll pay you," said Tifa, turning around towards him.

Sephiroth shrugged in reply, stepping onto the platform and lowering himself back down. Zack grinned.

"You can't afford Sephiroth," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"So, you're definitely staying?" asked Tifa.

Zack smiled and clasped his hands behind his neck. "Well, I've already been in one morally gray organization. So, where do I sign?"

"Mm," said Cloud, nodding.

"I suppose," said Cissnei, with a smile. "For now."

"Thank you," said Tifa, turning towards Cloud. Cloud looked back at her and gave her a small smile.

"You're welcome, Teef," said Zack with a grin. "So, where do we crash? I'm exhausted."

Tifa chuckled, looking up at him. "Follow me," she said.

**END FILE**


	11. File 004: Ghosts of the Past pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Is it just me, or does the Sephiroth in the flashback look a little like Kadaj? *points at rainy scene* Anyway, here you go. A Seph-centric update before we get back into the main storyline! We'll get our Zack-centric stuff in a bit too!

**CloudRed1988 – **Thanks for the review! Glad you like it, and sorry this update took so long!

**Shiya64 – **Don't worry about it! I love your reviews! And I'm glad you liked that scene! Hope you enjoy this one!

**OhJay – **Sorry this took so long. School drove me up the wall this past week, but it's spring break now, so I'll try and squeeze in another update before the break is up. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

**Riku Uzumaki – **Well, maybe. We'll see what happens when we get there…

**Extreme uGamer – **Even as he was, I'm pretty sure the thought of killing Barret crossed his mind. Good thing this Seph has self-control, huh?

**floutistvivi – **Thanks! Glad you liked it!

X

**File 004: Ghosts of the Past**

_It was raining. _

_Sephiroth had long ceased to be bothered by the steady drip-drop of water trickling into the tent from the rip in the ceiling. The air in the tent was damp and humid, but then again, that was normal for this part of Wutai in the late summer. He idly slapped at an insect that came too close to him, watching disinterestedly as it flew out of his immediate reach. The mosquitoes that plagued the rest of the men hardly bothered him. Somebody had joked once that they didn't like the taste of his blood. _

_He sat at his desk, typing out a report to send back to headquarters one-handed as he pored over a stack of files with the other. He was dressed in the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class, his silver hair falling to his shoulders. At the age of nineteen, he had been tasked with commanding Shinra's leading strike force. That wouldn't have been a problem, if he had been doing it alone. _

_The tent flap swung open, admitting another young man. Sephiroth looked up from his reports, frowning as the auburn-haired SOLDIER let the flap swing closed behind him, walking into the tent and dragging his red blade behind him. He was drenched, water dripping down onto the tent floor around him. Like Sephiroth, he was dressed in the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class. _

_Genesis Rhapsodos, one of his new coworkers, frowned at him. _

"_Weren't you supposed to be supervising the rations?" he asked, sitting down on one of the three cots in the tent. He peeled off his boots, swatting at one of the mosquitoes and mumbling something about this "goddess-cursed weather". _

"_I left Angeal in charge," Sephiroth replied, turning back to his report. "This report needs to be turned in to the Director today." _

"_You're serious?" asked Genesis. "Angeal?" _

_Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to have to deal with his "companions" any more than he had to. "…Is there a problem?" he asked. _

"_If you don't feel like starving," said Genesis, pulling out something from the pack beside his cot. "Angeal's the type who would give everyone extra rations because they looked hungry." Genesis's lip curled in a slight sneer before he bent down, fiddling with the thing in his hands. Sephiroth frowned. It looked like a small cube, with nine squares of different colors on each side. He recognized it as a common puzzle, one meant to test cognitive abilities. _

"_I'll trust that Angeal can at least follow orders," said Sephiroth. _

_Genesis shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "He probably would. Honor, and all…" The SOLDIER trailed off, focusing on the object in his hands as he turned it this way and that. He muttered a curse under his breath, his fingers tightening around it. Sephiroth watched him for a few more moments. _

"_You're approaching it wrong," he finally said. _

_Genesis glared at him. "And I suppose you could do better?" he asked. _

_Sephiroth didn't answer, instead extending his hand. Genesis stared at him for a moment before scowling, falling backwards onto the cot and holding the puzzle up in the air. He continued to work on it, completely ignoring Sephiroth. The latter withdrew his hand, turning back to his reports. _

"_I don't need your help," said Genesis. "I'll surpass you, Sephiroth. Just wait." _

_Sephiroth ignored him. He didn't particularly care whether or not Genesis surpassed him. His mind was already focused on another thing—an anti-SOLDIER creature that had been sighted in the vicinity of their camp. If he slipped out in the night, the thing could be dealt with by morning, without anyone being any the wiser…_

A hand landed on his arm, and Sephiroth's eyes instantly snapped open. He let out the breath he was holding, the tension leaving his body as his eyes focused on young Marlene Wallace. His hand froze in the air, just inches away from the young girl's neck. He was lying on a pile of blankets on the floor of Tifa's bar. Zack was lying on his side on top of the bar itself. Cissnei wasn't here. She was asleep in the underground room, along with Cloud, Jessie, and the others.

Light from the street outside trickled in through the cracked windows. It was still late at night, but in the slums, where day and night meant very little to those not its edges, it was hard to tell.

"Seph…" whispered Marlene as he lowered his hand.

He sat up, frowning at her. "What is it?" he asked.

"…There's a monster under my bed," she whispered.

Sephiroth frowned at her. "There's a monster under your bed?" he repeated.

Marlene nodded, biting her lip.

"…I highly doubt that," said Sephiroth.

"It's true…" whispered Marlene insistently. "Can you look at it? I'm scared…"

"Why can't your father do it?" asked Sephiroth with a frown. He reached up, tossing the blankets off himself.

"Tifa said not to bother Papa when he's sleeping…" said Marlene.

Sephiroth sighed. He stood up, picking up Masamune. The sword lay on the ground beside him, its hilt within arms reach. He didn't truly think there was a monster under the girl's bed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She took him by the hand, leading him up the stairs. Sephiroth followed her, letting her lead him into Seventh Heaven's sole bedroom, the one occupied by Marlene. She stopped in front of her bed and let go of him, walking around him and hiding behind him as if she was afraid the monster would come out and devour her at any moment.

"Here?" asked Sephiroth, walking over to the bed.

She nodded, taking a step back as he moved towards it. He bent down, looking under the bed. Sephiroth reached under it, pulling something out and straightening up. He handed it to her, raising an eyebrow. It was an old rag doll, one that was missing an eye and had slightly messy hair.

"The monster," he said, and he was unable to keep some sarcasm out of his voice.

"Alice!" said Marlene with a smile, taking the doll from him. "I lost her a long long time ago! Two _whole _months!"

"Things tend to get lost under the bed," said Sephiroth. "Go back to sleep."

The girl nodded, climbing back into bed with her doll in tow. Sephiroth left her room and closed the door behind him, intending to go back to bed. He wasn't sure that he could, however. Now that he was awake, his mind was already working.

It had been a long time since he had had that dream…or that memory.

_The monster's chain caught him in the side, sending him flying. The Vajradhara's attack hit him dead on, and he could feel it shatter bone. Masamune flew out of his hand, lying point down in the swamp a few feet away from him as he landed in the mud. Careless. He had been careless. He had killed the first monster easily, and had been standing over it observing it without even realizing that there had been a second. _

_His body protested movement, but it was enhanced with mako, and it responded enough for him to rise to his feet and run towards his sword, one arm wrapped around his stomach. He would not die here. He refused to die here. The monster swung its flail over its head in a circle. He saw the monster's arm move, saw the flail move towards him as his hand stretched out towards his sword. _

_With a slash, the chain was severed in two places, the flail falling to the ground at his feet. _

_Genesis and Angeal landed on the ground between him and the monster, coming from opposite directions. The two of them straightened up at the same time, Angeal holding his Buster Sword at the ready as Genesis moved his Rapier in one graceful swipe to the side. The rain continued to pour. Sephiroth's eyes widened as he clutched at his side. He hadn't said anything. _

"_You alright?" asked Angeal, sparing him a glance. Sephiroth didn't answer, still shocked. _

"_If you're going to try and handle things on your own, at least have the decency to not get killed," said Genesis, raising his sword. The Vajradhara bellowed in anger, tossing its useless chain to the side and rushing at the two Firsts. Genesis and Angeal tensed, both of them moving at the same time. They ran up to it, flanking it. Both of them slashed, and the monster fell to the ground. _

_Sephiroth reached Masamune then, his left hand closing around its hilt. The rain dripped down over him, his wet hair falling in front of his face. He sucked in a breath and looked up, noticing that both Genesis and Angeal were watching him expectantly. _

_Angeal stepped forward towards him, with Genesis behind him. _

"…_Don't go off on your own like that," he said, a stern frown on his face. _

_Sephiroth had meant to reply, but at that moment, his injuries took him and he slumped forward, the world fading into darkness as Angeal caught him. Dimly, he heard Genesis shout at him to get a hold of himself…_

It had been nine years ago, he realized. It seemed like a century. Him, Genesis, and Angeal, meeting for the first time on a battlefield in Wutai. It almost seemed too contrived, like the perfect opening for a story. Genesis's voice drifted through his mind.

"_Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess…" _

Even after all this time, he couldn't even think about LOVELESS without hearing the poem read in Genesis's voice.

How much had changed since then? How much had _they_ changed?

He walked down the steps quietly, heading to his bed.

"How'd it go?"

"There was no monster," replied Sephiroth, without even looking. He reached the foot of the steps and turned, facing Zack. The ex-SOLDIER sat on the bar with his feet dangling off the edge, looking up at him.

"Hah," said Zack. "Go figure."

"Mm," said Sephiroth. He walked back over to his pallet of blankets and stared disdainfully at it. He was fully awake now, and although he could force it if he wanted to, sleep would not come to him easily tonight. Not with his mind already going through today's task.

"So…" said Zack, clasping his hands together. "Sector 5 Reactor, huh?"

"Brings back memories," said Sephiroth with a slight shrug of his shoulder.

"No kidding," muttered Zack. He stared down at his hands. "Come to think of it, it kinda fits. Wasn't that the place where we first decided to defy Shinra?"

"If you want to call it that," said Sephiroth. It had been his idea back then to save both Angeal and Genesis, getting to them before the army did. Clearly, it hadn't been one of his best plans. Although, perhaps that had something to do with Zack falling through the floor.

"Wonder if he'd be happy with us…" said Zack.

"He'd probably give us a lecture on honor…or something of the sort," replied Sephiroth. He had heard Angeal's spiel enough times that he could almost recite it verbatim, just like Genesis's readings of LOVELESS. Zack smiled slightly and placed one foot on the bar, resting his arm on his knee and leaning back.

"Honor and dreams…" he said. He shook his head. "That's Angeal, alright."

Zack didn't say anything for a long while. When Sephiroth looked up, he realized that Zack was staring at the ceiling, tracing the cross-shaped scar on his jaw with one finger. The scar he had received from his final battle with Angeal. Before killing him.

"Does it hurt?" asked Sephiroth, surprising himself.

Zack looked up at him with a start, then shook his head. He pushed himself off the bar, landing on the ground smoothly. As Sephiroth watched, Zack picked up his Buster Sword, holding it in both hands and pressing his forehead to it before attaching it to his back. He turned, walking past Sephiroth.

"Scars only hurt in your mind…"

The door of the bar swung open, letting in the muggy air of the slums before swinging shut again. Hot and muggy, just like it had been in Wutai…

Sephiroth sighed and turned on a light, pulling out the blue prints of the Reactor that Cissnei had acquired and scanning them a third time. After this mission, they would return to finding information about Genesis, while doing work with AVALANCHE on the side. His fingers curled around a pen, pausing over the blueprints.

_The morning dawned bright and clear, and he had woken up in the infirmary with a roll of bandages wrapped firmly around his waist. The damage report had been clear—the blow had practically shattered his ribs. Even after the healing, he was still sore. But as he lay there in that bed, he remembered what had happened the night before, and he rose, picking up his sword and stepping outside. _

_He found Genesis leaning against one of the artillery machines, still fiddling with his puzzle cube. The auburn-haired First looked up at him, smirking slightly. _

"_Well," he said, "Look what the cat dragged in." _

_Sephiroth gave him a look, then came over to stand beside him. "Angeal?" he asked, folding his arms as if nothing had transpired last night. _

"…_Working. I swear, he never takes a break." _

"_I see." _

_They stood there in silence for a few moments, Genesis with his cube, and Sephiroth with his thoughts. The rest of the SOLDIERs left them alone. It was well known even then that neither of them were particularly social. _

"…_Feeling better?" asked Genesis, breaking the silence. _

"…_Much." _

"_Mm." _

_And then it was quiet again. Sephiroth watched two birds fly around one of the nearby trees, chirping at each other. Likely they were engaged in a mating ritual of some sort. It was, after all, the season. He looked away from the birds and back at the camp, where the men were going through their morning routines. _

"…_Thank you." _

_Genesis looked up, and shrugged in reply. "Was nothing. Just don't go doing something that stupid again." _

"_Mm," said Sephiroth, nodding. "I'll be sure to inform my teammates of my actions, next time." _

"_Good." _

_When the two of them fell silent again, Sephiroth straightened up, unfolding his arms and letting them fall at his side. He turned away, heading back to camp. He had taken about five steps when Genesis called after him. _

"_Sephiroth." _

_He looked up. Genesis raised his hand, tossing something overhead. Sephiroth caught it out of reflex. He looked down at his gloved hand, staring at Genesis's puzzle cube. The other First gave him a small grin. _

"_For your bruised pride." _

_Sephiroth stared at Genesis for a moment. Then, a smirk spread over his face and he nodded, his fingers closing around the puzzle. He turned away, continuing to walk down the path to camp. _

_When Genesis returned to the tent later that afternoon, the cube was sitting on his cot, already solved. _

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	12. File 004: Ghosts of the Past pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Hey, guys, soooo sorry for the impossibly late update! But I just couldn't leave this story behind. Hope you enjoy this, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

X

**File 004: Ghosts of the Past**

The bar didn't stay quiet for long. By midmorning, everyone was awake, and preparing for the mission. Sephiroth listened idly from his seat at the bar as Zack explained the basics of Materia to the rest of AVALANCHE, keeping an ear open to make sure that the dark-haired former First didn't say something that was completely wrong. He didn't think Zack would, though. He was highly competent, even underneath his…interesting personality traits.

Then again, odd personality quirks seemed to be the norm among the old SOLDIER Firsts.

He looked up, his eyes idly passing over Cloud, who was leaning against one of the tables in his borrowed SOLDIER uniform, Tifa beside him as they listened to Zack. The boy had an attentive look on his face—Sephiroth knew that infantrymen were rarely issued anything beyond simple Cure Materia, even though he had probably been taught the basics before. He was holding his sword loosely in one hand, the point of it pointed at the ground, and Sephiroth's eyes passed over the way he was holding it, and the comfortable manner that its hilt rested in his gloved hand. It was a non-threatening position that could easily transition into a defensive move if the situation changed, just as Sephiroth taught him.

Good. He was learning.

The smell of strong coffee suddenly hit him, and he turned his head, noticing that somebody had put a steaming ceramic mug next to him. He looked up, seeing Cissnei as she turned and leaned against the side of the bar. He raised an eyebrow at her. She was dressed in a dark shirt, dark pants, and a red coat—odd for her. He frowned, reaching up and brushing something off her shoulder. It was cold to the touch, and powdery white.

Snow.

"You've been above the plate," he said, reaching for the mug and taking a sip of coffee. It wasn't a question.

"I've been…undercover," said Cissnei with a small smile.

The eyebrow went up again. "As…Genesis…" said Sephiroth, his eyes passing over her outfit skeptically.

"Close," said Cissnei. "As one of his fans."

"His fan club?" asked Sephiroth.

"Mm," said Cissnei. "It was Zack that let me in on it. He's…apparently still on their mailing list. I've been meaning to go anyway."

Sephiroth was torn between asking the obvious question regarding _why _she went to see them, or asking why Zack was on their mailing list in the first place. It was a difficult choice, but he settled for the practical one at the moment. "You think they might have information?" he asked.

"Never underestimate the power of obsessive fans," said Cissnei. She paused for a moment, then admitted almost guiltily. "I used to feed the fan clubs."

Sephiroth frowned at her and took a slow sip of coffee. "You used to feed the fan clubs…" he repeated.

Cissnei nodded. "I was the primary informant for Zack's when it started up," she said. "Black Suit?"

He nodded and decided against commenting. He really didn't feel like knowing what sort of things she had given the Silver Elite and the others about him. While he and Angeal were still at Shinra, fan clubs had been the bane of their existence. Genesis, predictably, loved it.

"And?" he asked.

"I have a list of possible sightings," said Cissnei, "All of them within Midgar and within the last year. A few of them within the last few months."

"Where is the list?" asked Sephiroth.

"Where it's safe," said Cissnei with a small smile. She tapped the side of her head with a finger. "Here."

He watched her for a few more moments as she turned away from him, her fingers curling around the edge of the bar top as she relaxed, eyeing the rest of AVALANCHE curiously. His fingers tightened around the cup of coffee and he took a sip. He caught how cautious Cissnei was being. Paranoia, it seemed, affected both of them.

"I'll start to work on the list when we get back," she said, and he caught her hesitance at the word 'when'. The four years that they had been hiding from Shinra together, they had come to a mutual understanding. More often than not, 'when' was just an optimistic way of saying 'if'. He nodded, putting down the mug of coffee.

"This has nothing to do with you," he said. "So thank you for your involvement."

Cissnei shrugged, a slight ripple of her shoulders. "I was working on the Genesis case before we defected," she said. "I'd feel bad if I stopped halfway. Besides…" She turned towards him, smiling a little. "It's important to you, isn't it?"

He stared at her for a moment. She met his eyes for a while, then pushed off the bar, turning her head away as if embarrassed and beginning to walk away, her arms folded and one foot directly in front of another. "Let's just say that I don't know how to stop being a Turk any more than you know how to stop being a SOLDIER," she said as she passed. "If I wasn't on a mission, I think I'd go completely insane."

He heard her laugh a little at the end of that, then heard her tell Barret that she was going to change and get her gear. The pinball machine grated as it slid down into the underground chamber, and then she was gone.

He said nothing, taking another sip of coffee and listening as Zack continued the lecture.

XxXxX

Cissnei reappeared a few moments later, her shuriken in her hand. Barret scowled at her. "Alright," he said. "Let's move. Biggs and the others're meetin' us at the station."

Cloud nodded, straightening up and placing his sword back in its place. Zack grinned at him, clapping him once on the shoulder before turning to follow Barret. Cloud paused, turning towards Tifa. "Are you sure about coming?" he asked.

Tifa nodded. "I'm sure," she said. "I've learned a lot too."

Cloud frowned, looking unsure. He opened his mouth to argue, but was stopped by another hand on his shoulder, this one firmer. Sephiroth steered him so that he was turning towards the door, shaking his head slowly before continuing on. Cloud frowned, staring at the silver-haired SOLDIER. He glanced at Tifa.

"I'll be _fine_, Cloud," said Tifa, giving him a small, reassuring smile. "Come on. Let's go."

"Ah, yeah," said Cloud, nodding once. The two of them moved to catch up with Sephiroth, Cissnei, and Zack, who were walking ahead.

The train was waiting at the station when they arrived. Barret entered first, followed by Sephiroth and the others. Cloud and Tifa brought up the rear. From behind everyone else, he couldn't really see what was going on in the train car, but he caught sight of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie lounging on one of the seats. Barret tensed.

"YO!" he yelled, running a few steps ahead of the group. "This ain't no private car! So _split up_!"

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie scattered, making their way into other cars. A man in a red suit at the end of the car wrinkled up his nose at the commotion, taking his seat. "Hoodlums again," he asked. "God, don't I just have _all _the luck?"

Barret ran over to him. "You say sumthin'?" he yelled. "I said, 'you say sumthin'?"

"And so our stealthy invasion into Midgar begins," murmured a dry voice from just ahead of him. Cloud looked up. To his surprise, the voice came from Sephiroth. His eyes widened and he glanced at Barret, but the burly leader of AVALANCHE didn't seem to notice the insult slipped behind his back. Zack, though, chuckled into his fist, concealing it behind a cough.

"Be nice, Sephiroth," chided Cissnei teasingly, tilting her head. "We're professionals."

"Hn."

The five of them looked up sharply at the sound of a crash, turning their eyes towards Barret's confrontation.

"You…you've seen the news right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like today."

Barret immediately jumped back, putting up his fists. "You work for Shinra?"

Cissnei's eyes narrowed. Cloud saw her turn her head towards Sephiroth, but the SOLDIER had already taken a step back, so that his most distinctive features were concealed behind Zack. He hadn't noticed until then that Zack was actually _taller_ than Sephiroth—the silver-haired swordsman had always seemed like the largest person in the room.[1]

The man, thankfully, hadn't noticed Sephiroth's presence. "I won't give into violence…and I'm not giving you my seat, either!"

"Barret!" yelled Tifa, running past them and stopping in front of the other man.

Barret scowled and cursed at the man, but he relented, taking a step back and running towards them. Tifa bowed apologetically at the man before following.

"So…" said Zack, raising his arms over his head and stretching. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Shit!" said Barret. "The hell you so calm? You're bustin' up my rhythm!"

Zack grinned in response. Barret rolled his eyes, but said nothing, seeming to relax slightly.

The car shook before anyone could reply, the train lurching forward. Cloud pitched forward, grabbing onto the chair to steady himself. Sephiroth, Zack, and Cissnei remained upright, unfazed by the sudden motion. Tifa straightened up, looking around. "Looks like they just finished connecting the cars," she said. "We're finally leaving."

"We should arrive at the target soon, barring any delays," said Sephiroth. "Have we studied the city's security system?"

"Hah! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Someone has to be," he said, coolly. Barret glared. Cissnei cleared her throat, stepping between the two of them before things could escalate.

"There's a security checkpoint on top of the plate," she said. "It contains an ID scanner that verifies the identity of all the train's passengers. The latest technology. It's unlikely that our original fake IDs will work." She paused as an automated message sounded on the train's speakers, giving them the time. Tifa looked up.

"Three more minutes till we get to the checkpoint," she said.

Cissnei nodded. "If we're caught in the scanner, the alarm will sound," she said.

"So how do we get around it?" asked Cloud.

Glances were exchanged all around. Cissnei smiled slightly. "We don't, Cloud. We avoid it."

"But—," began Cloud.

"We jump," said Zack with a grin, hooking an arm around Cloud's neck. "Don't worry, Cloud. Done it a million times."

"Coming from you, that's not much comfort," said Cloud, giving Zack a small grin back.

"That's the spirit," said Zack. He patted Cloud on the back and turned away, glancing at Cissnei and Sephiroth.

"We should get Seph into the next car before our friend Red over there decides to look this way," said Zack, glancing at the Shinra employee. Cissnei nodded.

"The two of you go," she said. "I'll stay here and help coordinate the jump. Three minutes."

Sephiroth and Zack nodded, heading into the car behind theirs. Barret took his seat on the bench, and Tifa moved down to the other end, fiddling with the computer.

"Cloud!" she called. "Come over here! Let's look at the Railway Map Monitor!"

"Ah…" began Cloud. He glanced at Cissnei. The Turk smiled at him, folding her arms.

"Don't keep her waiting," she said.

He nodded, walking over to Tifa.

XxXxX

Cissnei watched Cloud go, a smile on her face. He was coming along. Given some time, he might be able to actually earn the uniform he wore. She looked away, the smile fading from her face as she glanced at the door Zack and Sephiroth had just left from. The two of them would make the jump with military precision, she knew. It was just a Turk's instinct to micromanage that was making her antsy. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were the ones she really needed to be worried about.

She snapped into action as the alarm suddenly rang, bathing the car in red. The ID checkpoint wasn't supposed to be until further down. She had been sure of it.

"Type A security alert!" said the voice over the speakers. "Unidentified passengers confirmed…A search of all cars will be conducted!"

_Crap._

Barret ran towards Cloud and Tifa. Cissnei followed, just as Jessie entered the car. The two women exchanged glances. "What's goin' on?" asked the large man.

"We're in trouble," said Jessie.

Cissnei nodded. "We need to get to the next car," she said. "Come on."

"Fuck," she heard Barret say from behind her as they moved. "Someone blew it!"

The next announcement declared an impending lock down. The group ran into the next car, continuing down the line. Cissnei trailed behind the group, looking over her shoulder. A dark-haired man and a silver-haired man were just beginning to file into the car behind them. They ran towards the car doors just as they began to slowly close. Her eyes narrowed and she reached behind her, pulling Rekka from its magnetic sheath and throwing the shuriken into the air. It flew between the car doors just in time, propping them open. Zack and Sephiroth jumped the remaining few feet and slid beneath it, Zack grabbing Rekka by the edge on the way out. Cissnei turned away as the doors slammed shut with a bang.

"Thanks, Ciss," said Zack, handing the shuriken back to her as another lockdown was announced. Cissnei nodded once, taking it from him.

"Keep moving," said Sephiroth, running past the two of them. Cissnei nodded, running to catch up with him. Barret and the others were already far ahead of them.

The trio slid through the doors just before they closed, continuing to run down the length of the train.

"What's the plan?" shouted Zack over the alarm as he pulled up behind her.

"They're scanning each car," she said. "If we keep running through the train, car by car, we should be able to avoid the lockdown."

"Till we run out of train," observed Zack.

"Then we jump," said Cissnei.

"_Unidentified passengers, moving to the front of train. Currently tracking location." _

Zack grimaced at the announcement.

"So much for stealth," he said. "Guess we'll have to improvise."

They caught up with the others at the front of the train. Barret had shoved the conductor out of the way, pulling open one of the doors. He gestured for them to hurry. "Let's go!" he said. "We're gonna dive right out of here!"

Tifa looked uncertain. "Scary, huh…?" she asked.

"You could have stayed behind…" said Cloud quietly, although he looked uncertain about it himself. "Why'd you decide to come along?"

Tifa lowered her eyes. "Because…" she began.

"As much as I hate to interrupt, not the time!" said Zack, placing one hand on each of their backs and pushing them forward. Tifa started, but nodded once, taking a deep breath and jumping out the door. Cloud turned to follow, placing his hand on the side of the train door and turning to the others. "What about you?" he asked Barret.

"A leader always stays till the end," he said. "Don't go getting your spikey ass hurt. It's only the beginning of the mission."

Cloud nodded, grabbing onto the handle and leaning forward. He took a deep breath and jumped.

"Cissnei, you!" said Zack.

Cissnei didn't argue, running forward quickly. She leaped from the train and tucked her head and limbs in, landing on her side and rolling to a stop. She quickly picked herself up, watching as Zack, Sephiroth, and finally Barret left the train. The three of them stood up, and the group assembled again, watching as the train continued on its way, still blaring its alarm.

"Cloud, Tifa, you two alright?" asked Zack as Cloud and Tifa came closer.

"Somehow," said Tifa, nodding and smiling.

"Mm," said Cloud, nodding as well.

"Good, so far, everything's still going as planned," said Barret. "Don't let your guard down till we get to the Sector 5 Reactor. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie got everything ready for us, so MOVE it."

He began to run down the tunnel. Cloud, Tifa, and Zack followed him. Sephiroth lingered behind. Cissnei raised an eyebrow and folded her arms, turning towards him.

"Did you have a hand in the preparations?" he asked. It was obvious to her that he didn't really trust Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie's brand of preparation.

"I made a few of my own," she replied.

"Of what sort?" asked Sephiroth.

"Mm…let's just say I'm pretty well-prepared," she said.

This time it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?" he asked.

"Turk business is Turk business," she said with a small smirk.

Cissnei turned away from him, following Barret and the others. "Come on, SOLDIER," she said as she walked. "We have a mission to get to."

Sephiroth frowned, but she heard the quiet footfalls that told her he was following her. Cissnei smiled, pulling her arms close to herself. Sephiroth and Zack were some of the best fighters she had ever seen. There were very few people that stood a chance against them in single combat. Sephiroth, in particular, was truly all SOLDIER could have asked for. He was exceptional, and in a straight fight, she would trust no one to better have her back.

But the thing about SOLDIERs was, for all their enhancements, they weren't exactly very stealthy. Sneaky, underhanded tricks just weren't their style.

Which was good. It gave her something to do with herself.

"…_I don't know how to stop being a Turk any more than you know how to stop being a SOLDIER…"_

And another voice from her memories. A dark room, a man in a suit, blood dripping slowly onto the tiled floor as a younger version of herself stared mutely ahead of her…

"…_Your actions displayed all we look for in potential Turks. We'd like to offer you a place in our organization." _

Maybe he was right. She would never stop being a Turk.

She frowned and shook her head, taking a deep breath and putting away all thoughts that didn't have to do with the mission.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**Notes: **

[1] – Sephiroth is 6'1" according to game guides. Zack is 6'3". So he could hide behind Zack if he wanted to, although the height seems to be inconsistent in cutscenes.


	13. File 004: Ghosts of the Past pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** Eep, I didn't know the height thing was an incorrect translation. Oh well, no harm no foul. We can always say that Zack's hair style gives him an inch or two in height, lol. Anyway, skipping through the Reactor a bit, until we get to the cutscene. I write a lot of the scenes from the POV of Zack, Sephiroth, and Cissnei in this part, because anyone who's played FFVII already knows what Cloud, Tifa and Barret are going through.

Regarding the villains, I was a little unsure how I was going to do with this, and originally, I had an entire cast of OCs, but I realized that there's no point in inducting an entire cast of original characters when a set of canon characters with the exact same premise already exists. _However_, I have not played Dirge of Cerberus, so I'm asking that those of you that _have _played it bear with me, because I'm probably going to play a lot of mistakes.

That said…**OC alert! **There was one villain in my cast of OCs who I couldn't replace with a canon character because it wouldn't fit with the plot. So, I hope his presence here fits. Enjoy.

XxXxX

**File 004: Ghosts of the Past**

Zack paused in front of several horizontal beams of light, resting his hands lightly on his hips as he looked up at it. "Well, this could be a problem," he said, frowning as he raised one hand to cup his chin.

"Those are Shinra's security sensors," said Cissnei, coming up behind him. "We can't get to the plate this way."

Zack grinned and leaned back, watching as Sephiroth walked up to them as well. "Nice of you to join us, Cissnei, Seph."

Sephiroth ignored him, moving forward to study the beams. "Can they be disabled?" he asked.

Cissnei frowned uncertainly. "I could try," she said. "It would take a while."

"Uh…guys?"

The three of them looked up. The voice came from Cloud, who was crouched down on the floor, in front of a ventilation shaft. He had removed the grate, and was now staring down into it. Barret and Tifa were clustered around him. "We can go through here," he said.

"That's one damn tiny hole," said Barret. "You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the Plate? No way!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice, Barret," said Tifa, looking around.

"But damn man, that thing gives me the chills," said Barret.

"That vent should lead into the maintenance tunnels below us," said Cissnei, frowning. "There's less security down there, so it should be safe."

"I'll go first," said Cloud.

"Yell if you need anything," said Zack, walking over to the group.

Cloud nodded. "Will do," he said. He braced his hands on either side of the shaft and lowered himself into it slowly, exhaling. The group watched as Cloud let go, disappearing into the shaft. There was a soft thud as he landed on the other side.

"Well?" asked Sephiroth, leaning over.

"Looks safe," called Cloud, his voice echoing in the metal passage. "You guys can start coming down."

Zack grinned taking a step back. "Good job, Cloud!" he said, turning to Tifa and sweeping his arm out in front of her graciously. "Well? Ladies first."

"Such a gentleman," said Cissnei sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'll be right behind you, Tifa."

"Mm," said Tifa, nodding. She lowered herself into the shaft slowly, followed by Cissnei. The smaller woman swung into the shaft with ease, barely making a sound as she landed on the other side. Zack's grin widened and he turned his head.

"Ladies first, Seph."

Sephiroth glared at him, the look in his eyes telling him plainly not to push it. He walked past Zack, lowering himself into the shaft. Zack followed him, sliding through the metal shaft and landing easily on the other side—though admittedly not as silently as the others. He moved out of the way, making room for Barret, who managed to squeeze himself through.

The passage led them into a wider maintenance area and through another vent, where they met up with Jessie. The AVALANCHE operative waited for them on the other side, a contemplative frown on her face.

"I'm sorry…" she said, as Cloud exited the vent, Zack right behind him. "The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault. I modified your ID cards, and that's what did it. I did my best, but I failed…"

Zack looked up from helping Tifa out of the vent, watching Cloud. "Don't worry about it," he said. "We all made it out."

Jessie's face flushed slightly. "Thanks, Cloud," she said.

Tifa's hand suddenly tightened around his, painfully. "Ow!" said Zack, causing Cloud and Jessie to look up. "Tifa?" asked Zack.

She shook her head, pulling herself out of the vent. "Sorry, Zack," she said. "It's nothing."

"Nothing, huh?" asked Zack, shaking his head as he watched the dark-haired woman walk off. Cissnei and Sephiroth clambered out of the vent next to him. Zack frowned, noticing the look of disdain in Sephiroth's eye.

"What's eating you?" he asked.

"Remind me why we brought them along."

"Cloud needs the practice," said Zack. "You said so yourself."

"And Tifa wanted to prove herself," added Cissnei.

Sephiroth frowned. "I suppose," he said. "Let's keep moving, before they walk straight into a trap."

The other two nodded, climbing down the next shaft and entering into the Reactor.

XxXxX

The shuriken whipped through the air in a circle, slashing through the five Proto Machineguns that surrounded her. She raised one gloved hand, slipping her fingers deftly into the handholds as it flew overhead and bringing the spinning to a stop. Cissnei straightened up, bringing Rekka back down to her side in one sweeping gesture as she looked across the passageway to the Reactor.

The ground began to shake in the immediate area, and the ex-Turk whipped her head around in alarm. To her right, Sephiroth looked up as well, several Blood Taste carcasses piled up around him. Zack, who was standing ahead of her near the bridge, looked up at her. The bridge began to rattle and shake, and Cloud and Tifa let out shouts of alarm, grabbing onto the railing. Cissnei's eyes widened as she realized what it was.

"Off the bridge!" she shouted. "Everyone off the bridge!"

The group didn't ask questions. Barret looked up from the other side where he had a Special Combatant by the neck, his gun arm pointed at him. He quickly dropped the robotic monster, raising his arm and waving the others over. Cloud and Tifa immediately released the monsters they were fighting, running for the bridge as several small explosions began to go off. Zack quickly placed the Buster Sword at his back, whipping around and running onto the bridge. Cissnei followed behind him, breathing quickly. The smell of smoke filled the air, metal beginning to groan.

The ambush had come upon them not too long ago, the result of a tripped alarm. Cissnei should have known that Shinra would rather lose the bridge to the Reactor than the reactor itself. Explosions wracked the bridge, spewing dust and steel into the air. Zack made a running leap, darting into the smoke and landing roughly on the other side. Cissnei prepared to take the same jump.

A hand closed around her vest, pulling her back sharply. Cissnei let out a surprised gasp as she snapped back, crashing against a hard chest. The explosions stilled, the dust and smoke in front of her clearing and revealing a sharp drop at her feet, many stories tall. The portion of the bridge that Zack had jumped from was gone. She took several deep breaths, her eyes wide. Without mako enhancements, she wouldn't have survived the fall.

"Thanks…Sephiroth…" she said breathlessly.

The hand at her back released her, Sephiroth stepping away. "No problem."

She looked up. Zack clung to two metal beams protruding from the wreckage of the bridge at the other side of the chasm. Barret leaned over and pulled him up by his shirt with his human hand. Cloud and Tifa stood behind him on the other side, looking over at them. Her heart still pounded in her chest as she realized how close she had come to an accidental death.

"There's gotta be another way around," she heard Barret grumble as he deposited Zack on the ground, straightening up. The former First got to his feet, dusting off his clothes as he looked at them.

"Is there?" asked Sephiroth quietly. It took Cissnei a moment to realize he was addressing her. His eyes were fixed on Cloud and the others.

Cissnei shook her head, going through what she had seen of the schematics. "There's an exit near the Reactor!" she shouted to the other side. "It leads down to the connecting walkway." She turned towards Sephiroth. "By the time we get there, they'll be finished."

Sephiroth nodded once. "Plant the bomb yourselves," he said. "We'll secure your escape route."

"Roger that," said Zack, nodding. "We'll meet you at the walkway."

"Stay alert," said Cissnei. "They probably have more tricks up their sleeves."

"Heh, same to you!" said Barret, turning around and moving down the walkway. "Don't get killed!"

"Worry about yourselves," said Sephiroth, watching them leave. Once they were on their way, he turned towards Cissnei, nodding at her. They turned, walking away from the wreckage of the bridge.

XxXxX

"You sure it's okay to leave them?" asked Tifa, looking back as the four of them made their way towards the Reactor.

"Don't worry about it!" said Zack, cheerfully. "Seph's the last person you need to worry about."

Cloud turned his head towards them to watch the exchange. Ahead of him, Barret spun around angrily. "Cloud!" he barked. "Stop spacin' out and plant the bomb!"

"Right," he said, turning back towards the Reactor. "Sorry." Cissnei had given him the bomb before they entered the Reactor, telling him that this time, it was his responsibility. He drew the padded case out of his pack, holding it in one hand and taking a step forward.

A sudden sharp pain pierced through his mind, accompanied by a high-pitched, metallic sound. Cloud hissed through his teeth and pitched forward, one hand on the railing to steady himself and the other covering his face. The case slipped from his hands, landing on the ground as he squeezed his eyes shut, breathing hard. Beside him, Zack let out a grunt of pain, leaning against the railing and pressing his palm over his face. Vivid images passed through his mind again—the Nibelheim Mako Reactor, Tifa lying unconscious on the ground, the town on fire, blood staining the Reactor's steps…His heartbeat quickened, his breathing growing more ragged.

"Zack! Cloud! What's going on?" asked Tifa, a note of alarm in her voice.

"Damn man, get a hold of yourself!" said Barret.

Almost as soon as it came, the pain disappeared, leaving behind a dull throbbing. Cloud's eyes snapped open, and he took several deep breaths, staring down at the floor. Tifa crouched down beside him, placing her hands on his arms. "Cloud…" she said. "You alright?"

"What the hell…" muttered Zack, straightening up and shaking his head.

"Tifa…I'm fine," said Cloud, shaking his head slowly. The dizziness was slowly fading. He swallowed hard and straightened up, taking the package with him. "Come on. Let's hurry."

Tifa nodded, taking a step back from Cloud. He took a step. When he managed to do that without stumbling, he moved forward, carefully lifting the bomb from its case and attaching it to the back of the Reactor valve. The two of them turned towards Barret and Zack, the latter of which was wiping the sweat from his brow and straightening up.

"Let's get out of here," said Barret.

Zack nodded, and the two of them moved forward towards Cloud and Tifa.

XxXxX

"_Sephiroth!" _

"_Sephiroth!" _

He took deep breaths, her voice cutting through the images in his mind as he slowly came back to reality. The pain receded, going back to a manageable level. He exhaled, noticing that Cissnei was standing behind him and to his left, her hands on his shoulders. He was crouching down. Had the pain and the influx of images actually brought him to his knees?

"Sorry…" he said quietly, shaking his head and straightening up. Her hands slipped away from him and she stepped back, a worried frown on her face.

"Was it her?" she asked.

"It was nothing," said Sephiroth. "I'm alright. Let's keep moving."

Cissnei nodded, looking around. The two of them were standing on a narrow platform near the walkway, the remnants of monsters and security robots littered around them. Cissnei was bleeding. He remembered, vaguely, an image of her jumping in front of him when the pain struck him and his vision blurred. She turned away, hiding the injury from him, and he decided against commenting on it.

"These ventilation shafts lead up to viewing platforms above the walkway," said Cissnei, gesturing at the vents. "If we each take one, we can cover them from different angles. But if you're not feeling well, we can take the central vent and make the most of it."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "I'll take the left one."

"Alright," said Cissnei. "See you in a few."

"Mm," said Sephiroth, nodding at her. He turned away from her, removing the grate from the vent and crawling inside, ignoring the dull pain in his head.

XxXxX

The four of them slipped out of the narrow passage and onto the connecting walkway, walking out to the center of it. Zack frowned as he looked around, scratching his head. The pain from earlier had long since disappeared, but it, and the images that it showed him, were still bothering him. What was it anyway, and why did it affect Cloud as well? A relapse of mako poisoning? Sure, it hadn't affected him as bad as it affected Cloud, but he _had _been stewing in a vat of mako for the better part of four years.

…Or was it something else?

His mind was still focused on one vague image. Aerith, surrounded by water, her eyes closed as if in sleep. For some reason, that image deeply unsettled him.

_It's nothing…_he told himself. _Just a trick of the mind. _

He looked up as Shinra operatives suddenly rushed out of each of the walkways, cornering them in the center. He was standing in the center of the walkway, Cloud, Tifa and Barret each facing off a section of infantrymen.

"Shit!" said Barret, taking three steps back. "What the hell's goin' on?"

"…A trap…" said Cloud quietly.

Zack looked up, his eyes passing over the sections of wall above them. Cissnei and Sephiroth stood at opposite ends of the wall, half-hidden. His eyes narrowed as Sephiroth took a step forward, Masamune in his hand. Zack shook his head slightly, meeting the other ex-SOLDIER's eyes. Sephiroth hesitated, then took a step back, lowering his sword.

_Good, _thought Zack as footsteps approached them. _Stay hidden. _

He placed one hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword, turning to look at the new arrival. Zack scowled, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the sight of the man. He immediately stepped forward, putting himself between the man and Cloud.

"Pres…President Shinra?" asked Barret.

"Why is the president here?" asked Tifa.

Zack said nothing. President Shinra stopped in front of them. "So you all must be…hmm…" He trailed off, cupping his chin in his hand. "What was it?"

"AVALANCHE!" yelled Barret. "And don't you forget it! So you're President Shinra, huh?"

Zack scowled and stepped forward, extending a hand towards Barret to quiet him. "Long time no see, sir," he said, his voice deceptively calm.

The president looked confused. "Long time no see?" he repeated, examining Zack more closely. "Oh. You. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to mako, from the look in your eyes. Tell me traitor, what was your name…?"

Quit. Joined. It was amazing how simple the man made it sound. Memories flashed through his mind, memories of Hojo, and the mako tank, and messages scratched to Cloud in the glass. Memories of Angeal, and white feathers…

He clenched his fists, but straightened up to his full height, a confident smile appearing on his face as he tilted his head.

"It's Zack."

"Forgive me for asking," said the president. "But I can't be expected to remember everyone's name. Unless you become another Sephiroth." The look on the president's face became one of fond reminiscing. "Aah, Sephiroth. He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant."

"Can't argue with that," said Zack, in a tone that might have been friendly, if it wasn't for the edge of barely restrained anger. He hoped that Sephiroth was still staying hidden.

"Don't give a damn 'bout none of that!" said Barret. "This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves y'all right!"

"And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you," said the president, brushing dust off the sleeve of his suit.

"VERMIN?" yelled Barret. "That's all you can say? VERMIN? Shinra're the VERMIN for killing the Planet! Guess that'd make you King VERMIN! So shu'up, jackass!"

"Barret, stop…" Zack heard Cloud whisper.

The president was unfazed. "You are beginning to bore me," he said. "I'm a very busy man. So if you'll excuse me…I have a dinner I must attend."

"Dinner?" asked Barret, rushing forward. "Don't gimme that! I ain't even started with you yet!"

Zack raised a hand as Barret reached him, placing it lightly on the other man's chest and pushing him back before he could take another step forward.

"But I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

A metallic whirring noise started up, drowning out all other sound. Zack turned his head, watching as a large robot came into view.

"Meet Airbuster," said the president. "A techno-soldier. Our Weapons Development Department created him."

"Hmm," said Zack, turning away. "Good to see they're getting creative."

"Yes, quite," said President Shinra. "I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

"Techno-soldier?" asked Cloud.

A helicopter floated up from underneath them. The president turned towards it. "Now then," he said. "If you'll excuse me…"

Zack moved without warning. "Barret, Tifa, Cloud! Take care of this!" he said, whipping the Buster Sword from his back and charging at the President. The man stared as Zack approached, wide-eyed. Zack raised the Buster Sword over his head and swung it down.

An orange blade shot out from nowhere, blocking the Buster Sword. Zack's eyes widened and he stepped back.

"I can't allow you to do that," said a young voice.

XxXxX

Sephiroth watched the confrontation between Zack and President Shinra, a frown on his face. He still held Masamune loosely in his hand. He didn't move as the Airbuster came into view, whirring towards Tifa, Cloud, and Barret. Zack was right. He couldn't afford to be exposed. Not while there was still a chance that the others could handle this on their own.

Cloth rustled behind him.

Sephiroth's eyes widened and he moved, spinning around and slashing down rapidly with Masamune. The blade cut through nothing but air. His assailant landed lightly on her feet, holding a double bladed sword by its handle. Her hair was bright red, slicked back and falling to her shoulders. There was a slightly crazed smirk on her face.

"He said you'd be here, but I didn't expect to find you like this. The great SOLDIER Sephiroth, cowering in the wall like a rat," she said. Her voice had an accent to it that he couldn't place. "Just my luck. This will be fun."

Sephiroth said nothing, holding Masamune in front of him as he faced her.

XxXxX

Cissnei's eyes widened as she saw Sephiroth turn away across from her. She could just vaguely see him confronting someone, a red-haired woman, just as Zack charged at the president. Her eyes flicked down to Cloud and the others, cornered by the Airbuster. She reached for Rekka, her gloved hand closing around one of the shuriken's points.

A sword suddenly shot out beside her, the blade turned towards her neck. Cissnei froze, aware that _she _wasn't alone either.

"Uh, uh, uh…" said a voice from behind her. "I can't let you do that."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	14. File 004: Ghosts of the Past pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** For the record, I really _hate _writing battle scenes. I do them when I have to, but unless I'm really inspired, they're my least favorite scenes to write. So, bear with me if I seem to be going too fast. The battles with the Tsviets were meant to be quick in this chapter, as they're just an introduction (…and there's that whole bomb about to go off, lol.) But I'll do my best.

I'm only now starting to realize just how ambitious this project was (THEY'RE STILL IN MIDGAR!), but with any luck, I should be able to get through it. I think I'll split it up into two fics, one for each disc of the game.

Also, again, I apologize for the OC Tsviet. Rest assured that this was necessary for the plot to move forward. You will see why in later chapters. I think he'll be my last OC, but I reserve the right to rescind that statement later on if it becomes necessary, lol. (Oh, and the right to take Player Turks and give them names and identities ^_^)

XxXxX

**File 004: Ghosts of the Past**

"I can't allow you to do that."

Zack looked down, his eyes widening in surprise. The speaker was a young girl. She didn't look like she could be any older than nine or ten. In each hand, she held a glowing, vibrating blade, connected by a wire that hung between them. Her eyes, fixed on his, were a brilliant Mako blue.

"Hey. You're—."

His words were cut off as the girl suddenly moved, drawing back and slashing at him with both blades. Zack jumped back, the first blade whizzing through the air just in front of his face and the second slamming against the side of the Buster Sword. He held the blade up in front of him with one hand, eyes narrowed as he looked past their crossed blades at her. Behind her, President Shinra ran for the helicopter, climbing inside. The girl jumped back with a small grunt of effort and landed nimbly on her feet, rushing towards him again. Zack moved the Buster Sword around his body, blocking her strikes as she rushed towards him.

The air was filled with the sound of humming blades and strikes, Zack moving backwards across the catwalk. The girl raised both swords above her head, forming an X in the air and bringing them down towards him. Zack raised the Buster Sword over his head, supporting it with one hand as he blocked both strikes in one. She jumped back, crouching down and turning the blades around in a half circle, staring at him.

Zack lowered his sword.

"Man, oh man," he said, "I knew Shinra lowered their standards, but I didn't think they'd start letting kids into SOLDIER."

The girl said nothing, straightening up and studying him. There was almost no expression on her face, and a far off look in her eye. Zack frowned. It unnerved him, seeing such an old expression on a young girl's face.

"Zack Fair, former SOLDIER First Class," she said, as if she was reading from a file. "Your combat abilities are noted to be exceptional, as expected from a SOLDIER of your rank. Yet you're fighting on the defensive. Why?"

Zack narrowed his eyes, saying nothing. He raised the Buster Sword in his hands, holding it in front of him defensively. The girl stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"I see…" she said. "Then you'll die."

She gripped her sabers more tightly, rushing at him again.

XxXxX

The woman stared at him, her weapon held confidently at her side. Sephiroth stared back, meeting her eyes coolly. They shone with the unmistakable glow of mako, although her eyes glowed red, instead of the typical blue. He tightened his grip on Masamune.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The woman's smirk widened. "They call me Rosso the Crimson," she said, resting one finger lightly on her cheek. "Those that survive, at any rate."

"Never heard of you."

"You've been away for too long, darling," she said. "A lot has changed in your absence."

"Clearly," he said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Move out of my way."

Rosso chuckled darkly. "Giving me the opportunity to flee?" she asked. "How unexpectedly noble of you. But no, you misunderstand the situation." She took a step forward, holding her weapon out in front of her horizontally. Rosso tilted her head back. "You will die here, Sephiroth. This is your end."

"So be it."

He dashed forward, slashing in front of him with Masamune. Rosso stepped lightly to the side, the smirk never leaving her face as she raised her weapon and blocked his attack with one of the blades. She rotated it so that the center of the weapon was angled towards him, pulling the trigger. Sephiroth jumped back as five bullets moved towards him, swinging Masamune in neat, precise motions. Five quick explosions formed in the air in front of him. He darted forward, his movement limited by the narrow space as he lunged at her.

Rosso caught the edge of his blade with the flat of one of hers. sliding along the length of the sword and rushing towards him. Sephiroth ducked out of the way, the point of her second blade skittering harmlessly off one of his coat pauldrons and over his shoulder. He met her eyes and her lips quirked up in a smirk as she twisted her wrist, bringing the blade slashing down. Sephiroth quickly withdrew and gripped Masamune in both hands, blocking it. She withdrew, twisting the weapon in her hand around and slashing at him with the other end. Sephiroth moved to the side, blocking that strike as well.

"So you are as good as they say," said Rosso.

"Hm," said Sephiroth in reply, raising Masamune and rushing at her. She raised her own weapon to meet the sword, bloodlust and glee in her eyes.

XxXxX

"Wait, Zack!" yelled Cloud as Zack took off, taking a few steps after him. The whirring of the Airbuster's engines stopped him in his tracks and he turned, noticing at the machine was now staring Barret and Tifa down. Barret raised his gun arm, pointing it at the robot.

"Yo, Cloud!" he said. "We gotta do something 'bout him!"

The machine moved towards them, cornering them down the catwalk. Cloud reached behind him, pulling his sword free from its sheath. He turned the blade over in his hands, crouching down slightly. The Airbuster raised its arm, pointing its cannon towards Barret. Cloud lunged towards it, coming up behind it as Barret quickly jumped and moved out of the way, sliding down the catwalk. The machine's missiles struck the ground, sending shards of shrapnel everywhere. Tifa grunted and threw up her arms, shielding her face.

"THIS is from SOLDIER?" she asked incredulously.

"No way," said Cloud, shaking his head. "It's just a machine."

"I don't care what it is," said Barret, holding his gun arm out in front of him. "I'm gonna bust this thing up!"

"Heads up," said Tifa as the Airbuster raised its other arm, pointing it towards her. "It's attacking again!"

Cloud gripped the hilt of his sword tightly in both hands and jumped into the air, letting out a shout as he slashed down in one quick motion. The tip of the sword exposed some of the wiring, but the robot continued to move, made of stronger stuff than the Guard Scorpion had been.

"Counter-attack," said a robotic voice coming from the Airbuster as Cloud began to fall. "Rear Gun."

A pair of smaller guns on the monster's back suddenly rose, pointing towards him. Cloud's eyes widened.

"Cloud!" shouted Tifa in alarm.

The bullets bounced against the metal of his sword as Cloud raised it to protect himself. He let out a grunt from the impact, flying back slightly and landing on his feet a few feet away.

"I'm alright!" he said.

Tifa rushed forward, twisting her body around and kicking at the robot. The kick connected, denting the metal shell that surrounded it. Behind her, Barret raised his gun arm, a ball of orange light forming in front of it. "Tifa, get back!" he shouted. The Airbuster swept an arm down towards her and she jumped back, twisting away from it, landing crouched beside Barret. Barret supported his gun arm with his human hand, letting out a shout and sliding back slightly as the blast rushed towards the robot. It struck the area that Tifa had damaged, sending shards of metal in different directions.

The robot turned around, raising its arms towards Cloud. Cloud raised his head from where he was crouched on the catwalk, his sword in front of him. He rushed forward just as the monster fired, avoiding the blasts and ducking under its arm. He swung his sword to the side with a shout, feeling it cut through metal and wires. Sparks flew as the monster raised its arm towards him.

Tifa ran forward, leaping onto the monsters back and grabbing hold of its shoulder with one hand. Behind her, the sound of gunfire rang through the air as Barret shot continuously at the monster's back. Cloud looked up, his eyes widening as he saw her raise her hand, a Thunder Materia causing her fingers to crackle with lightning. She slammed her hand down onto the monster's back, a shock rippling through its system.

"Tifa, look out!" said Cloud in alarm.

The monster's Rear Guns flared into life, shooting at her. Tifa let out a shout of pain as she was thrown from the monster's back.

"Tifa!" shouted Cloud.

XxXxX

Cissnei whipped Rekka from her back quickly and spun around, swatting the sword to the side with one of the shuriken's blades. The man standing in front of her smirked. He was taller than she was, at least six feet tall, dressed in a gray suit outlined in glowing Mako blue lines. His hair was dark brown and cut short, framing his face. His eyes, fixed on her, were the color of burnished gold, glowing with something that was unmistakably Mako energy. He tilted his head towards her with a smirk.

"Cissnei of the Turks," he said. "At least, I'm told that's what you go by. Although I could be wrong."

Her eyes drifted towards the symbol on his belt, widening in recognition.

"Deepground?" she asked.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked, raising his sword. "A lot's changed since you defected."

Her eyes narrowed and she took a step back, mindful of the sheer drop behind her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Don't you remember me?" he asked, opening his arms in what could have been a friendly gesture. There was something in his voice and in his eyes as he looked at her, though. Anger. And hatred.

"No," said Cissnei. "Should I?"

He shook his head. "Pity," he said. "I guess it has been a long time." He rushed towards her, bringing his sword down. Cissnei caught it between two of her shuriken's points, grunting in pain as the impact traveled all the way down the length of her arm. He pushed and she shuddered, her knees buckling as she crouched down. Her arm trembled. He was enhanced by mako. There was no way she would be able to keep this up for long.

Cissnei's leg shot out, kicking him in the shins. He stumbled back, and she straightened up as the pressure eased, throwing Rekka towards him. He raised his sword, slashing downwards. The sword caught the shuriken underhand, slashing upwards and sending it point down into the corner where the wall met the ceiling. Cissnei moved behind it, darting through the opening he created and kicking him swiftly in the chin.

She flipped backwards and jumped into the air before he could recover, grabbing Rekka with one hand as she soared over his head. She swung from the shuriken, freeing it with her weight and landing crouched behind him just as he righted himself. Cissnei withdrew her left hand from the hidden pocket of her vest. She twisted towards him quickly, pulling out a small handgun and squeezing the trigger.

He jumped into the air and out of the path of the bullet, twisting so that he was facing her as he landed. The sword whipped out before he could touch the ground, and Cissnei moved, catching it with Rekka and deflecting the blow. She kicked at him, but he twisted out of the way easily, catching her ankle with his free hand.

"What now, Cissnei?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

Cissnei glared and leaned her weight on their crossed blades, swinging body forward from the waist. She kicked with her free leg, planting her foot on his chest. He stumbled back, his grip loosening long enough for Cissnei to slip her foot out of his hold, jumping back. He grunted, placing a hand on his chest and straightening up. Cissnei raised her left hand and pointed the gun at him, squeezing the trigger two more times. He ducked away from the bullets and rushed towards her, sword in hand. Cissnei jumped back, her eyes widening as she felt the wall against her. She turned her head. The swordsman's eyes widened in triumph and he thrust the sword towards her. She ducked, the sword stabbing into one of the steam pipes.

Hot steam filled the air, limiting visibility. Cissnei swung with Rekka twice, the swordsman blocking each strike. She jumped back, aiming to move out of the steam and gain range.

His hand shot out of the cloud of steam, grabbing her wrist. Cissnei gasped and turned.

"Slippery as always," he said. "But you can't keep this up for long."

Her eyes narrowed in challenge and she raised Rekka, turning to face him.

XxXxX

Tifa landed on her side on the catwalk and rolled back, twisting her legs in the air and flipping over so that she was back on her feet. The martial artist clutched at her side, and Cloud saw blood blossom underneath her white shirt. He let out a shout, twisting his blade into the air. It cut through the monster's arm, raining sparks down on him as he jumped back. The monster moved to turn towards Tifa and Barret, shuddered, then stopped, electricity arcing around its back.

"Turn Function non-operational."

The rear guns moved, turning towards Tifa again.

"Oh, no you don't!" growled Barret, jumping in front of her. Bullets ricocheted off his gun arm as he held it in defense, grunting. One of the ricocheting bullets spun in the air, a red line trailing across Barret's face.

"Barret!" cried Tifa.

The Airbuster raised its arms again, pointing towards Cloud. He raised his sword in front of him, pressing his hand to the flat of the blade as the missiles launched towards him, striking the sword in the center. Cloud flew off, letting out a grunt as his back slammed against the railing of the catwalk. He slumped down to the ground.

"Big Bomber, out of ammo," said the Airbuster.

Cloud groaned, getting to his feet. He held his sword tightly in one hand.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Cloud's eyes widened, traveling to the timer secured on his wrist. It was beeping now, flashing an angry red color. Barret and Tifa paused, their eyes traveling to similar timers. Ahead of them, Zack landed on the ground, blocking his opponents attacks with his sword. "You guys better wrap this up!" he said.

"Shit," said Barret. "We gotta hurry! Cloud, finish it!"

Cloud grit his teeth and nodded, running towards the Airbuster. He leaped into the air, holding the hilt of his sword in both hands and plunging it down into the Airbuster's back. The Airbuster shuddered and groaned, bright light surrounding it as Cloud held on tight.

XxXxX

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Sephiroth's eyes traveled to the watch on his arm. He quickly jerked his head away as Rosso's weapon came into view, the tip of the blade just barely scratching his cheek. Rosso pulled back, landing on her feet and smirking as she raised the weapon to eye level, running her finger across the small stream of blood. She paused, tilting her head as if she was listening to something. Sephiroth thought that he could hear the small murmur of a voice coming from her. An earpiece? He recognized the voice's tone. A change of orders.

"It appears we've run out of time," she said with a scowl, the two blades folding in on themselves. "Such a pity. I would have liked to finish you myself. Ah well. If you survive the blast, we'll meet again someday."

Rosso turned, walking down the narrow corridor. Sephiroth moved to follow after her, but was quickly distracted by a blast. He turned his head towards the battle below him, eyes wide.

XxXxX

Cissnei let out a grunt as she fell back against the wall, slumping to the ground and taking deep breaths. The man walked up to her, the point of his sword facing the ground. He turned it over, touching the flat of the blade just underneath her chin and tilting her head up so that it faced him. She looked up at him, glaring. Her hand twitched, moving towards her vest.

"Don't," he said. "I'd hate for my hand to slip."

She held her breath. He stared down at her coldly, then frowned, glancing at her beeping watch. He turned his eyes back to her, and in the sudden stillness, Cissnei could hear as orders to him changed.

"_All Shinra troops, withdraw. I repeat, all Shinra troops, withdraw." _

"Hn…" he said, turning towards her. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Yet. Not until you remember me."

He withdrew his sword, slipping it into his sheath. He had an actual sword belt, Cissnei noticed, instead of carrying it at his back like other SOLDIERs. She wondered why, then realized it was an odd thing to notice at the moment.

"Till the next time," he said.

"Who are you?" asked Cissnei again, as he turned away.

He inclined his head towards her slightly. "They call me Auriel the Golden. Not that it means anything to you."

Auriel walked away. Cissnei struggled to her feet, wrapping one arm around her waist. She thought about chasing after him, but decided against it. There wasn't enough time. She had to get back to the others.

XxXxX

Zack looked up as the girl jumped away from him, landing on the ground just ahead of him. She was fast. It was hard to admit, but doing nothing but defending was starting to get a little tricky. Zack got to his feet, watching as she pressed one hand to her ear.

"Understood," she said quietly. "I will withdraw immediately."

She straightened up, the orange glow fading from her sabers as she turned away.

"Hey, wait—!" began Zack, extending a hand towards her.

A blast tore through the air, the shockwaves causing him to stumble forward. Zack's eyes widened and he turned his head. The Airbuster had exploded in a wave of blue electricity, tearing through the catwalk underneath and sending shards of molten steel flying everywhere. Zack raised his sword to stop shrapnel from hitting him, gasping slightly as the air cleared.

Cloud clung to the steel wires that supported the catwalk, dangling dangerously.

"Cloud!" he shouted in alarm, slipping the Buster Sword back into its sheath.

The beeping at his wrist became more insistent.

"It's gonna blow!" shouted Barret. "Let's go, Zack! Tifa!"

"Barret!" said Tifa in alarm, trying to push past him. "Can't you do something?"

Barret shook his head. "Not a damn thing," he said.

Zack reached the end of the catwalk and crouched down, extending his hand towards Cloud. Cloud looked up towards him, straining to hold on. "Zack!" he groaned. "I can't reach!"

"We gotta go!" said Barret.

"Cloud, please don't die!" said Tifa. "You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"

"I know, Tifa," said Cloud. He grit his teeth. "I'm slipping…"

"You gonna be alright?" asked Barret.

Cloud shook his head. "You worry about yourselves," he said. "I'm alright. Just take care of Tifa!"

The beeping sounds began to come closer together now. Cloud let out a shout as he lost his grip, falling. Zack leaned over to try and catch him, his hand closing around empty air. Tifa moved forward as well, and Barret quickly crouched down, pulling her back before she could fall as well. Above them, a silver-haired figure swooped down, just barely missing Cloud.

"Sephiroth!" said Zack, looking up.

Sephiroth landed on the catwalk, folding his black wing against himself. Cissnei landed on the other side of the walkway, letting go of the thin wire in her hands. "We have to get out of here!" she said. The catwalk was beginning to shake, explosions going off in the surrounding area.

"But…Cloud…" began Tifa.

Zack frowned, staring down into the slums below them. They were covered in a layer of smoke, so he couldn't make out individual buildings, but he didn't need to. He straightened up.

"He'll be alright," said Zack. "I think I have an idea where he ended up."

**END FILE**


	15. File 005: The Flower Girl pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** Dialogue between Cloud and Aerith is edited a bit to match Cloud's CC personality. I hope it works out.

XxXxX

**File 005: The Flower Girl**

_He dreamed of being surrounded by green light, of looking through a haze at a dimly lit laboratory. He turned his head to the side, his vision blurring and coming into focus as he stared at the glass of the tube next to his. He found it hard to remember why he was there in the first place. Hard to focus. Another message, scrawled in mirror image. His mind worked sluggishly, trying to process the meaning of the words…_

Tomorrow.

_He struggled to raise his hand, fingers touching the glass in his own tube as he slowly scratched out another message. The glass was cool underneath his fingertips, the tactile sensation a foreign thing in this surreal world…_

OK.

…_A memory from that time?_

"_Hello?" _

The voice was cool and clear, like rain on a hot summer day. Cloud groaned, feeling himself stir to wakefulness. The memory faded away, a slew of sensations washing over him at once. He felt as if he was lying in grass, the heavy scent of flowers permeating the air. But that couldn't be right. Grass...? Flowers…? Wasn't he in Midgar…?

"_Oh! It moved! Hello, hello!" _

He opened his eyes and quickly closed them. The light was blinding, sending searing pain through his head. Slowly, he opened his eyes again, just a crack this time, and then wider. The light was coming in from a hole in the roof. It was sunlight, he realized, and his mind vaguely recognized that as being strange. He groaned, struggling to push himself up so that he was sitting down. The world spun, and he had to take deep breaths to keep himself from being sick until it calmed down again.

"You okay?" asked a concerned voice from behind him.

Cloud turned his head. A woman stood in front of him, dressed in a pink dress and a darker pink jacket. Her eyes were a bright green, and her hair a deep brown color. Cloud's eyes widened in recognition, his mind going back to the time he and Zack were escaping from the Sector 1 Reactor.

Zack's girlfriend…

"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums," she said. "You just fell from above. You really gave me a scare."

"…I came crashing down?" asked Cloud, looking up. It looked like an impossible height to fall from. He flexed his fingers experimentally, frowning. He _felt _okay. A little banged up, but okay.

She nodded. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."

Cloud looked around, realizing that he was landing in a patch of yellow flowers. He stared. Flowers…in Midgar? They looked real enough. "Flower bed…" he repeated. "Is this yours?"

"Mm," said the girl, nodding her head.

Cloud stared for a moment more, the memory of the explosion at the Reactor coming back to him. Zack, Tifa, and the others…He hoped that they made it out alright. He took a deep breath, then rolled back and jumped to his feet, just as Zack had taught him. The girl stared, watching as he dusted himself off.

"Sorry about that," he said.

She shrugged. "That's alright. The flowers here are quite resilient, because this is a sacred place."

They'd have to be, he thought to himself, to grow in a place like Midgar. As if reading his thoughts, she walked away, examining another set of flowers. "They say grass and flowers won't grow in Midgar," she said. "But for some reason, they have no trouble blooming here. I love it here." There was a peaceful smile on her face. Cloud walked up to her, crouching down so that he was at eye level with her. He watched as she gently arranged the flowers he had flattened with his fall, pulling them back out and spreading their leaves apart. His eyes fixed on the single yellow flower between them.

"We met before…" said Cloud softly, causing her to look up. "You were selling flowers."

Her smile widened. "I'm so happy you remember!" she said. "Thanks for buying my flowers."

Cloud shook his head. "No problem," he said, thinking back to the little yellow flower Marlene kept in a cup of water in her room. She had kept it there for a while before it began to wilt, and Cissnei taught her how to press it in a book to preserve it. "The little girl I gave it to was very happy with it."

"Really?" she asked as she worked. "I'm so glad." She frowned and paused in her work, looking up at him. "Say…" she began. "Do you have any Materia?"

"Yes, some," he said. "Nowadays you can find Materia anywhere. Why?"

The girl shook her head. "Just wondering," she said. "Mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."

Cloud frowned. Materia didn't do much unless it was used the right way. He figured that out the hard way as a child, when he tried to use a Matera by throwing it. "Uh…I'm sure it's good for something," he said. "You probably just haven't figured it out how to use it yet."

She shook her head again. "No, I know how to use Materia. It just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it, though. It was my mother's." She giggled slightly at the look on his face. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I shouldn't be talking like this to someone I just met. But I kind of feel like talking. Are you up to it? After all, here we are, meeting again."

Cloud shrugged. "I don't mind," he said. "But I kind of have to get back."

"That's fine. It won't be long," she said. "I've got to check on my flowers first. It'll be just a minute."

He watched as she ran off to inspect the flowers, shifting uncomfortably. What would Zack say if he knew where he was now? Should he say something? She probably thought that Zack was dead, or that he had left her. Would she want him to explain, or had she already moved on? He frowned, looking away. He didn't want to cause anyone any pain. For all he knew, saying anything would just make it worse…

Maybe he should say something. After all, she deserved to know what happened, didn't she? That Zack hadn't left her on purpose?

But why did it have to come down to _him_?

He was still thinking about how to bring it up to her when she looked up. "Oh! I just realized. We don't know each other's names, do we?" She extended a hand. "My name is Aerith. I'm the flower girl. Nice to meet you."

Cloud hesitated for a moment, then clasped her hand. "I'm…Cloud," he said.

XxXxX

Cissnei sighed and walked back into the bar, shutting the door behind her and peeling off her gloves. "He's unlikely to say anything more," she said, looking at the assembled group of people.

"Hope you gave 'im a good kick in the pants before sending 'im off," grumbled Barret, his arms folded as he leaned back against his chair and glared. She glanced at him. He was probably still irritated that she had interrupted his questioning of the spy they found staking out the bar, but Barret's method of interrogation involved more fists than questions.

"Don't worry," she said. "He won't be coming back around here anymore."

"So…Corneo?" asked Tifa, propping herself up on her arms and leaning forward on the bar. Zack sat on the other side of the bar, one arm draped across it and one leg folded slightly across the row of stools. On her other side, Sephiroth sat at the table, his chair tilted back slightly so that it leaned against the wall.

She nodded.

"What do we know about him?" asked Zack.

"Keh," said Barret. "He's scum. Bastard runs the criminal underground out o' Sector 6. The man's just as bad as Shinra."

Cissnei nodded. "He has his hands in just about everything illegal that passes through Midgar's slums," she said. "We've kept an eye on him, but since he never goes above the plate, he's always been low priority."

"Shinra doesn't care 'bout what happens in the slums," added Barret. "S'why pigs like Corneo get to run the place."

Cissnei didn't argue with him. Mostly because it was true. She nodded once.

"How do we get close to him?" asked Sephiroth.

"He has a habit of visiting the Honey Bee Inn," said Cissnei. "He has girls brought to him every night, and he chooses one of them to be his 'bride'."

Barret scowled. "That rat tell you that?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No," she said. "One of my former colleagues used to work as his bodyguard.[1] He would talk about it sometimes."

"So we send one of our girls undercover," said Zack. "And we hope he picks them." He frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"I'll go," offered Cissnei.

"No," said Tifa, looking up. "Let me."

Cissnei blinked in surprise, turning towards the other woman. "I should go, Tifa," she said. "I was trained for this, and I have more experience."

"But we need to make sure the girl gets picked, right?" asked Tifa. "Let me do this. I think I have a pretty good shot."

"Teef does have a point," said Zack, turning towards her. "I mean, no offense Cissnei, you're cute and all, but Tifa's got—." He froze suddenly as Tifa cleared her throat, looking up at her.

"Yes, Zack?" asked Tifa, pushing herself up on her hands and glaring down at him. "Tifa's got…?"

Zack gulped, then coughed into his hand. "Uh…talent," he muttered quickly, looking away. "Tifa's got a lot of…talent?"

Tifa and Cissnei sighed, Cissnei pressing her face into her palm as Tifa slid back down onto her arms. "I just don't know about this," said Cissnei. "Maybe we can both go."

Tifa shook her head. "One of us needs to stay here, in case anything happens," she said. "Don't worry. I can handle myself."

"You sure you're up for it?" asked Cissnei. "Having all those people stare at you like that?"

Tifa scoffed. "I run a _bar _in the slums, Cissnei," she said. "I'm kind of used to it by now."

"Let her go," said Sephiroth, looking up. "You can observe her from here."

Cissnei sighed, her shoulders slumping in resignation. "Alright," she said. "We'll send Tifa. I'll talk to Jessie. Maybe the two of us can rig some sort of communication device or hidden camera so we can see what's going on." She looked up at Tifa. "I'll lend you an earpiece so that you can keep in touch."

"I appreciate it," said Tifa, nodding.

"Just get in, get the information, and get out," said Cissnei. "And be careful. Don Corneo's a dangerous man, even if he doesn't look it."

Tifa nodded. Zack sighed and stretched, raising his arms over his head and arching his back. He jumped to his feet. "Well, if that's over…" he said, heading towards the door. Sephiroth frowned, looking up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Cloud hunting," said Zack. "Now that we've got a plan. I'll see you guys tonight."

"Remember," said Sephiroth. "You can't be seen by the Turks."

"I know, I know," said Zack, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "I'll be careful."

Sephiroth sighed, but nodded. As Zack walked past her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Good work, Cissnei," he said, before leaving the bar and heading out into the slums.

XxXxX

Aerith released his hand. "And what do you do, Cloud?" she asked.

Cloud hesitated, not sure how to answer that question. Especially considering the last thing he had done was blow up a highly expensive Mako Reactor. "I…uh…do a little bit of everything," he said. It was true…more or less.

"Oh, a jack of all trades," said Aerith.

"Yeah…I do whatever's needed," he said.

Aerith giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Cloud stared at her, confused. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "Don't let it get to you." She smiled, crouching down to tend to the flowers again. "Say, Cloud…" she said as she worked. "Have you ever been a bodyguard?"

"A bodyguard?" he repeated. He frowned, cupping his chin with his hand and thinking about it. A lot of his memories were still hazy. He vaguely remembered going through missions as an infantryman that involved protecting someone, but there was always more than one soldier on the mission, and the people were never really very important. The important people were guarded by SOLDIERs. It wasn't really the same. "Kind of…" he said. "Why?"

"Well…I need a bodyguard to get me out of here," she said. "I want to get home."

"I can do that…" began Cloud uncertainly. "But why do you need a bodyguard to get home?"

Aerith hesitated, looking uncomfortable. She turned away. Cloud took a step forward, towards her, then paused, catching sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, his eyes narrowing. A man in a black suit stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. He had bright red hair, tied back in a ponytail. His suit was disheveled, and he had his hands in his pockets, a lazy smirk on his face. He would have looked harmless, had it not been for the look in his eye. He was definitely more competent than he looked.

Cloud reached up, his hand closing around the hilt of his sword as he stepped in front of Aerith. He extended his arm out in front of her as she tried to move forward, and she stopped, her hands clasped worriedly in front of her.

"Cloud…?" she asked.

"Just stay there," he said, taking a step forward to face the man.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**Notes: **

[1] – Cissnei is referring to Two Guns (Male), who was Don Corneo's bodyguard before becoming a Turk.


	16. File 005: The Flower Girl pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** There's about one more chapter left in this file, one more file for the Don Corneo scene, and finally the long-awaited reunion. I'll try and get to the Zerith reunion by the time January ends.

XxXxX

**File 005: The Flower Girl**

The red-headed man stared at them, a slightly confused frown on his face. Cloud stared at him, his eyes passing over the man's suit. An image flashed into his mind—Tseng standing against a backdrop of white snow, directing him and the other infantryman as they waited for Zack to come out of the bathhouse.

"That uniform…" said Cloud, his eyes widening slightly in recognition. "You're a…Turk, aren't you?"

The Turk didn't answer. He stepped to the side. Cloud tensed as three Shinra infantrymen appeared behind him, filing into the church aisle. He took a step back, closer to Aerith. The Turk tilted his head back, facing her.

"Hey, sis," he said, almost conversationally. "This one's a little weird."

Cloud's hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. He had to protect Aerith. But against three infantrymen and a Turk at once? He wasn't sure if he could. Sure, he was _technically _mako-enhanced, but he had never had to fight on his own before, and he had only started using a sword as his main weapon a few months ago.

_Zack could do it, _said a traitorous voice in the back of his mind. _He could take them down in a second. He did it while carrying you. _

He wasn't Zack, he told himself. But he had to try anyway. Cloud pulled the sword from his back, holding it loosely in his hands as he faced them. The infantrymen immediately raised their guns. Cloud's eyes flicked towards Aerith. He needed to get her out, in case they started shooting.

"Stay back," he warned.

"Reno!" called one of the infantrymen, jerking his chin towards Cloud. "Want him taken out?"

"I haven't decided yet," said the Turk, Reno. He turned towards Cloud, frowning as if thinking it over. Cloud's eyes narrowed. He glared at the Turk, adjusting his grip so that the tip of the blade pointed at him as he shifted his body weight forward.

"Don't fight here!" cried Aerith, stopping him. "You'll ruin the flowers! Come on!"

He turned towards her, eyes widening as she took off and started running towards the back of the church, towards a hallway. "Aerith, wait!" he said.

Aerith stopped near the church wall, gesturing insistently for him to follow her. Cloud hesitated, glancing back at Reno and the infantrymen. He made up his mind quickly, taking off at a run after her. He heard the familiar sound of safeties being released and tensed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reno raise a hand to stop the infantrymen from shooting.

"The exit is back there," she said, pointing into the hallway behind the altar.

"Alright," said Cloud, grabbing her by the arm with his free hand and pulling her ahead of him. "Go!"

She nodded, running quickly down the hallway. He followed her.

XxXxX

Reno watched them go, frowning. He lowered his hand and stepped forward, into the patch of flowers. The look in the other man's eyes had unnerved him. There was something familiar about them, and about the way the man had moved. He had been wearing the uniform of a SOLDIER First Class, but the man was no SOLDIER. Reno was sure of it. He had never seen him before. And yet…

"They were…Mako eyes," he said.

He reminded him of someone.

Reno shook his head, putting the thought out of his mind and turning back to the infantrymen. "Yeah, alright," he said. "C'mon. Get to work." He walked off, heading into the hallway that Aerith and the other guy had escaped through.

He looked up suddenly, remembering something. "Oh!" he said, running back. "And don't step on the flowers!"

He turned away, ignoring the chorus of protests.

"You just stepped on them yourself!"

"They're ruined!"

"You're gonna catch holy hell!"

XxXxX

The hallway opened up into a small room at the back of the church, in worse disrepair than the rest of the building. One of the church's towers had caved in over the years, tearing a hole through the floor. Aerith stopped at the gap, hesitating. Cloud took a deep breath. He didn't know what was taking Reno and the infantrymen, but they wouldn't leave them alone for long.

"Come on," he said, grabbing hold of her. He hoped his newly acquired mako enhancements would help him do this. "On three. One. Two…"

"Three," said Aerith, nodding.

He bent his legs and kicked off, jumping into the air. Cloud exhaled as he landed safely on the other side, setting Aerith on her feet. A rickety wooden staircase extended into the rafters above. It wasn't exactly safe, but it was better than the alternative. "Go on up," he said, looking back as footsteps sounded. Reno and the rest were beginning to move. "Quickly."

Aerith nodded once and hurried up the steps. He cast the entrance a last worried glance before following after her. She ran on the narrow strip of wood that still remained attached to the wall, stopping at another gap. Cloud came up behind her. Aerith froze, watching as Reno entered the room, pointing.

"There they are!" he said. "Over there!"

"Cloud…" said Aerith.

Cloud nodded. "I know," he said. "Looks like they aren't going to let us go." He looked across the gap, gauging the distance.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"We can't let them catch us," said Cloud. "We need to jump."

Aerith shook her head, taking a step away from the edge. Cloud grit his teeth, looking up into the rafters. Several barrels and boxes remained stacked there, precariously close to the edge. "Alright," he said. "Stay here. I'll hold them off."

She nodded. "Make sure they don't get through," she said.

"I'll do my best."

He turned away from her, making the second jump. Aerith backed up, away from the edge.

"The Ancient is getting away!" yelled Reno. "Attack! Attack!"

Cloud cursed under his breath, his eyes widening as he turned his head towards them. He reflexively jumped back, closer to the wall as gunfire rang out through the church. Aerith screamed. Cloud turned his head, his eyes widening as he saw her pitch forward, sliding down the wreckage of the old tower.

"AERITH!" he screamed, crouching down and looking over the edge. Aerith slid until she reached the ground, landing in a heap. One of the infantrymen jumped down, approaching her. She quickly jumped to her feet, backing up. "Cloud!" she called. "Help!"

"Damn!" he cursed, jumping to his feet and scrambling up the ladder. He ran across one of the narrow beams that crisscrossed the church's ceiling, letting out a grunt of effort as he shoved one of the barrels over the side. It tumbled to the ground, crashing into the infantryman.

"Thanks, Cloud!" said Aerith.

"Aerith, stay there!" said Cloud, running over to the next barrel as the infantrymen continued to advance. He shoved it over the side, watching as it rolled down the stairs and slammed the second infantryman into the wall. Aerith ran up the stairs behind the barrel, scaling the ladder that ran up the side of the church. The last infantryman moved after her, and Aerith froze.

"Cloud!" she called.

"On it!" he said, running around. He shoved a stack of boxes over, watching as they struck the infantryman and tumbled down the stairs. Aerith spun around, quickly running around. She hesitated at the gap, her fingers curling inward near her chest.

"Aerith, jump!" he said.

Aerith took a deep breath and leaped across the gap, running up the steps towards him. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide. The pink of her dress and jacket were covered in dust.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head. Cloud nodded. "Follow me!" he said, running across the beam into the main body of the church. He held a hand out to her. She took it, holding on tightly as the two of them crossed the beam, heading for the gap in the ceiling. Cloud clambered up onto the top of the roof, and bent down, extending an arm towards her. Aerith took it, and he pulled her up.

Cloud fell back against the roof, breathing hard. Beside him, Aerith placed her hands on her knees and crouched down, panting. He examined her more closely now, noticing that she had a scrape on her arm, and a couple of growing bruises, but nothing too serious. He exhaled in relief. For a moment, he was afraid she had been hit.

"Ha…they're looking for me again…" said Aerith quietly in between pants.

Cloud looked up in surprise. "You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?" he asked.

Aerith shook her head. "No," she said.

"They're the Turks," said Cloud. She nodded once, still catching her breath. Cloud got to his feet, dusting himself off. "They're a Shinra organization. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."

"This violently?" asked Aerith. "I thought they were kidnapping someone."

"Well, they're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side," he said, his memories beginning to become clearer. "Spying, murder…whatever the company needs."

Aerith nodded. "They look like it," she said. Her breathing hadn't quite evened out. Cloud was surprised to find that he wasn't really out of breath at all.

"Why are they after you?" he asked. "There must be a reason, right?"

"No, not really," said Aerith, shaking her head. "Maybe they think I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER," she added jokingly, straightening up and wiping the sweat from her brow.

Zack's words came back to him, another rush of memory.

"_SOLDIER is like a den of monsters. Don't go inside." _

Cloud shook his head. "You don't want that," he said. "Trust me. C'mon. Let's go."

He took off across the roof of the church, jumping onto the rooftop of the next building. Aerith followed him breathlessly, taking each jump carefully. He stopped on one rooftop and watched her, afraid for a moment that she was going to fall. She caught up to him, breathing heavily again.

"I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER," he teased as she placed her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

"Oh, you're terrible!" said Aerith, laughing. Cloud chuckled, relaxing slightly. "Hey, Cloud?" she asked, causing him to look up. "Were you ever in SOLDIER?"

Cloud frowned, looking away. "It's…kind of a long story…" he said. "Why do you ask?"

"It's your eyes," said Aerith. "They…have a strange glow."

He nodded. "That's the sign of those who've been infused with mako," he said. "It's a mark of SOLDIER…kind of." He turned towards her. "You…recognized it?" he asked.

"I…" began Aerith. She turned away, lowering her eyes. "…Well…kind of."

Cloud hesitated. It was now or never. He took a deep breath.

"It's the same as Zack," he said.

Aerith gasped softly, looking up in surprise. Her eyes were wide. Cloud, looking in them, saw sudden grief and longing…and maybe a little bit of hope. "How do you know that name?"

"I…know Zack," said Cloud. "We're friends. He saved my life."

"He's alive?" asked Aerith, stepping forward.

"Yeah," he said. "Thankfully. It's partly my fault that he's been away for so long. I'm sorry…"

He turned away. If Zack hadn't been too busy looking after him, he might have escaped earlier. He might have been able to get back…

Aerith ran up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Please," she said. "You have to tell me. What happened?"

"It's…" Cloud hesitated. "It's a really long story. We shouldn't stay out here. I'll tell you about it after I get you home."

Aerith stared up at him for a while, and for a moment, he thought that she was going to argue. Then, she nodded, lowering her eyes. Reluctantly, she released him, biting her lower lip. "Okay," she said. "Just answer one question. Did he forget about me?"

Cloud thought back to the look in Zack's eye when he saw Aerith in the plaza—the longing, and the frustration, and the pain.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No, he never forgot about you, Aerith. Zack still cares for you…a lot."

She exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving her shoulders at his words. "Alright," she said, nodding. "My house is this way." She looked up at him, frowning sternly. "And when we get there, you have some explaining to do, mister."

Cloud gulped, but nodded, letting her lead the way.

XxXxX

_It's been a while since I was last in here, _he thought to himself.

Zack looked around the interior of the church, a frown on his face. It hadn't changed a bit in the past four years. Everywhere he looked, he could see her. Aerith, crouching down to tend to the flowers. Aerith, spinning around in the open space in front of the altar, her arms spread out on either side of her. Aerith laughing. Aerith, smiling at him.

There were too many memories.

But where was Aerith now? He frowned, looking down at the flowers in front of him. They were crushed, as if someone had trampled them. He couldn't believe that Aerith would allow anything to happen to them. She had always been so protective over them.

It felt _wrong_. The kind of wrong that made his skin crawl.

He folded his arms, walking around the edge of the flower bed and peering into the back of the church. His foot nudged something in the dark and Zack paused, bending down to pick it up. His eyes darkened. It was a Shinra infantry helmet. Zack continued to walk, the helmet in his hand as he looked around. The back of the church was as much of a wreck as it always was, but the stone on one of the walls was chipped in an unmistakable pattern. He ran his hand down it, scowling.

Gunfire.

Bastards.

He looked around, but he didn't catch sight of any blood, or any other sign of a battle. If Cloud and Aerith were here at all, they were gone now, along with whoever was pursuing them. His scowl deepened and he dropped the helmet to the ground, walking out of the church. He clenched his fists, taking a deep breath to calm down.

"Cloud, you better take care of her…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	17. File 005: The Flower Girl pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** Well, this chapter turned out a lot more contemplative than I planned, but I like it. Hope you guys enjoy! Don't forget to review!

**Review Responses (the Return!): **

**OhJay – **I was really, really, seriously going to skip ahead and write the Zerith reunion in this chapter for you, but then I realized that if I did that, there would be no misunderstanding, and thus, no Miss Cloud scene. And since some other reviewers were looking forward to the Miss Cloud scene (on camera for all of Seventh Heaven to see), I had to delay it in the interest of keeping that scene intact. So, I really do apologize. I appreciate your support for this story and hope that you continue to do so. With any luck, the Miss Cloud scene will be funny enough to make up for it…

XxXxX

**File 005: The Flower Girl**

"…_7…3…"_

Cissnei wrote down the last few numbers, setting her pen aside on the bartop. Seventh Heaven was closed that night in preparation for tomorrow's mission, so all was quiet, aside from the occasional noise coming from Midgar's slums. "Right, I got it," she said into her cellphone. "Thanks for the help, Eira."

"_No problem, Cissnei," _said the female voice at the end of the line. _"But…" _

Cissnei took a deep breath, her fingers closing around the edge of the notepad. "What?" she asked.

"…_This is not normally my place. Tseng was asking about you." _

She froze. "Tseng…?" she repeated.

"_Yeah." _

"…And what did you say?"

"_I haven't heard from you." _

"Did he believe you?"

Silence at the other end of the line. Cissnei slowly exhaled. "Alright," she said. "Thanks for the heads up."

"_Cissnei. I'm not done." _

She tensed, her finger halfway to the End Call button. Cissnei sighed, her shoulders slumping in resignation. "I know what you're going to say, Eira."

"_No, you don't. After Nibelheim, you disappeared off the face of the Planet. And we let you go. You'd crop up occasionally, contact one of us, but it was all pretty tame stuff. A couple of guns here and there, medicine, intel, a ride…We helped you, because you're one of us, and we've all got our secrets. But now your name's starting to crop up with AVALANCHE, Fair, Mako Reactor bombings, Sephiroth…" _

Cissnei was quiet. The voice at the other end of the line paused for a moment, before continuing, her tone brisk and business-like.

"_When we went into hiding, Tseng gave us one order and one order only. Stay out of the company's way. But now the company's starting to take notice of you. The president isn't stupid. He knows how Turks operate. When one Turk shows up in the crosshairs, we all do. Shion. Me. Now him, and all the others in hiding…you think Shinra doesn't know where we are? You go down for this, you take us all with you." _

"_Tseng's made it his personal business to keep us all alive. He sees your actions as jeopardizing his mission. And Tseng will put the gun to your head and pull the trigger himself before he lets you bring us all down."_

"I'm not afraid of Tseng…" said Cissnei quietly, picking up her pen.

"_Really?" _asked Eira. _"I am."_

Cissnei fell silent. "…Alright," she said, after a while. "I won't contact you anymore."

"_It's not about me. I'm not afraid of the company, and I'm not afraid to die. Not about Shion either, we all know he's just itching to play. Not about Nico, he'll be happy to help with this Corneo hit. It's about you. You need to stop, before you get tangled in something you don't need." _

Her eyes darkened, and she tensed, pursing her lips. "…Thank you for your help," she said softly.

"_Goddammit, Shuriken, what is he to you?" _

Cissnei exhaled slowly.

"Bye," she said, pressing the button. She placed the phone on the bar top and took a deep breath, lowering her head onto her arms. She felt drained, and numb. Cissnei tilted her head to the side, looking down the length of the bar. Eira was right. Tseng cared about her, but if it came down to her and all the other Turks, he would kill her himself and haul her body to headquarters. He had done it before. The knowledge should have grieved her, but in the end, it only made her feel cold inside.

"_Turks're are only loyal to each other…" _Reno had told her before, when she questioned the wisdom of letting Veld defect. _"No one else trusts us. Can't trust anyone else." _

"_We do what we have to," _Rude had added.

So what did that make her now?

"Another ex-Turk?" asked a cool voice from behind her. Cissnei tilted her head. Sephiroth stood over her, a frown on his face. She slid off her arms and straightened up, picking up her phone and flipping it closed.

"Yeah. Eira," she said. "She was a mercenary. She joined the Turks back when we cleaned out the AVALANCHE base at Icicle Inn."

"Hm," said Sephiroth, nodding once in acknowledgment. Cissnei frowned, noticing that he was once again wearing his usual coat, with Masamune attached to his back.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

"Zack is taking too long," he said. "I'm going out to look for him."

"Have you tried his phone?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Not answering," he said. "He's probably moping. I shouldn't be out long." He frowned at her, looking her over. "Did something happen?"

She hesitated, but shook her head. He noticed the brief pause, his frown deepening. "You seem pale."

"It's the light," said Cissnei. His brows rose. She lifted her head, forcing a smile on her face. "I'm fine, Sephiroth. Go find Zack and drag him home."

This time, it was Sephiroth's turn to hesitate. He paused for a moment, before nodding once and walking away. Cissnei waited until she heard the door swing closed behind him, then picked up her notepad, dialing the number. It rang twice, before a male voice picked up, sounding uncertain. Cissnei perked up slightly, injecting a note of confidence in her voice as she pressed the phone to her ear. This would be the last, she promised herself. The last time she would involve any of them.

"Hey, Nico. It's Cissnei…Yeah, I know. It's been a while. Listen, I need your opinion on something…It's about Don Corneo…"

XxXxX

Cloud stared as he and Aerith walked through the slums. He had seen it before, in Sector 7, but it really took walking around like this to appreciate just how hard it was to live down here. He tugged at the fabric of his shirt.

"Warm?" asked Aerith, beside him.

"A little," admitted Cloud, nodding.

"The Plate traps heat in the slums," said Aerith, pointing up. "And all the heat from the Reactors gathers down here, so even in the winter, it's like this. You get used to it."

"Yeah…" said Cloud, nodding. He had gotten used to it already, during the time he had spent at Seventh Heaven. But Aerith's church seemed different, almost as if it wasn't a part of the slums.

"Cloud, my house is right here," said Aerith, tugging on his wrist and pulling him off to the right. Cloud started, turning towards her. He hadn't realized that he had spaced out. Some bodyguard he was. He looked around, his eyes widening. Aerith's house lay near one of the water ducts that drained water from the streets of the Plate above. It bordered an empty lot that was nearly covered by yellow flowers.

"You grew them here too?" he asked.

"It took some time," said Aerith. "But I managed to get them to grow out here too. Come on inside. It's getting late."

He nodded, looking around. Although it was hard to tell under the Plate, it was getting a little later in the day. He needed to get back to Sector 7…although he was starting to realize that he didn't have any idea where that was. He followed Aerith inside, lingering by the door as she ran into the living room.

"I'm home, Mom!" she called.

A brown-haired woman in a green dress looked up from where she was cooking. She smiled at Aerith, looking relieved, and walked over to them. Aerith turned towards Cloud, gesturing for him to come forward. He did, closing the door behind him.

"This is Cloud," she said. "My bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" asked Aerith's mother, her eyes widening. "You were followed again?" She stepped forward, grabbing Aerith's hands and looking her over. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt are you?" Her eyes widened as they landed on the scrape on Aerith's arm. "Oh, you are! Sit down. Let me see that."

"Mom, it's fine," said Aerith. "Don't worry. It'll heal soon. I'm alright. I had Cloud with me."

The woman sighed, turning towards him. "Thank you, Cloud," she said.

"It's no problem," said Cloud. "Miss…"

"Elmyra Gainsborough," said Aerith's mom. She turned away. "I'm going to go get the first aid kit. Stay right there, Aerith."

Aerith sighed, turning towards Cloud. "So…what are you going to do now?" she asked.

"Is Sector 7 far from here?" asked Cloud. "I need to get to Tifa's bar."

"Is Tifa…a girl?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Cloud, nodding.

Aerith grinned. "A girl…friend?" she asked, leaning forward.

Cloud felt his face warm. "N-No, nothing like that," he said. "We're childhood friends. That's all."

Aerith giggled, covering her mouth with her hands. "You don't have to get _that _upset," she said. "You said it was Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Wait, you can't go back out there," he said. "You'll just put yourself in danger again."

"I'm used to it," said Aerith. "But…on one condition. You have to tell me all about Zack. The whole story. And don't leave anything out. Deal?" She extended one hand towards him.

Cloud frowned, staring at the girl. On one hand, he did really need to get back. But on the other hand, he knew how persistent Shinra could be. She would only be hurt by going back out there. Then again, if they knew about the church, they probably knew about this place too. He nodded.

"Alright. Deal," he said, clasping her hand.

Aerith smiled, releasing his hand. "Mom!" she called, turning away from him. "I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."

Elmyra returned, a worried frown on her face. "But dear…" she began. She sighed, noticing the look on Aerith's face. "I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now."

Aerith frowned, glancing at the clock. It _was _getting late. "Yeah, you're right, Mom," she said. He frowned, wishing that he had a phone to contact the others. But that would be a bit too much to ask for, down here.

"Aerith, please go make the bed," said Elmyra.

Aerith nodded. "We'll talk later, okay Cloud?" she asked.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah," he said, watching as she walked off.

When she was gone, Elmyra turned towards him, a stern frown on her face. She took a step towards him. "That glow in your eyes," she said. "You're from SOLDIER, right?"

"More or less," said Cloud. "But I'm not with Shinra anymore."

Elmyra sighed heavily, her hands clasped in front of her. "I don't know how to say this," she said. "But…could you please leave here tonight, without telling Aerith?"

Cloud's eyes widened slightly at her request. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

"Just…please," said Elmyra. "I don't want to see my daughter hurt again."

Cloud hesitated. He still needed Aerith's help to get back to Sector 7. But he didn't want to involve her any further either. Although he had the feeling that if she found out the truth about Zack, she would insist. "I'll…see," he said.

Elmyra nodded once, turning away. Cloud hung around for a moment more, before slowly making his way towards the stairs. When she didn't stop him, he climbed them, letting out the breath he was holding once he was upstairs. The atmosphere in the living room had been tense.

Aerith waited for him at the top.

"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7," she said. "Sector 6 is a little dangerous, so you'd better get some rest tonight. You can tell me the story in the morning."

"Are you sure?" asked Cloud.

Aerith nodded. "I've been waiting for almost five years," she said. "I can wait another night. We can talk while we walk."

"Okay," said Cloud, nodding. "Good night."

"Good night, Cloud," said Aerith, smiling at him. "Thank you for today."

She walked past him, heading downstairs. Cloud watched her go, frowning. He hadn't noticed it until she moved past him, and probably wouldn't notice it, if Elmyra hadn't made such a fuss earlier.

The scrape on her arm was gone.

XxXxX

Sephiroth found Zack standing on a ridge overlooking the house, on the other side of a patch of yellow flowers. It was dark now, the only light in the immediate area coming from the slums of Sector 5 and the faint glow that shone from the house's windows. He stepped forward.

"Don't step on the flowers," said Zack, absently.

Sephiroth paused, then walked carefully around them, coming to stand behind Zack. The former SOLDIER stared at the house, his hands loosely gripping the fence posts. His eyes were fixed on the yellow flowers that grew around it.

"She was trying to get it started, the last time we talked," said Zack. "I helped her plant the ones in the backyard. She scolded me a lot for not being careful enough, but it looks like they grew."

"If it bothers you so much…" began Sephiroth. "Why don't you just go down there?"

"And do what?" asked Zack. "Involve her in this? Blowing up Mako Reactors? Making enemies out of Shinra? She's already being chased by the company. How much worse will it get for her if they find out she's been in contact with me?"

Sephiroth fell silent. Memories of Angeal came back to him, memories of Nibelheim, of the Polaroid pictures of Zack and Cloud still tacked to the wall of the hideout in Modeoheim. It wasn't the same thing, but it served as a stark reminder of what Shinra had done, and what they would do to cover their tracks.

"When I was a kid," said Zack. "I always wanted to be in SOLDIER. I wanted to be a hero. Like you."

He was quiet. He was well aware of the reputation he had earned during the Wutai War. Zack's wasn't the first story like this he had heard.

"And now?" he asked.

Zack shook his head. "I wanna go find that kid from Gongaga and slap him silly. Sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" asked Sephiroth.

"If I never left Gongaga, I never would have met Angeal. Or Cloud. Or you, or Kunsel, or Cissnei. Or even Aerith. So, it's worth it." He sighed. "I'm glad I met her, Sephiroth. Even now. Even after all this. Even though it kills me to stand here. I don't think you understand how that feels."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't," he admitted. Zack nodded once. Sephiroth watched him silently.

"But…" he said. "I do understand how it feels to wish that something had turned out differently."

Zack paused for a moment. Then, he sighed, slowly tearing himself away from the scene and turning to face him. "Well," he said. "We know Cloud's safe. That's what we came for. So, let's head back. We've got stuff to do in the morning." Zack walked past him, heading down the path. Sephiroth watched him go for a moment, then sighed.

"Do you want to get a drink?"

Zack grinned, turning his head to face him. "Thought you'd never ask, Seph," he said.

**END FILE**

**Notes On Names: **

**[1]** **Eira** – Eira is a name that means 'snow'. Since Martial Arts (Female) was born in Icicle Inn and is a mercenary and has silver hair, it seemed to fit.

**[2] Nico** – Corneo is an Italian word, and Don Corneo's organization is based off the mafia, so I gave Two Guns an Italian name, since he used to work for Don Corneo.


	18. File 006: The Trials We Face pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** School starts on Monday, so the updates are going to be a bit delayed after that, although I'll try to commit to at least one a week. Thanks for the support!

Aerith is tough for me to write, because I don't want to make her too sweet and innocent, but she does have those elements as a character, although she also has a stubborn streak and a strong personality, and she does know her way around the slums. I hope it comes together well. CC!Cloud is also difficult, because I don't want to make him too much of a pushover, but he's still less confident (and less angsty) than other versions of Cloud.

**Review Responses:**

**Irish-Brigid – **Oh yes, Aerith's not going to be pleased when she finds out he's been avoiding her. And Cloud is so much fun to tease, lol.

**Riku Uzumaki – **Hmm…I don't know if I'll be able to include them, since their stories are really separate from the main story of FFVII, but Veld might make an appearance towards the end.

**OhJay – **Thank you for your patience! I hope I won't disappoint you with the reunion when it comes up.

**NinjaSheik – **Thanks! Hope you enjoy this update!

XxXxX

**File 006: The Trials We Face**

_The bar was a more or less a hole in the wall in Sector 5, and Sephiroth wondered for a moment how Zack knew how to find it. The residents weren't stupid, clearing out of the way as soon as the two ex-SOLDIERS entered the building. They took seats at the corner table, Zack pouring from a bottle into two glasses of questionable cleanliness. He didn't mind. He had seen worse in the Wutai War. _

"_We should drink to something," commented Zack, handing him one of the glasses. "Any ideas, Seph?" _

_Sephiroth swirled the drink around in his glass, staring down at it. Then, he looked up at Zack._

"_To absent friends," he said, raising it slightly. _

_Zack nodded, raising his own glass as well. _

XxXxX

The lights that filtered in from outside grew slightly brighter, the only sign that morning had come to the slums. Cissnei and Tifa stood in the center of the room, the latter dressed in a deep blue gown that emphasized her figure. On the other side of the bar, Barret sat at his usual table, a scowl on his face. Sephiroth leaned against the wall behind him, his arms folded and his eyes fixed on the street outside.

"Remember, this is the camera," said Cissnei, fastening a necklace around Tifa's neck and letting the pendant sit comfortably against her skin. Any jeweler or criminal worth their salt would know that the silver and the jewels set in the pendant were fake, but this was the slums. Real jewelry would be more conspicuous. "It feeds into the screens downstairs. So try not to lose it, or we'll lose visuals."

Tifa nodded once.

"The microphone is in your earrings," continued Cissnei. "It'll pick up most of the sounds in the immediate area. What you hear, we'll hear."

"Got it," said Tifa, nodding.

"Finally, there's the earpiece," said Cissnei. "I've used it on a lot of missions, and it's fairly hard to spot, but try to keep it covered by your hair just in case." She stepped back, reaching for the radio on the table. "Testing. Do you read me? Testing."

"I read you," said Tifa, placing a hand to her ear.

"Good," said Cissnei. "So everything works. Try not to talk to us much if you can help it. Just focus on the mission." She paused for a moment, taking a step back and studying Tifa. "How are you feeling about this?"

"Honestly, a little nervous," admitted Tifa, smoothing out the fabric of her dress. "But I can handle it."

Cissnei nodded, smiling slightly. "You should do fine," she said. "Just remember. When you walk in there, you aren't Tifa Lockhart anymore. No one is looking at you, just at who you're pretending to be."

Tifa nodded. "Thanks, Cissnei," she said.

Sephiroth's eyes moved towards the door. "Time to go," he said, causing the two of them to look up.

"Good luck," said Cissnei.

"Mm," replied Tifa, making her way towards the door. Her heels clicked on the ground as she walked, and Cissnei frowned, but said nothing. The door swung closed behind her, and she watched from the window as she stepped into the carriage waiting for her.

"Those shoes aren't exactly stealthy," muttered Cissnei, leaning against the bar. "She'll have to drop them if something goes wrong."

"Stop fretting," said Sephiroth, looking up at her.

"I can't help it," said Cissnei, sighing. She placed her hands on the bar behind her and jumped, pulling herself up so that she was sitting on it. "I keep thinking back to my first undercover mission. It's amazing I didn't completely screw that up."

"Your first mission?"

"Ah, I was…about fifteen. It was to infiltrate a high school. I was supposed to keep tabs on the daughter of one of Shinra's high-ranking employees in Junon. He was suspected of…" She paused, catching sight of the look in Barret's eye as he lifted his head and turned towards her. Cissnei shook her head. "…Anyway, it's not important," she said. "But you're right. Tifa's capable enough."

The pinball machine descended and then grated back into place, a certain dark-haired SOLDIER stumbling off it with one hand on his head. "Oh, my head…" groaned Zack, dropping onto one of the stools at the bar. He lowered his head into his hands and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them a crack and looked around. "Did Tifa leave already?" he asked.

"Just missed her," said Cissnei, sliding off the bar top. She walked around to the back.

"Still hung over?" asked Barret.

Zack mumbled something intelligible in reply, waving a hand at him. Cissnei sighed and ran a hand through her hair, setting a glass of water on the table in front of him. "I'm not surprised, considering what time you both got back. You should be fine soon, with all that mako in you."

"Thanks, 'nei," mumbled Zack, taking the glass of water and downing it. He set the glass down.

"Honestly, you two," she said, leaning against the bar. "The night before a mission, and you decide to drink yourselves silly."

"I wasn't that drunk," said Zack. He turned his head away from Cissnei, glancing at Sephiroth. Zack winced, shielding his eyes from the glare coming from the door. "Oh, no fair!" he said in protest, pointing at Sephiroth. "Why are you okay?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I make it a point to pace myself," he said. "I don't want a repeat of the last time."

Cissnei raised an eyebrow. "Last time?" she asked.

"What happened last time?" asked Zack, his discomfort seemingly forgotten as he sat up, interested.

"It was the Wutai War," said Sephiroth. "One of Genesis's stupid experiments. And before you ask, no, I will not elaborate."

"C'mon, how bad could it be?" asked Barret, turning towards him.

Sephiroth frowned. "Let's just say that if we weren't already at war with Wutai, we would have been. Angeal was very displeased with us when he left that prison. I'm going to begin the surveillance. Jessie should be finished setting up the equipment."

He walked away, heading towards the pinball machine.

"Wait, there was a _prison?" _asked Zack, leaping out of his seat. Sephiroth ignored him, pressing the button underneath the machine. "Sephiroth! What happened? Don't change the subject!"

The pinball machine slowly began to lower itself, taking the silver-haired First with it.

XxXxX

Cloud awoke before it was fully light, glancing over at the clock on the wall. It was early in the morning. Aerith was probably still in bed. Elmyra's request from the night before came back to him, and he sat up, throwing the covers off of himself. It had been a long while since he had slept in a real bed, and for a moment, he was reluctant to leave. But he had to get back to Tifa and the others. He ran a hand through his hair, then sat up, quietly pulling on his boots, gloves, and shoulder pauldron.

He picked up his sword from where it lay against the wall, testing its weight in his hand before reaching up and placing it at his back. Cloud flexed and clenched his fist, staring down at his gloved hand. He had a slight headache, and his shoulders were stiff, but beyond that, he felt great, totally unlike someone who had just fallen from the Plate and crashed through a church roof. Using the sword was becoming easier and easier as well, and he found that his body was responding faster to what he wanted it to do. He was still far from the level of someone like Zack or Sephiroth, but he could feel himself improving, certain actions becoming almost reflexive to him now.

He shook his head, thinking back to what Aerith had told him the night before.

"Sector 7 is just past Sector 6," he said, frowning as he opened the door and looked out into the hallway. There was no sign of activity, and he could hear no sound from Aerith. "…I should be alright."

There wasn't any point in putting Aerith in danger. When things settled down, he could tell her about Zack. Or he could get Zack to come down here himself and tell her the story. It was his responsibility after all.

Cloud shut the door quietly behind him, creeping downstairs and leaving the house. No one stopped him. He made sure to lock the door of the house behind him, closing it quietly and making his way through the streets of Sector 5 and towards the entrance into Sector 6. He'd apologize to Aerith later, he decided, if they ever ran into each other again.

A flash of pink jumped out in front of him, her arms spread wide and a smile on her face. Cloud jumped back, startled. "Gotcha!" said Aerith, leaning forward playfully.

"A-Aerith," said Cloud. He straightened up, looking around. "When…when did you get out here?"

"Hmm…" said Aerith, tapping her chin. She tilted her head back, pretending to think. "Maybe when you were sneaking out of my house?"

"But how did you—oh, never mind," said Cloud, sighing. He studied her, noticing that she was holding something in her right hand. It was a thin metal staff, about as tall as she was, with a rubber hand grip around the center, and slightly thicker on both ends. "What's that?"

"It's a staff," said Aerith.

"I know that," said Cloud. "I mean…why do you have it?"

"It's my weapon," said the flower girl, simply. "It's kind of big, so I don't bring it with me all the time. But after what happened yesterday, I thought it would be best to bring it. Usually, I can get by with Materia."

"You have Materia?" asked Cloud.

"Just a couple," said Aerith, nodding. "A friend of mine got them for me. But he'd get in trouble for it, so I don't use them unless I really need to."

Cloud nodded, making a mental note of that information. "Can you fight with it?" he asked, gesturing at the staff.

"A little," admitted Aerith. "I mean, I'm not amazing at it, but I can do a little bit."

"Okay," said Cloud. "So if we get into any trouble, stay behind me."

"Got it," said Aerith, grinning. "So, come on. Sector 7 is this way."

She turned, running through the hole in the wall. Cloud's eyes widened, and he quickly took off after her. "Wait, Aerith!" he said. "I said stay behind me!"

Aerith led him through a maze of ruined streets in Sector 6. Cloud kept close behind her as she moved, watching out for any trouble. Most of the citizens of the slums seemed to be asleep, though. They ran into nobody on the way there. The street opened up into a small playground, out of place among the wreckage of the slums. Aerith stopped at the playground gate, turning towards Cloud.

"The gate to Sector 7 is right through there," she said.

Cloud nodded, looking inside. He could see a similar hole in the wall that led to the park. "Thanks," he said. "I should be alright from here. Will you be okay getting home?"

"Uh-uh-uh," said Aerith, shaking her head as Cloud started to move past. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Cloud paused. "Forgetting something?" he asked.

"Our deal," said Aerith. "You're supposed to tell me what happened."

"Right," said Cloud, nodding. "Um…it's kind of a long story."

"I have time," said Aerith. She walked up to the slide. "Come on, let's talk up here," she said, climbing the ladder. Cloud sighed and followed her. She sat on top of the dome, tucking her legs underneath herself and laying her staff beside her. She patted the space next to her, and Cloud sat down beside her, resting his arm on his knee. Aerith smiled, looking around at the park.

"I can't believe it's still here," she said. "We used to come here all the time. Well…when he could spare some time anyway."

"You and Zack?" asked Cloud, turning towards her.

"Mm," said Aerith, nodding. "This is where we started selling flowers, before the wagon broke. There were two kids that used to play SOLDIER down there. They're teenagers now."

Cloud looked around at the playground. He could imagine it. He remembered that Zack was always sneaking off to the slums back then.

"So…" said Aerith. "Zack. What happened?"

Cloud sighed, tilting his head back and looking up at the Plate above them as he thought about where to start. "Well…" he said. "…You know that Zack was sent on a mission to Nibelheim about five years ago?"

"Mm-hmm," said Aerith. "He came and saw me before he left. He said he would be gone for a few days, and that he'd fix the wagon when he got back. I didn't know where he was going until later, after he disappeared. I called him to say good luck, but he was busy and we couldn't talk long. That was the last time we spoke."

"Yeah…" said Cloud. "Well…I was on that mission too, as a Shinra infantryman. It was Zack and Sephiroth in charge, and they chose me to come along because I'm from Nibelheim."

"Infantryman?" asked Aerith. "Not SOLDIER?"

Cloud shook his head. "No," he said. "I wasn't in SOLDIER. Anyway, it was supposed to be a routine mission. We were just inspecting the Mako Reactor. But we were also on the lookout for Genesis, who was sighted in the area."

"Genesis?" asked Aerith.

Cloud nodded. "He was a SOLDIER First Class like Zack and Sephiroth, but he had gone rogue a couple of years before that. Zack supposedly killed him in Modeoheim about two years back, but he didn't actually die. That was a little before I met Zack. Anyway, Genesis was…" Cloud hesitated. "…he was apparently a genetic experiment. Project G. But, he was considered a failure, because the cells they gave him were degrading. He was dying, and he was desperate. We were told that he thought the secret to his survival was in Nibelheim, so we had to be on the lookout."

"So what happened?" asked Aerith.

"There was…a mix-up at the Reactor. Sephiroth had been acting kind of strangely. I don't really know the full story. But one night, someone set the whole town on fire…" Cloud trailed off. He could still remember it, if he closed his eyes. Running outside the inn to see the whole town ablaze, the smell of smoke in the air. Running for his house, only to see it collapse in front of him, his mother still inside…

"Cloud?" prompted Aerith, a note of concern in her voice.

Cloud shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "Anyway…um…I was the first to leave the inn, but I was knocked unconscious. Zack…and I…both assumed that Sephiroth did it, because we saw him in the fire. So Zack chased Sephiroth to the Reactor. I came to a little while later and started looking for Tifa, who was also there."

"Your friend who owns the bar," said Aerith. Cloud nodded. He remembered, vaguely, his trip up the mountain, the town burning in the distance. He remembered Tifa's father dead outside the Reactor, a pool of blood around him. He left those details out, because they didn't matter.

"I found her in the Reactor, unconscious. There was a door earlier that was sealed off, but it was open now. I walked in and I saw Zack lying there. He was…barely conscious and injured. And I saw Sephiroth. So I picked up Zack's sword and attacked him. And he attacked me back."

"What happened?" asked Aerith, staring worriedly at him. She had her fingers twisted around the fabric of her shirt. Cloud glanced at her, then looked away. "I didn't know that I was wrong," he said. "It wasn't Sephiroth. It was Genesis. But Sephiroth thought I was trying to kill him. He stabbed me and he fell into the mako pool underneath the Reactor. I blacked out. I found out later that Zack did too. And that's how Shinra found us."

Cloud turned towards her, uncertain whether or not to continue. Aerith waited for a few moments.

"And?" she asked.

He sighed. "This is…not a nice story," he said. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I'm sure, Cloud," said Aerith, nodding. He looked her in the eye. Her green eyes were resolute. Cloud nodded once.

"Okay," he said. "Zack and I were taken by Shinra. We were brought to a science facility underneath Nibelheim. We…" Cloud trailed off, his eyes widening as he stared at something just over Aerith's shoulder. The wall had opened up behind her, a Chocobo-pulled carriage coming out of it. And through the window, Cloud caught a glimpse of a familiar face.

"Tifa?" he asked, getting up.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	19. File 006: The Trials We Face pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N (IMPORTANT): **I've decided to continue this again, but to take down the enormity of the project a bit, _and_ to make things more fun for me, I've decided that I'm going to focus less on the things that stay the same from the game and more on the way things change. So instead of getting Cloud's POV in scenes that are the same from FFVII, you're going to get Sephiroth or Zack or Cissnei and what THEY are doing while the same events are occurring unless something fundamental changes (like Cloud and Aerith's conversation).

Because let's be honest, that's what we're both here for anyway, more than a novelization of the actual game, and the more fun I have writing them the better the chapters turn out to be. ^^ (I REALLY WANT TO GET OUT OF MIDGAR!)

This'll take effect starting next chapter, because most of this chapter was already written.

XxXxX

**File 006: The Trials We Face**

The two of them stopped running as they reached the collection of bright lights and stores in the center of Sector 6, the carriage going on ahead. Cloud drew to a stop as Aerith placed her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. He watched the carriage go, taking in a few deep breaths.

"Where are we?" he asked, glancing around.

Aerith straightened up, wiping the sweat from her brow and tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "This is Wall Market," she said. "In Sector 6. This place is scary in a lot of ways, especially for a girl, so we've got to find your friend Tifa fast."

"We lost the carriage," said Cloud.

"That's alright," said Aerith. "I think I know where it was going." She pointed off into the distance. "Down there," she said.

Cloud looked, frowning. A single post rose up from behind the confused tangle of shops ahead of them, displaying the image of a girl in a honeybee costume in neon pink. He had never been here before, but it didn't take a genius to guess what kind of establishment that sign was advertising. He turned towards Aerith. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Pretty sure," said Aerith, nodding. "I've seen carriages like that before."

"Alright," said Cloud, turning away. "Wait here."

"Don't take too long," he heard Aerith say. He glanced back and saw her move backwards, out of the main flow of traffic. Her hand tightened around her staff, but it looked like Aerith knew better than to glance around nervously and make herself look like easy prey. He didn't like leaving her there, but he didn't have much choice. Cloud sighed and walked past the first few shops, through the streets, and towards the building. He ducked into a side street before he could reach it, examining the area.

Up close, the building itself was covered in pink neon lights, including those that spelled out "The Honey Bee Inn". Men clustered around the entrance in varying degrees of intoxication, talking and murmuring amongst themselves and occasionally getting into arguments with the burly security guard that stood at the door. Some of the clientele looked like typical slum-dwellers, but a handful were significantly better dressed, suggesting that they were from above the Plate. He wondered exactly how many of them were employed by Shinra.

He couldn't think of any reason why Tifa would be in a place like this, unless she was being held against her will. Cloud's fists clenched at the thought. If that was the case, then he would have to get her out, right away. Cloud glanced down at the clothes he was wearing. If he was right about Shinra employees coming down here in secret, he should be able to blend right in. Cloud straightened up and squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to his full height and mimicking Zack in posture as he stepped out from behind the wall. He moved straight through the crowd as he imagined a First would, heading straight towards the front door.

He ignored the doorman, making straight for the portly man in the violet suit that he had seen other men talk to. The man's face broadened into a grin as Cloud approached him.

"Welcome!" he said. "Even unpopular dweebs like you may meet their destiny here! You looking for a girlfriend too?"

_Unpopular dweebs? _thought Cloud, frowning at the man.

"You know a girl named Tifa?" he asked.

The man blinked in surprise. "Hey, you're pretty fast!" he said. "Tifa's our newest girl. But…unfortunately, she's having an interview right now."

"Interview?" asked Cloud.

"Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for all the new girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion. Don Corneo's a famous dilettante. Now he wants to settle down and is in the market for a bride. Sorry. Come back tomorrow night."

Cloud frowned as the man turned away. He briefly considered forcing his way into the Inn but decided against it. He needed to check the man's story first. If Tifa wasn't here, bursting in would just be a waste of time, and would probably make the situation worse. He walked away, heading down the street. Aerith looked up as she saw him approach, running over to him. "So?" she asked.

"They took her to Don Corneo's mansion," he said. "Do you know where that is?"

Aerith nodded. "It's right down here," she said. "You can't miss it. Come on."

She took him by the hand, leading him up the streets of Wall Market. The mansion was easily the biggest building in the area, with perhaps the exception of the Honey Bee Inn. Unlike the other buildings in the slums, it looked like it had been made of real wood and tile, and not just scrap metal and whatever was thrown out from the plate. He pulled his hand out of Aerith's, immediately wary. Cloud stepped forward, motioning for her to stay back. The security guard turned towards him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Is this Corneo's mansion?" he asked.

The guard glared. "This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market," he said. "What's it to you?"

"There's been some sort of mistake," said Cloud. "My friend's in there, and—."

"No mistake," said the guard, shaking his head. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again." He looked past Cloud, a grin spreading over his face as his eyes fixed on Aerith. "Hey, you've got a cute one with you!" he said.

"She's not available," said Cloud, his eyes narrowing dangerously. The man shrugged in reply.

"Suit yourself," he said. "But the Don'd pay top gil for someone like her."

Cloud tensed, reaching for his sword. The man clenched his fists, taking a step forward.

"Cloud," whispered Aerith, stopping him. He glanced over at her. Aerith shook her head, inclining it towards the exit. Cloud exhaled slowly and nodded, lowering his hand and walking over to her.

"Yeah, listen to your girl," taunted the guard. "Don't cause trouble."

Cloud ignored him, turning towards Aerith. "What is it?" he asked, inclining his head towards her and speaking in a low voice so that the guard wouldn't hear.

"This is the Don's mansion, right?" asked Aerith. "I'll go take a look. I'll tell Tifa about you."

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise as Aerith moved past him, heading for the doors. He reached out and caught her by the wrist, pulling her back. "Are you _crazy_?" he asked. "You can't go in there!"

"Why not?" asked Aerith, frowning up at him.

_Because Zack would __**kill **__me…_he thought to himself. "You do know what kind of place this is, don't you? I can't let you go in there alone!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked Aerith. "We have to save your friend Tifa, don't we?"

Cloud hesitated. He knew that he was capable of taking out their security if he had to. Mako enhancements alone would carry him far enough. But he wasn't sure how far he could push it. And if Shinra employees really did come down here, he was willing to bet that he wasn't the only mako enhanced person on the street. Breaking in would just expose him and maybe the rest of AVALANCHE as well. But he couldn't let Aerith go alone either. And he couldn't just _leave _Tifa.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Aerith had turned away from him, and was now giggling to herself, raising her wrist to her mouth to muffle the sound. "Aerith?" he asked. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," said Aerith, turning towards him. "Just…men aren't allowed in there, but you won't let me go alone, right?"

Cloud nodded. "That's the situation," he said.

"But you'll do anything to save your friend Tifa?"

"Anything that won't cause too much trouble," he said. He couldn't afford to get caught. Aerith smiled, leaning forward. He frowned at her.

"Anything?" she asked again.

Cloud nodded. "Anything," he repeated. "What are you planning?"

Her green eyes sparkled mischievously.

Cloud gulped.

XxXxX

Aerith walked into the building ahead of him, her hands clasped innocently behind her back. She turned around to face him, dressed in a deep red dress and wearing a smile on her face.

"Come on, _Miss _Cloud," she said, giggling.

Cloud groaned inwardly and stepped forward, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. He felt ridiculous. The long violet gown he was wearing twisted awkwardly around his legs as he walked, his skin itched under the make-up they had placed on him, and his head felt hot under the blond wig. He didn't understand how Aerith could make it look so easy. The guard winked at him as he passed, and Cloud fought the urge to retch.

"Are you okay, Cloud?" asked Aerith. "You look a little green."

"How did I let you talk me into this again?" asked Cloud, keeping his voice low.

Aerith giggled. "You're the one who said you'd do anything," she said. "Come on, let's go find Tifa!"

Cloud sighed, following her up the staircase and trying not to trip. He decided that she was having _way _too much fun with this.

XxXxX

"Alright," said Cissnei into the microphone, placing one hand over an earpiece of the headset she was wearing. "The camera's recording. Look around a bit, but try to make it look natural." She removed her hand from the headset, letting it fall down to the control panel as she pressed a few buttons. Jessie flipped a few switches on her side of the panel, turning on the screens that lined one end of the wall.

Zack, having already had his hand swatted away for trying to mess with the setup, kept his distance, glancing at the screen as he filled a cup with water. The screen showed a dungeon under Don Corneo's mansion. It wasn't hard to guess what most of the "equipment" was being used for. Barret scowled from his seat, drumming the fingers of his human hand on the crate next to him impatiently.

"Man, Corneo's _sick_," said Biggs from his seat, scowling in disgust.

Beside him, Sephiroth 'hmm'ed in reply, nodding his head once. The former First's eyes were fixed on the screen. Tifa slowly turned, allowing them to take in more of the sight. Zack walked back around and leaned against the wall, his glass of water in hand. Footsteps sounded from behind Tifa. He frowned at the screen, taking a slow sip. It was hard to imagine what kind of girl would willingly go down there.

"…Tifa?" asked a familiar voice.

Zack choked, spraying water everywhere. The people in front of him immediately looked up, Biggs and Wedge shouting angrily as Sephiroth sent him an annoyed glare. He coughed, banging on his chest as he tried to regulate his breathing. Tifa immediately pivoted towards the newcomer, and Cissnei and Jessie swiveled back around in their seats to face the screens.

Zack looked up, recovered somewhat from his choking fit. A brown-haired girl came into view, dressed in a bright red gown. Even in the gloom, he recognized her.

"_Aerith_?!" he asked, incredulously.

Two things passed through his mind at once. One, the woman on the screen was unmistakably Aerith, and two, she was in _Don Corneo's mansion_.

No. _Hell _no.

"Get her out of there," he said, his eyes narrowing as he turned towards Cissnei and Jessie.

Cissnei frowned, turning around to face him. "Zack, we can't," she said. "The mission…"

"She's not part of the mission," said Zack. "If you won't, I'll get her out myself."

"Zack, you can't be _seen_!" said Cissnei, half-rising out of her seat. "If he's working for Shinra, he'll know you by sight!"

Zack turned away from her, heading towards the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sephiroth rise, a cold glare directed towards him. Behind Sephiroth, Barret stood up quickly, cutting the silver-haired First off.

"You sit your ass down right now!" said Barret. "I ain't about to let ya go out there and screw up the mission!"

"I can't just sit down and leave her there!" said Zack, turning back towards Barret. "You know what kind of place that is!"

"You don't even know why she's there!" shouted Barret, his voice overlapping with Zack's. "For all you know, she went there to—!"

Zack shook his head fiercely, interrupting Barret. "No way! Aerith isn't that kind of girl!"

"Then what d'you think you're gonna do? Burst right in through the front doors? Let Tifa—!"

"I can't just _let Tifa_, she's got enough on her plate."

"Goddammit, boy, will you quit INTERRUPTIN' me!"

A loud squeal from the speakers interrupted them. Both Zack and Barret turned towards the screens, Barret's human hand fisted around the front of Zack's shirt and Zack's fist clenched around Barret's shirt. The two of them froze and blinked, staring at the screens. Cloud's face stared back at them, a worried look in his eye. The camera zoomed out as Tifa stepped back, revealing a long purple gown.

The two of them stared for a moment, and then erupted into laughter, releasing each other and falling all over themselves in the process.

Beside them, Sephiroth sat slowly back down, looking disdainfully at them out of the corner of his eye. He rolled his eyes slightly, turning away and facing the screens.

"Grow up."

XxXxX

"T-Tifa…" began Cloud, feeling his face burning under Tifa's intense scrutiny. He looked away. Beside him, Aerith erupted into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with her hand and attempting to muffle the sound. "Um…I can explain…"

"Cloud…?" asked Tifa, sounding shocked. "What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?"

"It was the only way I could get in here without causing trouble," he said. "I came to save you."

Tifa blinked. "To save me…?" she repeated. She shook her head. "Cloud, you've got it all wrong. I came here on purpose."

"_What?_" asked Cloud, his eyes widening as he looked up at her.

"Never mind that!" said Tifa, quickly looking him over. "What happened to you after the fall? Are you hurt? Zack said you were alright, but—."

"Zack?" asked Aerith, interrupting her. Cloud tensed. Tifa paused, her eyes drifting towards Aerith as if she only now remembered that she was there. Aerith had her hands clasped together, and was looking at the other girl with a surprised expression on her face.

"Cloud…" began Tifa. "Who is this?"

"This…is Aerith," said Cloud, sighing. He raised a hand to the back of his head. "Um…she was Zack's girlfriend. Five years ago."

"_Girlfriend_?" asked Tifa.

"You said 'Zack'," said Aerith, ignoring the two of them. She stepped past Cloud, her eyes narrowing as she faced Tifa. "He's _here_? In Midgar?"

"Ah…well…"

"Cloud?" asked Aerith, turning towards him.

Cloud sighed, lowering his hand. There was no helping it now. "Mm," he said quietly. "He's been in Midgar…for the past few months now."

"The past…few months…" said Aerith. She lowered her eyes to the ground, raising her hand to her mouth. "I see…"

"Aerith…" began Cloud.

Aerith shook her head. "No, I'm alright," she said. "Please, go on with what you were talking about before."

Tifa frowned uncertainly, glancing at Aerith. Cloud followed her line of sight, understanding what she was concerned about. The other girl glanced between the two of them, before smiling slightly, nodding her head. "Oh, I see," she said. "In that case, I'll just be over here...um...not listening to anything."

The two of them watched as Aerith walked away, heading to the far corner of the room and standing with her back to them, her hands over her ears. Cloud wasn't exactly sure that that prevented her from hearing them, but it was a good effort on her part. He looked back at Tifa.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said.

"Um...thanks," said Cloud, nervously adjusting his dress. "...What happened?"

She lowered her voice to a near whisper. "When we got back from the Sector 5 Reactor, there was this weird man. Barret caught him and roughed him up a bit, but Cissnei managed to squeeze some information out of him."

"That's when the Don's name came up?" asked Cloud.

Tifa nodded. "Right, Don Corneo. We came up with the idea to infiltrate Corneo's mansion."

"And they sent _you_?" asked Cloud, incredulously.

"Well, Cissnei wanted to go at first, but I volunteered," said Tifa. "I wanted to do something to help, and besides, Cissnei's better off at the bar, keeping an eye on—." She froze, her eyes fixing on Cloud's attire again, before she lowered her eyes. "Never mind," she said.

"What?" asked Cloud. "Cissnei's doing what?"

"Oh, nothing," said Tifa, fiddling nervously with her..._earrings_? Why was she messing with her earrings? The martial artist shot him a smile, and he recognized it as the same nervous smile she would give him as a child when she knew something embarrassing about him but wouldn't tell him. "...Nothing at all."

"Tifa..." began Cloud.

"A-Anyway," said Tifa, quickly changing the subject. "I made it down here, but now I'm in a bit of a bind. Corneo is looking for a bride. Everyday, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and...well..." She trailed off, waving her hands around in the air. Cloud nodded once to show that he got the point, feeling slightly sick. "Anyway, I have to be the girl, or I'm out for tonight, and I can't get any information out of him if I can't get him alone..."

"So, you have to make sure he..._picks _you?" asked Cloud, disgusted at the thought. He took a deep breath and unclenched his fist, forcing himself to keep a clear head.

"Basically, yeah..." said Tifa, nodding once. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously.

Aerith perked up, turning towards them. The two of them stopped talking, shooting her a glance. She shrugged her shoulders, giving them a sheepish smile. "Sorry," she said, walking over to them. "I overheard. So, if you knew the three girls, there wouldn't be a problem, right?"

"I guess so," said Tifa. "But..."

"We have two other girls here, right?" asked Aerith, smiling. She gestured to herself, and then, impossibly, gestured towards Cloud, an impish grin on her face.

Cloud paled. He_ really _did not like where she was going with this. Tifa stared between Aerith and Cloud, a slow smile spreading onto her face as well. He took a step back, raising his hands up as if to defend himself from them.

"Wait—Aerith!" he said. "You can't—and I mean, _I _can't—."

"Why not?" asked Aerith, frowning at him and resting one hand on her hip. "I can handle myself!"

"W-Well—because—," began Cloud.

"So it's alright for _Tifa _to be in danger?" asked Aerith.

"I didn't say that!" said Cloud quickly, looking towards Tifa. She had her arms folded, and was now looking at him with a slightly annoyed frown on her face. "Tifa—."

She sighed, turning towards Aerith as the two of them began walking away. "Are you alright with that?" she asked.

"I grew up in the slums," said Aerith, inordinately cheerful. "I'm used to danger."

Cloud watched them go, envisioning all of the painful ways Zack could murder him when they got out of this.

XxXxX

"I'm going to **kill **Cloud," said Zack from his seat between Barret and Sephiroth, his hands resting on his knees. He was leaning forward, watching the scene unfold with a scowl on his face. Sephiroth glanced over him, then looked back at the screen as the three 'women' were led out of the dungeon by one of Corneo's men.

"Make sure you do it outside," he said.

"I'm really going to kill Cloud," said Zack again as Don Corneo jumped over his desk, circling Tifa and eyeing her greedily.

"Before, or after he changes out of the dress?"

Zack frowned, as if considering it. "After," he finally said. "I don't like fighting girls." He leaned back in his seat and continued to watch. Sephiroth folded his arms, watching the scene as well. He supposed he had to be thankful that Zack had calmed down, and that now they were at least _trying _to act like professionals.

"Guys, please," said Cissnei. "It's hard enough to concentrate as it is."

The two of them fell silent, Zack giving Cissnei an apologetic wave as they continued to watch the Don circle the three of them, making his decision.

"Bet he picks Tifa," said Zack as the Don returned to her.

"I don't know," said Jessie. "He's been looking at Aerith for a while too..."

"Oh, he better not pick Aerith if he knows what's good for him," grumbled Zack.

"Well, she _is _pretty cute—," said Wedge. "_Ow! _Zack!"

"Sorry," said Zack, giving Wedge a small grin. "Foot slipped."

"_Guys—," _said Cissnei again.

"Shut the hell up!" ordered Barret, banging his hand on the table. Sephiroth cringed. The sound was _loud_, much louder than any conversation the others had been making. Cissnei jumped, shooting Barret an annoyed glare.

Sephiroth looked up at Barret as well, his eyes narrowing. The leader of AVALANCHE scowled, but nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Didn't think it would be _that _loud," he muttered under his breath.

"_Woo-hoo! I've made up my mind!" _

The group looked up, watching the screen as silence finally fell over the room. Tifa turned her head towards Corneo, the Don's figure entering the screen as he stood in the center of the room. _"My choice for tonight, is..." _

"Not Aerith, not Aerith..." muttered Zack from beside Sephiroth.

Sephiroth moved quickly, elbowing him hard in the ribs. Zack let out a grunt of pain, but fell silent.

"_This healthy young girl!" _declared Corneo, gesturing at...

Sephiroth stared.

...At _Cloud. _

There was a beat, before the entire room broke into raucous laughter. Even Cissnei raised her hand to her mouth, stifling her giggles. Sephiroth stared at them, then sighed and covered his eyes with his hand, giving up any hope of professionalism.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	20. File 006: The Trials We Face pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**Timeline Discrepancy: **My original Cissnei timeline makes her 21 in this fic, the same age as Cloud, however, because of the way I shifted things around in this story, I'm going to make her 22 instead, one year older than Cloud and the same age as Aerith. This is because it gives her 3 years as a Turk before defecting to help Sephiroth out in Nibelheim and two years as a Turk before meeting Zack and given her particular backstory, I think that would be more effective.

This really shouldn't matter unless you're really anal about math and realized that she was 20 in that scene from "one year ago". Now she's 21 in that scene and claims on being a Turk for 7 years before that.

Thanks for the support, guys! Please read and review! It encourages me to write more!

And yes, **JazzQueen, **ironically, Sephiroth is the only sane one in this group. He kind of gave off that vibe in CC though, before going crazy. Genesis and Zack were all doing strange things, and he would be all 'come on, focus now.' Wait till we get Yuffie. _Those _interactions will be fun.

Well without further ado, here's the chapter. It's short, but I thought I had more in this file than I actually did. One last bit of comedy before it all comes crashing down. Literally.

XxXxX

**File 006: The Trials We Face**

Tifa raised her hand to her mouth and turned her head to the side to hide her laugh as Corneo picked Cloud, the former infantryman taking a sudden step back at the Don's advance.

"W-Wait a sec!" he began. Cloud quickly turned his head away, coughing and trying to disguise the pitch of his voice. "I-I mean...please, wait a moment!"

He shot Tifa a pleading look. She responded with a wink, as Aerith giggled into her hands behind him. Corneo gave Cloud a lecherous grin in response. "I love chicks who play hard-to-get!" he declared. Poor Cloud looked white as a sheet. She almost felt sorry for him, but she didn't expect his disguise to be _that _convincing. It was only when she remembered that the entire AVALANCHE group was watching the proceedings that she started really feeling bad.

"You can have the others!" declared the Don, gesturing at his assistants. He took Cloud by the hand, bringing 'her' into the next room. Cloud cast one desperate look back at them. Aerith responded by raising a hand, giving him a cheery wave.

They really shouldn't be torturing Cloud like this, she thought as she came to stand next to Aerith, the smile leaving her face as she noticed the two men coming over to them. But it was so much fun.

Still, they had bigger things to worry about—like the fact that she was carrying all their surveillance equipment. She took a deep breath as the two men advanced on them, grins on their faces. Her shoulders tensed, and she clenched her fist.

"_Try not to alarm the Don yet," _said Cissnei's voice in her ear. The other woman sounded slightly breathless, as though she had also been laughing. Her voice was serious now, though. _"But do what you have to."_

She nodded, offering one of the men a sweet smile as he advanced on her, his hands outstretched.

Tifa suddenly stepped forward, grabbing his head in her hands and kneeing him in the gut. He let out a grunt of pain, his eyes widening as he crumpled to the ground. The second man jumped, and opened his mouth as if he was about to shout for help, but Tifa quickly whirled around, her foot catching him in the side of the head. He toppled over.

She planted her foot back on the ground as she finished her turn, her blue dress settling around her.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. _"That was nicely done," _said Cissnei, sounding slightly surprised and a little impressed. _"Give credit to your teacher."_

"Thanks," she said, pressing one hand to her ear. She glanced over at Aerith, who was watching her with a questioning look in her eye, and motioned towards the earpiece. Aerith's mouth formed a small 'o', but she nodded once. "What do you want us to do now?" she asked.

"_Slip the mic under the door," _said Cissnei. _"I want to hear what's going on in there. And feel free to intervene if you feel the need." _

"Got it," said Tifa, nodding once. She turned back towards Aerith, smiling slightly as she unhooked the earring from her ear. "Are you alright?"

Aerith offered her a tentative smile, nodding once. "I'm fine," she said. "That was quick."

Tifa nodded. She searched through the Materia they had given her before she left, casting a quick Sleep spell on the two of them. "Let's hurry before they wake up," she said, walking over to the door. Aerith followed, watching as Tifa crouched down and slid the earring directly underneath. She crouched down, pressing her ear to the door and listening as voices came up from inside.

XxXxX

There was a moment of static as the microphone crackled, before Don Corneo's voice came up over the speakers.

"_...so cute...I never get tired of looking at you." _

"Ugh..." said Zack, making a disgusted face as he settled back into his seat.

"Ugh is right," said Cissnei, muting the mic on her headset again. She glanced over at Zack, seeming a little disturbed herself. "But what did you expect from Don Corneo?"

"_Do you...like me too?" _

"_Umm..." _That was Cloud's voice now, sounding nervous and uncertain. Zack had to admit, now that he couldn't see his friend's face, Cloud _did _sound a little girly. A girl with a really low voice, sure, but the nervousness seemed to be bringing that out. Granted, Aerith had done a good job. Cloud had made a pretty convincing girl. Not one that would have fooled _him _of course, but Corneo? That was a different story.

Corneo picked up on Cloud's nervousness as well.

"_You don't like me?" _he asked, his voice suddenly sounding disappointed. _"...There's someone else, isn't there?" _

"_Um...y-yes!" _replied Cloud quickly. Zack heard the shuffling of feet and figured that Cloud was probably backing away pretty quickly. Corneo let out a petulant sound.

"_No way! What's his name?" _he asked.

"_Hi—His name—?" _asked Cloud, letting out a particularly un-manly squeak. Zack frowned at that. He would have to be having a talk with his little protege when this was done.

"_Yes, pet, his name," _repeated Corneo. _"What is it? I must know!" _

"_H-His name is Zack!" _said Cloud quickly. _"Uh—I-I mean, not Zack—I mean Zack—." _

Zack shot to his feet, shaking his fist at the screen.

"Oh come on, buddy! You can't do that to me!" he yelled as the laughter started up again.

Jessie fell on her back, wrapping her arms around her middle. Barret pounded the table as he let out several hearty laughs, nearly doubled over. Across the room, Cissnei fell onto her arm, her shoulders shaking as she laughed silently into her keyboard. To his horror, even _Sephiroth _suddenly leaned forward, letting out a choked sound and clamping his hand over his mouth quickly. A pair of stifled snorts followed it, and from the sudden amusement in his mako green eyes, Zack could just _tell _that he was smiling, maybe even grinning underneath that hand.

"Come on, guys! It's not funny!" he said.

"But it _is_," said Jessie, picking herself up off the floor and grinning.

"Something you want to tell us, Zack?" asked Biggs.

Zack scowled. "It's not true!"

Cissnei recovered, pushing herself up off the keyboard and giving him a sly smile. "I don't know, Zack," she said. "Four years in the basement..."

"I was asleep!" he said, rounding onto her and pointing at her accusingly. "_You _spent four years in the mountains alone with Sephiroth, so don't start!"

"Shh," said Cissnei suddenly, looking back at the screen. "Something's happening."

The room quieted down, some of the last few giggles beginning to die out. Zack glanced at the screen, but it was dark, continuing to show the door in front of Tifa and Aerith. The sound, however, had changed, Cloud's tone becoming less nervous and more serious. Sephiroth looked up, his expression serious again. Zack nodded once, sitting down beside him.

"_...he's one of the ones you were trying to find out about. AVALANCHE?" _

"_Oh, yeah. In Sector 7 in the slums. Wait, how do you know about that?" _

There was a long pause, followed by the rustle of clothing and Corneo's startled shout. _"A man!" _he yelled. _"You tricked me! Somebody get in here now!" _

"_Unfortunately," _said Tifa's voice. _"No one will be coming to help." _

On screen, Tifa stepped back from the door and opened it, rushing inside with Aerith behind her. Cloud had worn pants and a thin shirt underneath his dress—the violet dress was crumpled up in a corner along with the wig, apparently no match for Cloud's mako-fueled rage. He was still wearing make-up though. It made for an odd effect.

Corneo sprang up on his bed—one with tacky neon-colored sheets. Zack nearly gagged.

"_You're the ones from before! Wh...What the hell's going on?" _

The three of them moved to the side of the bed, forming a line. _"Shut up!" _said Tifa. _"We're asking the questions now. What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us..." _she stepped forward, resting one foot on the bed and leaning forward. _"I'll smash them." _

Cissnei leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs and folding her arms. "Not a threat I would have used, but pretty effective anyway," she said, smiling slightly.

Zack winced in sympathy, although it was more for Cloud than for the Don. He watched as Don Corneo jumped back, his eyes wide with sudden panic. _"No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" _

"_So...talk..." _said Tifa.

"_I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was," _said Corneo. _"But that's what I was ordered to do." _

"_By who?" _asked Tifa.

Corneo shook his head. _"No! If I told you that, I'd be killed!" _

Zack's frown deepened, and he exchanged a glance with Cissnei. Shinra. There wasn't much else that could put fear like that into someone like Don Corneo. Tifa seemed to catch on, because she pressed forward.

"_Talk," _she said. _"If you don't tell us..." _

This time, it was Aerith who stepped forward. "_I'll rip them off," _she said, in a sweet voice that did not go at all with what she was saying. Zack's eyes widened. What had happened to Aerith in five years?

Corneo let out a wail. _"It was Heidegger of Shinra!" _he said, scooting away from Aerith as far as the bed would let him.

Zack froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he realized that Cissnei had gone completely still. Sephiroth said nothing, but Zack could feel the tension coming from him too. The other members of AVALANCHE stared, as if afraid to break the silence. It was Barret who went first.

"Heidegger?" he asked.

"The head of Public Safety," replied Sephiroth calmly, looking up.

"...Public...Safety...?" repeated Biggs.

"It's just a nice way of saying the military," Zack replied. "The infantry. SOLDIER. And..." He glanced across the room.

"...The Turks..." finished Cissnei softly. She paused for a moment, and then a small smile appeared on her face, one that might have been a smirk. "...He thinks, anyway."

Zack stared at her as she looked back at the screen. It was at times like this when he realized he didn't really know much about the Turks. He looked back at the conversation.

"_Did you say Shinra?" _asked Aerith. _"What are they up to?" _

"_Talk!" _said Tifa. _"If you don't tell us..." _

Cloud stepped forward. _"I'll chop them off," _he threatened, no longer sounding girly at all.

"_You're serious, aren't you?" _asked Corneo. He shook his head. It was obvious that he was sweating. _"I'm not fooling around here either. Oh boy...ooh boy..." _He wiped at his forehead with his hand, gulping. _"Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and wants to infiltrate their hideout," _he said. _"And they're really going to crush them. Literally."_

"_...By breaking the support of the plate above them," _

Zack tensed, leaning forward as he stared at the screen. He heard the rustle of leather beside him that told him that Sephiroth was now watching intently as well. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cissnei lean forward, a grim expression on her face as she stared at the screen. The entire room went silent, and then it suddenly erupted into noise at once.

"Break the support?" asked Jessie. "They can't do that!"

"If they did—." said Biggs. He paled suddenly, considering the implications. "Oh gods."

"They're not seriously going to—," began Wedge.

"Quiet!" said Sephiroth harshly, his voice cutting through the panic. "Listen."

"_...plate'll go PING, and everything will go BAAM! I heard their hideout is in the Sector 7 slums. I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6." _

Cissnei's headset clattered to the desk in front of her. The Turk jumped to her feet, her eyes wide. She already had Rekka in one hand, her black vest with the magnetic sheath in the other. "I've got to go!" she said, hurrying to the platform. "Jessie, take over! Get Tifa and the others back!"

"Wait—!" said Zack, his eyes widening in surprise at her hasty departure. "Cissnei!"

Sephiroth was already on his feet.

"I'll be back!" said Cissnei, as the platform began to rise. "I promise!"

The platform vanished from sight, attaching itself to the ceiling.

XxXxX

Cissnei quickly set Rekka down onto the bartop, slipping into her vest. She zipped it up, pushing her hair out of the way as she stuck the shuriken to her back. She felt out of breath, and forced herself to calm down, shaking her hands out. She didn't have time.

There was no question as to whether or not Shinra was actually going to do it. No one knew the company better than the Turks. If they wanted to stop this—oh gods, _could _they stop this?—then she would have to move. They would have to—

_Calm down, _she told herself, slipping her gloves on and rushing towards the door. _The mission. Focus on the mission." _

The platform slipped back into place a second time, accompanied by a loud grating sound. A hand landed on her wrist, pulling her back and stopping her from leaving. Cissnei turned, looking up into mako green eyes.

"Sephiroth—," she began.

He was watching her calmly, but then again, he was always calm. The real clues to how he felt were seldom seen on his face. In a crisis situation, the best way to tell how he was feeling was to look at his hands, or the location of his sword.

Right now, Masamune was firmly in his left hand. A bad sign. A _very _bad sign.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have...something to do," she said.

"Related to what we just heard?"

There was no point in lying. "I—yes."

He frowned, his eyes telling her that he understood more than he was letting on. "Alone?" he asked.

A SOLDIER was offering to back up a Turk.

She wanted to laugh. She could feel it bubbling up inside her, a sudden mad little laugh at the question and the irony of the situation. She suppressed it. She _always _suppressed it. She tugged at her arm experimentally. He didn't hold her tight, but he was Sephiroth. His grip was like iron, and he held fast.

"Yes," she said. "I have to."

His eyes met hers. "...Why?"

_Because it's what I do. I do the dirty work where no one can see it. It's what I've always done. _

_Because I don't want you to see it. _

She lowered her eyes to the ground. "I have to," she said. "...Just trust me."

Trust me.

Trust the Turk.

"_No one trusts us," _Reno had said once. _"Can't trust anyone else." _

Her free hand clenched into a fist. When she thought about it this way, she couldn't blame him for wanting to know what she would do. She really wasn't...something to be trusted, was she?

Not even the company...now not even the other Turks...

Sephiroth stared at her for a moment, and then amazingly, his grip loosened, and she felt her hand falling away. She looked up at him sharply, her eyes wide in surprise. He was staring at her again, the same calm expression on his face. But he had reached behind him, placing Masamune on the tabletop instead. He met her eyes, then nodded once.

"...I do."

She stared at him as he watched her. Her heartbeat suddenly sounded incredibly loud to her, the bar entirely too quiet. She scanned his face, looking for the deceit, looking for the trick. But there was none. SOLDIERs were too honest. Even in their betrayal, even in their hatred, and even in their trust.

On a normal day, she would have left him with a quip. Something like 'Keep it together here, SOLDIER,', or 'I'm leaving it to you'. Today, the words wouldn't come. She simply stared at him, stunned, before nodding once, nearly stumbling out the door and into the streets.

**END FILE**

XxXxX

**Note: **Yes, Cloud, Tifa and Aerith are still _kind _of in their dresses. I could buy Cloud having pants and maybe a shirt under his dress, but not sneaking in a sword or weapons, haha. I'll have them change before they make their next appearance. Cloud and Aerith had to have left their stuff somewhere.


	21. File 007: The Pain of Loss pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Wow over 100 reviews! Thank you so much guys for all your support! I really appreciate it! It makes me want to keep on writing! (P.S: **Riku Uzumaki, **you are the 100th reviewer!)

**Irish-Brigid, **he wouldn't be, but it was more than that. She has trust issues of her own as well, and, in my version of the story at least, is being secretive by nature. (The little blurb about her personality apparently said that she had paranoia issues in the past, so it's a fair extrapolation.)

**ryuukoshi, **that's why I wanted to write them. Those two should be the poster children for why kids should not be brought up to kill people, lol.

The fight scene might turn out to be a little fragmented. I'm going to do my best, but there's so many _people _and they're all doing and feeling things and picking POVs is hard. But just try to remember that some of the scenes on the pillar will be happening simultaneously, and I'll try to provide some clues as to how things are going chronologically.

XxXxX

**File 007: The Pain of Loss**

Sephiroth was standing in the center of the bar alone by the time the lift rose again, one hand on Masamune's hilt. Zack quickly ran past him, running towards the door and looking back and forth across the streets of Sector 7. There was no sign of Cissnei anywhere.

"Where's Cissnei?" he asked, turning back towards Sephiroth.

"Gone," said Sephiroth simply, sliding Masamune onto his back in one smooth motion.

"What do you mean _gone_?" asked Zack, taking a step towards him.

Sephiroth shot him a look. "She's working, Zack," he said. "Which is what we should be doing. Come on." He turned, heading back towards the platform. Zack scowled, but folded his arms and followed, shaking his head. He knew better than to argue with _that _look. He stepped back onto the platform alongside the silver-haired SOLDIER as it started moving downwards again, heading back towards the hidden room.

An argument was already in full-swing. Barret and Jessie were standing in front of each other, angry looks on both of their faces as Biggs and Wedge stood to one either side of them, looking nervously between the two. The screen in front of them had gone black.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Jessie. "Leave them!"

"We got bigger things to worry about!" yelled Barret. "If we don't do somethin' about that goddamned plate it ain't gonna matter where Cloud and Tifa are!"

Jessie opened her mouth to argue further. Zack took that as his cue—judging from how red her face was, what she was about to say probably wasn't going to be pleasant. He stepped out from behind Sephiroth. "What's going on?" he asked.

The two of them turned towards him. It was Jessie who spoke. "Corneo dropped Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith through a trap door," she said. "They landed in water or something. We lost the signal. Barret won't let me go after them!"

"Didn't you hear any of that?" asked Barret. "They're planning to drop the fucking plate! We can't go ignore that just 'cause you've got a damn crush!"

"I'm not saying ignore it!" said Jessie. "I said one of us should go look for them!"

"And I'm saying we _don't have time_!"

"We should do something—," began Jessie.

"That's enough," said Sephiroth suddenly, startling even Zack. Zack looked back at him. He strode forward, his expression calm, but his green eyes blazing. He had spoken with the same commanding tone Zack had heard him use on troops in the battlefield, the tone that demanded his orders be obeyed, and now, as he walked forward, he carried himself like a commander. Like a General.

_The _General, Zack realized. The hero of Wutai.

It looked like the others recognized it too. Barret scowled, but took a small step back as Sephiroth approached, interposing himself between the arguing pair.

"Barret's right," he said, his eyes fixing on Jessie. She swallowed, but raised her eyes to meet his. "Cloud and Tifa will just have to make it back on their own. We can't afford to waste time searching for them right now. They're perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Right now, our priority is stopping Shinra."

Jessie stared at him for a moment more, before slowly nodding once, lowering her eyes and taking a step back. Zack saw her clench her fists, but she didn't say anything. Sephiroth immediately looked back at Barret, who was watching him with a look of surprise on his face, as if he couldn't believe Sephiroth had actually taken his side of the argument.

"The company expects interference," said Sephiroth. "They won't come alone. They know that Zack and I are with you, so it's highly likely that they will bring reinforcements." He looked over at Zack. "From SOLDIER," he added.

Zack nodded once, folding his arms and frowning. The memory of the strange girl with the mako blue eyes was still fresh in his mind, along with Cissnei and Sephiroth's accounts. They were stronger than they looked. If those guys came out again, he and Sephiroth would be busy.

"We can also expect that the Turks will be put in charge of the operation," said Sephiroth, continuing on as if he was simply giving a battle briefing, and not discussing the potential murder of everyone above and below the plate. "They will likely have helicopters, and will be conducting the attack from the air. Their first priority is going to be securing the stairs, which means we'll probably be fighting our way up."

"And Cissnei?" asked Biggs.

Sephiroth paused for a moment, then looked up at him. "...We can expect that she is aware of everything I just told you. Likely she is going to one of her contacts for aid. Beyond that, I can't say."

"They're really going to do it, then?" asked Wedge. "They're gonna try and take down the plate?"

"Do not underestimate the things that Shinra will do to keep power," said Sephiroth, glancing at Wedge. "That's one of the largest mistakes you can make, when dealing with this company."

Zack scowled, remembering waking up in the green haze after Nibelheim. He remembered Hojo, looking over him—Hojo's eyes...His fist clenched.

"Given that..." said Sephiroth. He paused, then looked up at Barret. "...Do you have orders?"

Barret stared at Sephiroth for a moment, the two of them locking eyes.

"Got any suggestions?" asked Barret after a while.

Sephiroth blinked in surprise, before a small, barely-there smile appeared on his face. He nodded once in acknowledgment.

The sound of a helicopter suddenly whirred overhead, causing the five of them to freeze and glance up at the ceiling. Barret moved first, waving his hand hurriedly towards the platform. "Move! Move! Move!" he ordered. "Get out there now!"

They moved, Zack and Sephiroth running side-by-side towards the platform as the other three followed them. It slowly began to rise. The moment the floor of the bar came in sight, Sephiroth jumped, clearing the next few feet and landing neatly on the ground. Zack followed, trailing the silver-haired First as the two of them burst out into the streets.

There were two helicopters, and they were both converging on the support pillar.

"Shit," swore Jessie, coming up to stand beside Zack. Barret and Wedge crowded the doorway behind them.

"We've gotta get up there!" said Barret.

Sephiroth nodded once, taking off at a run. Zack quickly moved to follow him, one hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword. He did his best to keep up, but as always, Sephiroth was a streak of silver moving down the street, and he was a few feet behind. They ran underneath one of the helicopters, this one moving so close to the ground that Zack could feel the wind of their passing.

By the time they arrived at the plate, the helicopters were already unloading, Shinra infantrymen beginning to rush down the metal stairs. Zack drew up behind Sephiroth as Barret and the others caught up, the AVALANCHE leader scowling as he squinted up at the plate.

"Get up there!" he said, waving his hand at Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. They nodded, still catching their breath as they ran towards the stairs. Sephiroth took a step forward as well, watching them.

Zack moved, getting ready to take the stairs at a run. Sephiroth's hand shot out, landing on his chest and pushing him back. Zack froze, staring at him.

"Marlene," he said, meeting his eyes.

Zack took in the grim expression on Sephiroth's face. He understood. Although he wouldn't say it to Barret, Sephiroth wasn't entirely sure that they could prevent this. He nodded once, grabbing his friend's hand and pushing it out of the way. He turned, taking off at a run back towards Seventh Heaven at the same time as Sephiroth moved, running towards the pillar.

The streets were still empty as Zack moved through them, although judging from the commotion on the pillar, they would be filling up soon. He rushed up the steps towards the bar as gunfire rang out through the Sector, kicking the door open.

"Marlene!" he yelled, running upstairs and pushing open the door towards the bedroom. Outside, gunfire continued. _"Marlene!" _

Zack froze. Marlene was standing there, in her room, but she was in someone else's arms, looking up at him with a confused and scared expression on her face. Someone else...someone else who wore pink, and had brown hair, and looked up at him with bright, luminous green eyes, the same stunned expression on her face.

"Zack..." she said.

Zack took a deep breath, staring at her.

"...Aerith."

XxXxX

Sephiroth exhaled slowly, shifting his grip on Masamune as he faced the man in front of him. Auriel smiled, tightening his own grip on his sword. The two of them were standing on the narrow staircase that surrounded the support pillar, gunfire ringing all around them. Currently, Auriel had the high ground, but that didn't mean much, judging from the thin line of blood across the front of his Deepground uniform.

Behind him, Sephiroth saw Wedge scream, tumbling through the air as he fell to his death. Sephiroth moved, starting to walk forward, but Auriel slashed out with his sword, and Sephiroth quickly raised Masamune to guard against the attack. The two of them rushed towards each other again, their blades moving in quick succession. Auriel's blade moved to parry Sephiroth's, never blocking it head on, but skirting to the side of it and deflecting the blows.

Sephiroth stepped forward, never breaking his attack. Auriel's eyes narrowed, the man taking several steps back to continue parrying. Masamune moved through the air like lightning as Sephiroth advanced, pushing Auriel back towards the landing. At last, an attack broke through, and Auriel ducked just in time as Masamune's blade brushed the side of his face, cutting a line across his cheek. He stumbled, and Sephiroth saw his opening, stepping forward neatly and raising his blade.

Auriel jumped to the left, taking a roll to avoid the strike and getting to his feet beside Sephiroth. He lashed out with his sword, aiming for the ex-SOLDIER's side, but Sephiroth quickly turned, raising Masamune up to protect his body as he caught Auriel's blade with his own. He swatted the blade aside, and Auriel ducked underneath it, grinning as he gripped his sword tightly in one hand and slashed at Sephiroth's chest.

Sephiroth took a step back, softening what was intended to be a fatal blow into a small cut across his chest, practically inconsequential. He whirled around as he heard frantic footsteps coming up the stairs from behind him, one of his boots striking Auriel squarely in the chest. The Deepground SOLDIER was thrown back, if only briefly.

"Sephiroth!" shouted Cloud.

He turned his head. Cloud and Tifa were running up the stairs, Cloud now dressed in his borrowed uniform again. He had his sword in his hand. The two of them were streaked with blood, dirt, and soot and were breathing hard, but they looked relatively unharmed. Their eyes were wide with alarm.

Another chorus of gunfire rose up from the top of the pillar. Sephiroth quickly glanced away from them, sweeping Masamune down his side in a quick motion as he saw Auriel start to get up.

"Help Barret," he said, rushing towards Auriel again. Auriel grit his teeth, tightening his hold on his sword and pushing back against Masamume. The swords clashed, bright green eyes meeting golden ones as Auriel slid along the length of Masamune.

The two of them jumped back as a helicopter came into view, the wind from its propellers blowing Sephiroth's hair and cloak back. Gunfire rang out from the chopper, bullets pinging across the surface of the stairs as Sephiroth jumped back, nearly bumping into Cloud and Tifa. Tifa let out a small shriek of alarm, grabbing onto the railing as the wind and gunfire made the staircase sway uncertainly. Cloud quickly grabbed her to steady her, placing one hand on the railing himself.

Sephiroth stood between them and the chopper, moving his sword in several quick motions. He saw the bullets as flashes of light in Masamune's wake, blocked by the sword. He turned his head as a single bullet managed to get through. It flew over his shoulder, hitting the wall as the gunfire paused for a moment. Across the landing, he saw Auriel grin.

"You're good," he said. "But we have the air."

He caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, and his grip tightened on Masamune. He felt a small smirk come onto his face, his eyes shining as he looked up at Auriel.

The helicopter's guns moved, focusing on him, Tifa, and Cloud again.

Something struck the helicopter on its side, an explosion erupting in its wake. The propeller was blasted clear off, embedding itself into the support pillar as the helicopter fell out of the sky, the flames beginning to engulf it. It crashed to the ground, a heap of smoke and metal.

He turned his head, looking at the row of metal piping directly across from them.

Cissnei exhaled, pulling her eye away from the scope. She released the trigger slowly, the wind tugging at her hair. She nodded once as their eyes met, lowering the gun.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	22. File 007: The Pain of Loss pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **GAAAH! Coordinating fight scenes when just _everyone _has to have their own epic battle is insane. *shakes fist at Zack, Cissnei, and Seph* WHY ARE YOU THREE SUCH LONE WOLVES? GO FIGHT TOGETHER!

Seph: …My fighting style is better adapted to a one-on-one fight. Besides, the last time we tried that, Zack stepped on my foot.

Zack: I'm_ sorry! _I was trying not to get skewered!

Seph: Then you shouldn't have been in the way.

Cissnei: ...*sigh*

**Irish-Brigid, **I kind of did a bad job emphasizing that, but the running back and forth was supposed to take up some time. Regardless, I was trying to find a way to give Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith more time without dragging out the chapter, and it was a little difficult. Sorry about that.

**Riku Uzumaki, **well, it was more of a rocket launcher than a gun, but yeah—I got the impression that Turks were trained in all sorts of weaponry, and with Cissy being raised by them, she probably knows her way around more than just her shuriken.

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, **glad you like it!

XxXxX

**File 007: The Pain of Loss**

Cissnei exhaled, slowly lowering the large weapon off her shoulder and setting it down on the rafters beside her. She rolled her right shoulder. It ached, both from the weight of the gun and from the recoil it had caused. She watched as Auriel looked in her direction, the distraction just enough for Sephiroth to push forward again, putting the Tsviet on the defensive with a flurry of well-placed strikes and blocks. He yelled something that Cissnei couldn't hear, and Cloud and Tifa immediately responded, running past him and continuing to scale the pillar.

She patted down her vest, feeling the telltale bulges that pointed to the other supplies she had grabbed from Eira's hideout. The ex-Turk turned mercenary again had been well-stocked. Her body felt slightly laden down by the things she had taken, but more than that, Eira's last conversation with her was still ringing in her mind.

_Eira had been waiting for her the moment Cissnei stepped through the door of her hideout. She was leaning against the kitchen counter, her arms folded and a frown on her face. Her dark hair was down, falling almost to her waist, and she stood with the same "my body is my weapon" confidence Tifa exuded, but with an experienced calm that the younger martial artist hadn't quite attained. _

_She was unarmed, and Cissnei had Rekka and her spare gun, but the moment Cissnei stepped into the room, she knew who was at the disadvantage here. _

"_I can't help you," said Eira after Cissnei had made her request, her brown eyes hard. "You know that." _

"_...Eira..." _

"_Cut the crap," said Eira. "If you want to kill yourself, fine. But I'm not going to let you bring down the rest of us. Reno and Tseng will be out there. If you do this, there's no going back." _

_Reno and Tseng..._

_Images flashed through her mind—Tseng, his eyes coolly appraising as he watched her from across the training facility's yard, her hand moving quickly as she struck at another child's neck, and Reno, ruffling her hair as she sat in the office and complaining that she was being too serious..._

_She hesitated then, but only for a moment. She clenched her fist. _

"_If...if you help me—and they catch me, I'll say I forced you. That I broke in and took these supplies from you. But...if you don't help me...and they catch me..." She met Eira's eyes. "...I'll say you did."_

_A tense silence followed her statement. Eira stared at her, and for the first time in her life, Cissnei realized that Eira wasn't looking at her like a friend anymore. Her eyes had hardened, and she was giving Cissnei the same cold look she gave her enemies. She shifted, and Cissnei tensed, but she didn't move to attack. _

"_...Who would believe you?" she asked. "You managed to come into _my _home and overpower me? Who would believe _that_?" _

"_...I have a tranq gun in my vest," said Cissnei, meeting her eyes and forcing herself to go through with this. "...Non-lethal dose. Enough to put you out for a few hours. The chemicals would stick around in your blood long enough for them to test it." _

_The ex-Turk's eyes met hers, and for a moment, Cissnei thought she saw a flicker of that old recognition, followed by slight surprise. "You're serious, aren't you?" she asked. "Dammit, kid, you're actually serious about this..." _

"_Is this worth it, Cissnei?" asked Eira, staring at her. "Are you gonna give all of this up, for your own personal vendetta?" _

_Cissnei took a deep breath. "...I'm doing what I have to..." she said. _

"_Are you trying to be a hero?" asked Eira, angrily. "Got tired of working in the shadows, now you want to trick yourself into thinking you're doing something great? You think you can erase everything you've done?" _

_She thought of Zack and of Sephiroth. She thought of Zack and Cloud, in the Nibelheim basement for years. She remembered Sephiroth when she found him, half-dead and half-mad. And she thought of all of the things she had done in Shinra's name. It was enough. For now, it was enough. _

"_...It's not about being a hero," she said quietly. "...It's about being able to look at myself in the mirror." _

_Sacrifices had to be made for the mission. The Turks had taught her that. _

_Eira stared at her for a moment longer before swearing, loudly and colorfully. She straightened up, spreading her arms wide. _

"_Goddammit," she said. "...Make it a good shot." _

"_...But when you're done, don't let me catch you around here anymore." _

Her eyes fixed on a red-haired figure in a dark suit that jumped off a second helicopter, falling onto the platform on top of the support pillar. Cissnei didn't waste her time on hesitation. She ran.

XxXxX

Zack stood in the doorway, staring at Aerith. She was looking at him too, her eyes wide almost as if she had seen a ghost. Marlene squirmed in her arms, and Aerith slowly put her down, straightening up and keeping a hold on her hand. The child looked between the two of them, a slightly puzzled look on her face. The memory of their last conversation returned to him, and Zack found that he didn't have anything to say. He had been wishing for this moment ever since he read Aerith's letter, but now, with her standing in front of him, it seemed like all he could do was look at her.

It was Aerith who ended up breaking the silence. "Zack..." she said, one hand curling close to her chest. She sounded as if she couldn't believe this either, and for a moment she sounded dangerously close to tears. "...You're alive."

"Y-Yeah..."

"I wrote you," said Aerith, taking a step towards him. "I sent you letters. You never replied."

"I know," said Zack. "...I'm sorry. Things happened. I didn't mean to disappear..."

"I thought you were dead," said Aerith, holding her arms close to herself and standing in front of him. She lowered her eyes. "...I thought..."

He remembered how close he had come to death, in the wastelands outside Midgar. Zack had never been afraid to die, but he felt an involuntary shiver run down his back at the memory. If Sephiroth and Cissnei hadn't been there...

He met Aerith's eyes and took a deep breath, offering her a small grin as he leaned forward. "Well—," he teased, trying to lighten the mood. "...You're wearing pink after all."

Aerith blinked, then her face broke into a smile. "And whose fault do you think that is?" she asked.

A blast tore through the air, rattling the building. Zack immediately moved forward, grabbing both Aerith and Marlene and pulling them close to himself as he crouched down, lowering his head. Marlene screamed. Aerith quickly wrapped her arms tightly around the girl, placing one hand on her head. She pressed her face to the top of Marlene's head, murmuring words of comfort to the young girl as the building shook.

Pictures fell off walls and furniture jumped around a bit. Something hard struck Zack in the back, bouncing off his Buster Sword. He responded by holding Aerith and Marlene closer, shielding them with his body.

The shaking stopped, but the sounds of gunfire didn't cease. Zack let out a sigh of relief—for a moment, he thought it had been the plate. He got up, pulling Aerith to his feet. Marlene was still crying, her face pressed into the front of Aerith's dress.

"I've got to get you two out of here," he said, holding onto her hand and leading her towards the door. Aerith nodded, pulling her hand out of his long enough to grab a metal staff from the floor. She held it tightly in one hand, holding onto Marlene with the other. Zack stared at her. The staff was just long enough and heavy enough to cause serious damage, if it struck the right place in the right way. She carried it like she was at least familiar with it, even if she wasn't a master at it by any means.

"When did you start carrying around a weapon?" he asked.

"When my bodyguard disappeared," said Aerith with a small smile, following him out the door. Zack offered her an apologetic grin, but he didn't slow down as he held onto her wrist, moving quickly out of the bar.

"That's harsh," he said.

"Well you have a lot of explaining to do, mister," she said. The look in her eyes told him that she was serious. The smile on her face quickly disappeared as they made it out into the street.

Zack could see why. The support pillar was surrounded by gunfire now, and there was what looked like the smoldering husk of a helicopter on the ground.

"That looks bad," said Aerith solemnly from his side.

"It is," said Zack, not bothering to spare her the truth. "It's pretty bad." His hand itched to grab his Buster Sword, but he kept it at its side, glancing over at her.

"Shouldn't you be up there?" asked Aerith uncertainly.

He shook his head. "They can handle it," he said, pushing her in the direction of the exit. He hoped he sounded surer than he felt. "Come on. Let's go. We don't have much time."

"_Zack!" _said Aerith in protest, stepping away from him. "You have to go—."

"Aerith, I can't—," began Zack.

"Zack Fair!" said Aerith more insistently, rounding onto him. She met his eyes, her tone not leaving any room for argument. He tried anyway.

"You _need _to be there!" "I can't leave you alone again!"

They spoke at the same time, their words overlapping with each other. Zack stared, realizing that he had grabbed onto her arms without even thinking about it, turning him towards her. She blinked, but looked up at him, her bright green eyes meeting his. His heart pounded in his chest, and he felt drained after his admission. He knew he needed to help Sephiroth and the others. He had a duty to help Sephiroth and the others.

But he had left her once before, and had almost never seen her again. As much as he wanted to help the others, he also didn't want to let go.

His grip tightened just slightly, and he lowered his eyes to the ground. It was pathetic of him, he knew, and he hated that she had to see him like this.

There was a pause, and then her hand landed lightly on his cheek, her fingertips trailing down the side of his face before brushing against his scar. Zack raised his eyes to hers again, surprised. She was staring at him, and her eyes were warm, understanding.

"...Oh, Zack..." she said. "I'll be alright. But your friends _need _you right now. So please. _Help _them."

He reached up, catching her hand in his own and keeping it there as he looked down at her.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm sure," she said.

Zack stared at her for a moment more before reluctantly withdrawing from her, letting go of her hand. "You'll be careful?" he asked.

"Very careful," promised Aerith, nodding once.

"And you'll get out of Sector 7 with Marlene?"

"Right away!" said Aerith, smiling at him.

He took a deep breath, then nodded once. "Alright," he said, reluctantly turning away. He jogged down the street, slowing down just long enough to look over his shoulder at the two of them.

"Hey, Aerith!" he said. "I'll come back for you! That's a promise! Okay?"

Aerith smiled, raising her hand and waving goodbye. "I'm looking forward to it," she said.

XxXxX

It was chaos on top of the pillar. Barret was shooting at passing helicopters, his gun arm firing seemingly non-stop as he leaned over the side of the balcony. Behind him, Cloud could hear the continuous clash of swords as Sephiroth drove Auriel upward, bringing him closer and closer to the top. He ran towards Barret quickly as the helicopter flew off, Tifa following behind him.

"Barret!" he yelled, causing the man to look up.

"Tifa! Cloud! You came!" he exclaimed, turning around. He braced his gun arm with his human hand, shooting into the sky as the helicopter came around again for another pass. The helicopter rushed overhead, depositing a red-haired figure in a dark suit. Cloud recognized him as the Turk from the slums, the one that had been after Aerith.

Reno.

He rushed towards the console in the center of the pillar. Cloud moved forward, his sword in his hand as the Turk moved past them.

A figure dropped down from the rafters, kneeing Reno in the back and tackling him to the ground.

"Cloud! Tifa!" shouted Cissnei as she held him down, looking up at them. "Protect the console! Don't let anyone near—!" She gasped, letting out a grunt of pain as Reno flipped her off of him with a shout, turning over and slamming his rod into her gut. Electricity crackled, throwing her back on impact.

"Get off of me, Cissy!" he said as he got to his feet.

Cissnei flipped over in the air, drawing Rekka from her back and landing on her feet. She let out a shout, slashing her shuriken quickly across his chest. Blood followed one of the points, a line opening up on the front of Reno's jacket. She spun Rekka quickly in her right hand as she pulled it away, flicking the blood off the shuriken and letting it land on the metal beneath her as she stepped forward, her left hand going up to punch him in the jaw. He recoiled, but retaliated, bringing his Electro-Mag rod down over his head. She grit her teeth and bent her knees, catching it between Rekka's points with a clash of metal.

"Cloud, come on!" said Tifa, placing a hand on his back and shoving him forward.

Cloud nodded, tearing his eyes away from the fight as the three of them rushed toward the console.

A crimson figure dropped down from the air in front of them, drawing herself up to her full height with a smirk. Cloud skidded to a stop, holding his sword in both hands. She looked up at him, her red eyes shining.

"What do we have here?" she asked. "Small fry? You'll die beautifully, darlings. I wonder if you'll at least make it worth my while."

Cloud took a step back, but held his ground, his grip on his sword tightening.

Rosso's smirk widened, and she pulled her weapon back, holding the blades out behind her. "I suppose it's only fair that I give you the opportunity to try," she said, rushing forward. She brought her weapon down over her head, one of the blades heading towards him. Cloud raised his sword to block, bracing himself for impact.

Her blade struck his sword, sending him skidding back. Cloud's eyes widened in surprise as Rosso immediately stepped back and struck again, her crimson eyes shining with glee. He raised his sword a second time, managing to block it as he took another step back, but she struck a third time, and this time, his sword wavered as her blade hit it, the shock of impact traveling all the way up his arms despite the mako enhancements.

Behind her, he saw Tifa rush forward, spinning around in the air and attempting to kick her from behind. Rosso turned around, slashing out with her blade, and Cloud's eyes widened as he saw Tifa fall back through the air, blood seeping through the front of her shirt. She hit the ground, letting out a grunt of pain. Cloud's eyes narrowed in anger and he let out a shout, rushing forward. Rosso kicked him neatly in the gut, swatting his sword out of his hands with her blade as he fell back. It sailed over his head, skittering across the metal walkway as Cloud felt his back slam into the railing.

"Can none of you wait your turn?" she asked, walking calmly over to Cloud.

Cloud looked up at her, then down at his sword, trying to gauge the distance from her to it. He took a deep breath, then moved, pushing himself up out from the wall and reaching for it. Rosso turned, raising her weapon and bringing the blade down towards him. Cloud looked away, bracing for impact.

It never came. Instead, all he heard was the sound of metal hitting metal.

"Hey, Cloud. Forget to invite me to the party?"

Cloud landed on the ground, grabbing onto his sword's hilt as he rolled forward. He got to his feet, breathing hard as he looked up. Zack was standing between him and Rosso, her blade caught on his Buster Sword. He wasn't looking at him, but he was grinning, his eyes fixed on his opponent.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	23. File 007: The Pain of Loss pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **To everyone wondering how Deepground will affect the story, let's just say that it's going to be a slow diversion from the original plot. The point of this story was to show a ripple effect from one decision being changed, so it's going to be a bit of a slow transition, but you'll see soon enough!

**Irish-Brigid, **Yes, Zack needs to be in more places at once, lol. And yes, just wait for Cloud to catch up a bit. It will happen, but Rosso's a bit much for the poor boy right now.

**ryuukoshi, **really glad you like it. I think a lot of the Player Turks had really cool backgrounds that needed to be explored more, hence why they feature into this story (well, that and Cissnei is a Turk, and they're like cockroaches, if you see one there's probably ten more in the walls). Cissnei's background is actually one of the reasons I wanted to pair her with Sephiroth—there's so much compare and contrast there, with one of them being raised as a Turk from childhood and the other being raised as a SOLDIER.

But besides the Player Turks and Cissnei, there's one other character that will be making a reappearance as well, since this AU is fast becoming something that spins all the other Compilation games into one (BC, CC, FFVII, DoC...etc.). ^^

XxXxX

**File 007: The Pain of Loss**

Zack looked up from across the Buster Sword at Rosso, a confident smile appearing on his face. Around him, the battle continued to rage. Flashes of light and the sound of clashing swords came from above, Sephiroth and Auriel's battle apparently having taken to the rafters. The two of them jumped from beam to beam, their swords clashing in the air. Auriel was clearly on the defensive at this point. He was winded and bleeding from a handful of small cuts, whereas Sephiroth pressed on with the same tireless efficiency he displayed in all of his fights.

Cissnei and Reno were engaged in a battle that traversed the perimeter of the support pillar, the two Turks exchanging blows with their fists, feet, and weapons. Occasionally, Reno would throw Cissnei to the side and make a move for the center of the pillar, only to be stopped by a well-aimed throw, or a quick recovery, or in one case, Barret shooting at Reno as he quickly moved to check on Tifa.

Behind him, Zack heard Cloud scramble up, his hands on his sword. He was breathing hard enough that Zack could hear it from where he stood.

Rosso stared at him for a moment, before grinning, taking a step back and holding her weapon high over her head. Zack took the opportunity to adjust his grip on the Buster Sword, holding it at the ready and pointing it at her.

"Zack Fair," she said, as if she were considering the name. "It looks like this won't be a complete waste of my time after all."

"You know," said Zack, lifting his sword slightly. "I don't like fighting girls, but for you...I think I'll make an exception." He glanced behind him, jerking his head in the direction of the console. Cloud nodded once, running towards it as Zack raised the Buster Sword over his head, bringing it down towards Rosso.

She smirked, taking a step back and raising her own blade to block his. She didn't block the attack head-on, instead twisting to the side slightly so that the Buster Sword slid off of one of her blades, leaving her free to jab the second one at his chest. Zack immediately jumped out of the way, gripping his sword with both hands and slicing at her midsection. She jumped back into the air, holding her weapon out and pulling the trigger. Zack held the Buster Sword up in front of him, the bullets pinging harmlessly off the side of the blade as he rushed towards Rosso.

She landed and Zack quickly followed, raising the Buster Sword to block her strike. Rosso jumped back, spinning the blade in one quick movement. The blade skittered off his pauldron, opening a line of blood along his upper arm. Zack stepped back pulling his sword back and holding it parallel to the ground, the point towards her. A small grin appeared on his face as he thought back to the times he had stood in the training room in the past, facing Sephiroth.

_Concentrate! _

He stepped forward, swinging the Buster Sword at her eight different times in quick succession. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly raised her weapon to block the first three, before jumping back. Rosso flipped over in the air, landing on the ground a few feet away from Zack and avoiding the others. He had managed to wound her, a cut going from her right shoulder down.

She swept her blade to her side, ignoring the injury. "So," she said. "Looks like a puppy can learn a few tricks."

"Might not be as pretty as Sephiroth's," said Zack with a shrug. "But it gets the job done."

He braced himself for her attack as she rushed forward, pulling her blade back and striking at him. Zack blocked it with the Buster Sword, shifting position and getting ready to block the second strike coming his way as she flipped the blade over. It turned out to be a feint, one he didn't notice until he felt her foot land squarely on his chest, pushing him towards the ground for a moment.

Cloud immediately moved, gripping his sword tightly in both hands and rushing at her. She blocked his attack easily, but it was just enough distraction for Zack to lash out at her ankles with his foot. He scrambled to his feet as Rosso stumbled back, grinning at Cloud.

"Nice one, buddy!" he said rushing towards Rosso again.

It happened in an instant.

She slid out from underneath Zack's strike, dashing towards the center of the platform. Cloud and Barret immediately moved to stop her, but she turned, pushing Cloud out of the way in with a quick slash of her blade and slamming something down onto the console before Barret could reach her.

It was a key card.

An ominous beeping followed. Rosso threw back her head, letting out a deep laugh.

"You're too late! This place will burn!"

Zack grit his teeth in anger, tightening his grip on his sword. He raised it over his head, running and charging towards her with a yell.

XxXxX

Cissnei's eyes widened as she heard the beeping start. She quickly ducked underneath Reno's next blow, grabbing his hand with both of hers and twisting his wrist. The momentum pulled him back, flipping him back over his own arm. He gasped as his back hit the ground hard, a sharp crack from underneath her hold telling her that he had either broken or dislocated something.

He snarled at her, lashing out at her ankles with his free hand as he scrambled to his feet. She jumped back, avoiding the blow. His right hand hung limply at his side, and he was bleeding in several places. Cissnei wasn't bleeding as much, but that was mostly due to the fact that his weapon was blunt. She had several colorful bruises, and her shoulder was aching in a way that would have signaled a trip to the infirmary, had she still been an active Turk.

She was breathing heavily, Rekka clutched tightly in her right hand as he glanced back at the console, and at Rosso's battle with Zack and Cloud.

"Mission accomplished, yo," said Reno, glancing back at her. He was grinning. It didn't reach his eyes. Cissnei stared at him in shock, her eyes wide as she caught her breath.

"Do you know what you're doing?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"My job," said Reno. He glanced at her, his eyes narrowing. The smile on his face faded, and he frowned at her, resting his rod on his shoulder almost casually. "What d'you think _you're _doing, Cissnei?"

She didn't have an answer for that. Instead, she clenched her fist, rushing at him and bringing Rekka down over her head with a shout of anger. Reno side-stepped the blow, swinging his rod down towards the base of her neck. Cissnei jumped, rolling forward before the blow could reach her. She landed crouched on the ground, her shuriken hand sweeping out behind her. Reno jumped back, but not fast enough—she felt resistance as one of Rekka's points bit into his leg.

She was angry. She could feel it in her blood, the rage breaking through the discipline her training had granted her. It fueled her, carrying her where discipline couldn't, as she rushed forward, her foot slipping underneath his rod to kick him squarely in the chest. He stumbled back, striking the railing, and stared at her wide-eyed as Cissnei jumped into the air, pulling Rekka back with her right hand and bearing down on him.

The look of shock on his face disappeared at the very last moment, replaced with a grin. Cissnei's eyes widened, but it was too late, she was already in the air.

He pushed himself towards her, grabbing her by her weapon arm and pulling the arm down. The movement flipped her over in the air.

And over the railing.

Cissnei gasped as she was suddenly falling, the platform disappearing as Reno pulled back from the edge, rushing towards the console. Her stomach lurched, the wind whipping at her back as she struggled to find the grappling hook she had brought, somewhere in the pockets of her vest. It was hard—her left hand wasn't working right. Her heart pounded in her chest as she fell, cold fear replacing the rage for a moment.

This was how she was going to die, she thought, a moment of detached calm punctuating the fear. Falling from the plate at Reno's hand. It was fitting.

An arm caught her, stopping her fall and pulling her against a hard chest. Cissnei looked up, her eyes widening in surprise as they met Sephiroth's. He held Masamune in his left hand, his black wing fully extended. He wasn't really looking at her. His eyes were fixed on the rafters above, where Auriel had taken the advantage of his disappearance to jump onto the platform.

He flapped his wing, and suddenly they were rising again, rushing towards the top of the plate. He deposited her none too gently onto the ground, rushing towards Auriel, but he was already standing at the edge of the railing, Reno's uninjured arm slung over his back. He looked over his shoulder as Cissnei regained her footing, and for a moment, the Tsviet's golden eyes met hers.

And he smiled.

Cissnei stared, stumbling forward as both he and Reno jumped clear over the edge of the plate. Rosso was gone, apparently having gone first, and for a moment, it was just the six of them again.

Tifa was already standing at the console, the front of her shirt wet with blood as she stared frantically down at the keys in front of her. Cissnei ran towards the console. "Move!" she said, shoving Tifa aside with her shoulder. The younger girl stumbled back, and Cloud quickly moved to catch her. Cissnei ignored them. Her fingers moved quickly on the keys, typing in the disarm code she had memorized.

A red light appeared on the screen, followed by a message. 

ACCESS DENIED.

She scowled, typing in another code, this one the general passcode used by the Turks.

ACCESS DENIED.

Cissnei cursed in frustration, her heart pounding as she furiously typed out one last set of letters. Tseng's personal access code—the one that she thought he didn't know she knew. There was a flash, and then the screen turned red again.

ACCESS DENIED.

THREE MINUTES TO DETONATION.

"You can't disarm it."

The sound of the voice, as cool and calm as she remembered it, followed by the sound of helicopter blades, made her turn. Tseng was standing in the doorway of a Shinra helicopter, looking coldly down at them. His hair was much longer now, but there was no mistaking the current leader of the Turks. He glanced at all of them one at a time, taking in Sephiroth's dangerously neutral expression and Zack's angry glare, before his eyes landed on her. They met hers, and Cissnei forced herself to hold her ground, to not take a step back.

"Only a Shinra executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

Barret growled, raising his gun arm at Tseng. "Shut yer hole!"

"I wouldn't try that," said Tseng, looking at something inside the helicopter. "You might make me injure our special guest."

His eyes moved away from Cissnei, landing on Zack for a moment as he reached inside the helicopter, pulling Aerith out by her forearm.

"Aerith!" shouted Tifa in alarm.

"Tseng, you bastard! You let her go!" said Zack, taking a step forward and placing one hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword.

"If anything, you should be thanking me for saving her," said Tseng, frowning at Zack. "I let you see her one last time."

"What are you going to do with her?" asked Cloud, standing beside Zack.

Tseng shrugged. "I haven't decided yet," he said. "Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President."

Aerith leaned forward, the wind whipping her braid around as she faced Zack. "Zack, don't worry!" she called. "She's alright. I—!"

Whatever Aerith was about to say was cut off as Tseng leaned forward, slapping her. She let out a yelp of pain, stumbling back into the helicopter.

Cissnei and Cloud moved at the same time, Cissnei grabbing onto Zack's right arm and Cloud grabbing onto his left as the former First snarled, nearly rushing the helicopter. The look in Zack's eyes was almost feral, but he didn't attempt to shake them off just yet.

"Aerith!" yelled Tifa again.

Aerith shook her head, recovering quickly. "Hurry and get out!" she yelled.

"It should be starting now," said Tseng, glancing at the console. His frown deepened, and he looked towards Cissnei, holding something in his hands. It took her a moment to realize that it was a camera.

"Former Turk operative, Cissnei," he said as she looked up at him defiantly. "You are declared a traitor to the company, effective immediately. You and your collaborators are to be executed on sight." She said nothing, her eyes narrowing as her grip tightened on Rekka.

He turned away, pushing Aerith back into the helicopter. Before he left, though, he turned his head, pulling something out of his jacket. He tossed it towards them, and it skid to a stop on the ground in front of Zack.

"In case you survive, those are for you," he said, turning his head away.

The helicopter turned, flying off towards the surface.

Zack clenched his fists, rushing forward again. Cissnei and Cloud dug their heels into the ground, trying to stop him. He moved his arm, and she nearly went flying, managing to cling to it just barely. He was much, much stronger than her.

"Let me go!" shouted Zack. "I need to save Aerith!"

"What are you going to do?" demanded Cissnei. "_Fly?" _

Something moved out of the corner of her eye. Cissnei froze, turning her head and watching as Sephiroth ran forward, bending his knees and jumping into the air. His black wing snapped open, feathers scattering downward towards them as he followed the helicopter out.

Cloud stared.

"...Sephiroth?"

An explosion tore through the air, the support pillar quivering dangerously. Barret cursed, running over to a wire beside the pillar. "C'mon!" he said. "We gotta get out of here!" He reached out with his human hand, quickly putting Tifa in front of him and letting Cloud grab onto his back as he held onto the metal pulley.

Cissnei nodded once, recovering from her surprise and shoving Zack in the direction of the pillar. He hesitated, but as rocks began to fall he quickly ran over to the wire, grabbing onto the handle of the pulley just as it began to move. He turned, extending a hand back towards her, and Cissnei took a running jump off the platform, grabbing his hand as flames erupted behind them.

**END FILE**


	24. File 008: Falling Apart

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This file is really short, but it didn't fit in with all the other files, so it'll be standing on its own. Enjoy and thanks for the support! I'd like to announce that we've now hit **50 Faves**! Your support is always appreciated! Thanks so much!

**Irish-Brigid, **yeah, unfortunately Sector 7 is still toast in this story. They might have been able to do it if it wasn't revealed that Zack, Sephiroth, and Cissnei were with them, because then they would have just sent Reno and would have been woefully underprepared, but you can't really hide Sephiroth for very long.

**Riku Uzumaki, **oh yeah. Zack's _not _happy at all.

**ryuukoshi, **glad you liked it! I really enjoyed writing and thinking about that scene!

**JazzQueen, **yes we do. He's had it since the beginning of the story, but doesn't like using it because of what it reminds him of. Looks like he's making an exception.

XxXxX

**File 008: Falling Apart**

The five of them tumbled through the air as the blasts went off, the force from the explosions propelling them forward. The heat and the noise was almost unbearable. Multiple explosions appeared across the rafters, and Cissnei shielded her face with her arm as debris started tumbling down, tightening her grip on Zack's hand. The five of them zipped through the entrance to Sector 6, the wire giving out and sending them snapping forward and sprawling onto the ground of the playground. There was a deafening crash, one that shook the earth. It was followed by a sudden terrifying silence.

She hesitated to get up off the ground, mostly because she already knew what she would see. When she heard movement from beside her though, she did, slowly. It was hard, all of her body hurt.

Zack was the first one on his feet. He stared down at the box in his hand, his expression livid. As Cissnei watched, he slammed the box onto the ground. It broke open, envelopes scattering across the playground floor.

"Dammit, _Tseng!" _Zack yelled up towards the sky. "I don't just want her _letters_!"

He lowered his head and fell silent as Barret, Tifa and Cloud began to get up, as if noticing the wreckage for the first time. Zack looked over at her, a grim expression on his face. She could see the trace of barely restrained anger in his eyes, covered over briefly by concern as he extended a hand out towards her. She took it. She wouldn't have needed it normally, but she thought she might need it now.

Zack pulled her to her feet, releasing her hand as soon as she was up. She looked around. Barret, Tifa, and Cloud had picked themselves up off the ground as well, the five of them standing in the center of the playground. The five of them exchanged glances and grim nods, before heading as one towards the site of the wreckage. Barret led the group. Cissnei trailed along behind them, pausing to scoop Rekka off the ground and replace it at her back.

They paused as the site of the wreckage came into view. Cissnei forced herself to look at it, her hands shaking. If they hadn't known what it was, it would have looked surprisingly benign, a slab of metal several times taller than them completely blocking the entrance.

They knew what it was, and what it meant.

It was Barret who broke the silence first, rushing forward towards the plate. "Marlene!" he shouted desperately. "MARLENE! _MARLENE! _Biggs!" He changed names this time, running across the length of the entrance as Cloud and Tifa looked on helplessly. "Wedge! JESSIE! Goddammit!" He slammed the fist of his human hand into the wreckage, punching it again and again. "Dammit! Dammit all to hell! What the hell's it all for?" Barret threw back his head, letting out a loud scream of rage and grief, before slumping forward and closing his eyes, leaning on his fist. His shoulders were shaking.

Tifa and Cloud stood behind him, watching him with concern. They didn't step forward, though, keeping a respectful distance. As Barret shouted again and struck the wreckage, the two of them exchanged glances, moving forward.

"Hey, Barret!" began Cloud.

"Barret!" said Tifa.

He ignored them, continuing to shoot. Cissnei realized from the sounds coming from him that he was crying, sobbing loudly in rage and grief. Cloud put a hand on his back uncertainly as Tifa stepped forward, her dark eyes imploring. "Barret, stop..." she said gently. "Please stop, Barret..."

Barret pulled back, letting out one last scream of rage as he raised his gun arm, shooting at the wreckage. Bullets pinged off the metal, scattering onto the ground of the playground. Cissnei folded her arms at the sight, looking away. Beside her, she heard Zack take in a sharp breath. He was shaking as well, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

He took a very controlled step forward, as if it was all he could do to not go to pieces and start attacking the wreckage as well.

She lowered her eyes to the ground as the sound of gunshots continued. She knew she should have felt something. Rage, grief, sorrow—_something_. Hundreds of thousands of people had just died. Tseng had just declared her a traitor to the only family she had ever known and had ordered her death. Reno had tried to kill her. _Reno_, the Turk she had known since she was a child, the one who used to jokingly insist that she call him 'onii-san'. Her friends, people she thought she cared about, were broken. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were _dead. _She should have felt _something_. She should have been going to pieces beside them.

Instead she only felt numb. She felt cold and hollow inside. Empty. There was a cold logical part of her mind speaking now. A detached part, telling her simply that she had failed the mission and that they would need to regroup and assess their next move.

Shinra had done this to her, she realized. Shinra had taken away her ability to feel. If anything, that was what made her angry.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sound. A single sharp thought broke through the veil in her mind, a thought she had never allowed herself to think before.

_I hate them._

"Barret..."

Zack's voice drew her attention, and she looked up. He had reached Barret now, and was putting one hand on the gunman's shoulder. Barret looked up at him, raising his head slowly. Zack sounded like he was putting a lot of effort behind the words, as if he was trying to force himself to calm down as well. "Marlene's...probably safe. Aerith wouldn't have—." He took in a breath. "Aerith wouldn't have just abandoned her. Besides, I think that's what she was trying to tell me...before..."

He glanced down at the ground. Barret looked up at him. "R-Really...?" he asked.

The sound of Barret's voice breaking like that managed to spark a reaction in her. Cissnei looked up, taking a step towards them as well as Zack nodded, his hand falling off of Barret's shoulder.

"Really," he said.

"But..." began Tifa, glancing at the wreckage again.

Zack glanced at the wreckage. "Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie..."

"They were all in the pillar," finished Cloud.

Zack sighed heavily, nodding once.

"Think I don't know that?" asked Barret. He stepped away from Zack, looking up at the rest of them. "But we...all of us fought together. I don't want to think of them as dead!"

_They are_, responded a small part of Cissnei's mind. _They are and they're not coming back. _

It was only a small part. She was surprised to find that the rest of her agreed with him. She glanced down at her hand, remembering the surveillance equipment in the basement of Seventh Heaven. She and Jessie had worked on that together...

"...and the other people in Sector 7..." said Tifa.

Barret shook his head. "This is all screwed up!" he said. "They just destroyed an entire village to get to us! They killed so many people..."

"...Are you saying this is our fault?" asked Tifa angrily. "Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"

"It's not," said Zack heatedly, turning towards Tifa before Barret could say anything. "It's not our fault. It's Shinra's. They're the ones that did this."

"Yeah..." A voice spoke. She realized with dull surprise that it was her own. Zack turned towards her as she stepped forward, looking up at Cissnei and Barret. "It's Shinra. We did our best to prevent this...but this...is all on them."

"What do we do now?" asked Cloud, looking up.

"First things first..." said Cissnei, glancing over at Barret. "...We should probably find Marlene. And then...come up with another plan." She looked over at Zack, who was watching her intently. He didn't say anything, but he nodded once, turning back towards Barret.

"Marlene," said Barret, turning towards Zack. "You said Aerith took her somewhere safe. D'you know where?"

"I've got a pretty good hunch," said Zack.

"Then we'll head over there," said Barret. He looked around at them, as if realizing for the first time how beat up they all were. Zack was only slightly wounded, but Tifa's wounds were still bleeding, and Cloud was bloodied and bruised as well. Cissnei's entire body felt like one big bruise. "...But let's take ten to heal up first. After that, Zack'll lead the way."

Zack stretched, raising his arms over his head. "Got it," he said. A tired, almost guilty smile appeared on his face, and he shook is head, slipping his hands into his pocket and looking down at the ground. "But man...I've gotta admit, I'm not looking forward to facing _her _right now."

Cissnei didn't ask him what he meant. She didn't need to. She had a fairly good idea where Aerith had taken Marlene as well.

And as an ex-Turk, she wasn't looking forward to facing Elmyra Gainsborough much either.

XxXxX

The playground was eerily quiet in the wake of the plate's destruction. There were no sounds coming out of Sector 7, not anymore, and the inhabitants of Sector 6 seemed content to stay well away from the entrance. There was a strong undercurrent of fear coming from the place. Cissnei wondered if they thought they could be next.

She sat with her back against the railing of the slides, her legs crossed. An aura of green light surrounded her, streams of light drifting from wound to wound and repairing skin, muscle and bone. She let it work. Regen took a little longer to take full effect than Cura or Curaga did, but she and Zack were the only ones in the group with any high-leveled Materia left, and she had been perfectly willing to give up her Cure materia to Tifa. Regen worked subconsciously. It left her free to think of other things while the others caught their breath.

She stared at the screen of the phone in front of her.

_**Calling...**_

_**Calling...**_

The sound of boots crunching on gravel made her look up, just as the shaking headset icon on her screen seemed to fall over, defeated.

_**Call failed. **_

She snapped her phone shut, looking up at Zack. He stood in front of her, glancing down at her with a concerned expression on his face. He no longer looked completely enraged, at least. He just looked tired.

She understood. She _felt _tired.

"No answer?" he asked.

Cissnei shook her head mutely, staring down at her phone. "I didn't expect there to be," she admitted, leaning back against the slide. She shifted slightly to the right. Zack took the invitation, turning and sitting next to her. He practically collapsed down, resting his hands lightly on his knees.

"Sephiroth's got this annoying habit of running off and not telling anyone where he's going," he said.

Cissnei snorted softly, nodding once. "That's one way of putting it..." she said. Because it was easier, she tilted her head up, eyeing Barret, Cloud and Tifa, who were standing in a huddle over on the other side of the playground. "What are they talking about?" she asked.

Zack shrugged. "The usual," he said. "Barret wants to take down Shinra. Tifa's not sure they need to go that far. Cloud's...being Cloud."

She forced a small smile onto her face. "He needs to remember who pulled him out of the wasteland," she said.

"Ah, well, can you blame him?" asked Zack. "I'm actually kinda proud of him—he's started taking his own initiative with this AVALANCHE stuff. Before it felt like he was kind of...just following us around."

"Like a little puppy?" asked Cissnei, tilting her head slightly and meeting Zack's eyes.

Zack chuckled once. "More like a little chocobo chick," he said. He looked away from them, looking over Cissnei more critically. "...You going to be alright?" he asked. She was glad he didn't ask her if she was alright now. She wouldn't have had an answer. She considered playing it off as nothing, but the earnest look in Zack's eyes threw her off, and she lowered her head. SOLDIERs were always so honest...

"I'm tired, Zack..." she admitted, hating the way her voice shook. "I'm really...really tired."

"Yeah..." said Zack, looking away from her. "I know what you mean."

She drew her knees up close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on top of them as she watched Barret make some angry gestures, Tifa folding her arms and standing her ground. It was hard to hear what they were saying from here. She was sure she could eavesdrop if she put her mind to it, but she wasn't in the mood to listen anymore.

Beside her, Zack sighed heavily. An arm settled around her shoulders, and she lifted her head slightly in surprise. There was nothing romantic or malicious in the touch—Zack wasn't even really looking at her. But there was warmth in the gesture, and even though a part of her recoiled from the touch, she found herself wanting to accept it. She lowered her head, and when she spoke next, she spoke into her knees.

"...What did they do to us, Zack...?"

"Way too many things."

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about all the other things she had done for the company. She tried not to think of Reno, Tseng, or Rude—of Eira lying on her kitchen floor, of Shion in Kalm, of Zack and Cloud in the wasteland or Sephiroth in the caves, of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, of the orphanage and the training program, or of the plate falling, falling, falling...

The hand that was on her far shoulder tightened briefly, and Cissnei realized only then that she had started shaking again.

At length, Zack spoke, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance.

"...I'm...going to save Aerith," he said. That was it. He didn't say it angrily, or sadly, or determinedly. He simply stated it, as if it were an undeniable fact.

And she believed him. She believed him even though everything else he had tried to do—save Angeal, save Genesis, defeat Genesis, save Nibelheim, save Sector 7—he had failed. She believed it because Zack believed it, and Zack had the amazing ability to make other people believe in things.

She took a deep breath, nodding once. "I know...I'll help you."

"And after that..." said Zack, looking over at her. "...We'll get Sephiroth back. And we'll...end this. For all of us."

She nodded mutely. It was all she could do. Zack paused for a moment, before squeezing her shoulder one last time. He let go, patting it once before withdrawing his arm and getting to his feet. She watched him go, his Buster Sword hanging from his back as he walked back over to the group. He placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder, and Cissnei saw him say something to the younger man. He ruffled Cloud's hair playfully, slinging an arm around his shoulder and looking up at Cissnei.

Zack tilted his head towards the group, offering her a small smile.

Cissnei found herself smiling back. She shook her head at Zack's antics, getting to her feet.

"End this...huh?" she muttered under her breath, considering the thought as she placed one hand on her shuriken.

..._For all of us. _

She could live with that.

**END FILE**


	25. File 009: Rescue pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **There's a new one shot up that's set in the Another Side universe. It's called **Roles** and it's a little bit of introspection about Seph, Cissnei, and Zack's roles in the party. Go read it and review please.

**JazzQueen, **when you think about it, this whole thing wouldn't have happened without Hojo. But then again, if Hojo hadn't made Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal would still have existed, because the person who started the Jenova research was actually Gast (Aerith's father), and both Hojo and Hollander built off his work. Hmm...I wonder how that would have ended.

**Irish-Brigid, **yep someone needs to take Barret's gunarm away sometimes. But he shot at the wreckage in the game, so...yeah.

**Gohan Roxas, **so glad you like it! Wanting to keep Sane!Sephy and Non-Emo!Cloud was part of the reason why I started this story in the first place.

**Riku Uzumaki, **oh yeah, definitely. But well, if there's anything that would shake her out of it, it would be this.

XxXxX

**File 009: Rescue**

The group walked through Sector 6 in silence. Zack, leading the way, thought that now that tempers had cooled somewhat, the reality of the situation had finally dawned on everyone. Sector 7, an entire eighth of the city, a village full of people who lived and worked everyday, was just...gone. It was almost too much for him to accept too, and he had been a SOLDIER. But he did what he always did in these situations. He found a way to press on.

Right now, he needed to save Aerith. He needed to set at least one thing right.

Zack paused, glancing at the man who walked beside him. Cloud led the way with him, already knowing where they were going. He hadn't said a word since they left the playground, his blue eyes focused firmly on the ground. Zack worried for his friend. Cloud, he knew, had fought in the Wutai War, but had joined Shinra late enough in the game that he had only been around for the last few skirmishes. Zack had fought in the thick of it, so he had seen scenes of mass destruction before. This was probably the first large scale attack that Cloud had seen, however.

"You alright there, Cloud?" asked Zack.

"What?" asked Cloud, looking up in surprise. "Um...yeah, I'm f—." He trailed off, stopping himself from saying _fine _and looking away again. Zack sighed, understanding, and patted Cloud's shoulder encouragingly.

"Hang in there," he said, walking ahead of Cloud and towards the entrance to Sector 5.

"Zack," said Cloud, stopping him. Zack looked back, a questioning frown on his face. Cloud hesitated for a moment, before raising his head and looking Zack in the eye.

"I'm sorry about Aerith," he said. "I...It's my fault. I got her involved in this, and I couldn't protect her."

Zack blinked at Cloud. The other man trailed off after his apology, looking away. At length, Zack sighed, reaching out and patting Cloud on the back. "No worries," he said. "You did what you had to do. Besides." He smiled slightly. "I saw the tape. You couldn't have stopped her if you wanted to."

He walked off, leaving Cloud standing there stupefied for a moment. Cloud blinked, staring after Zack, before his eyes widened slightly and he shook his head, jogging to catch up.

"Tape?" he asked. "_What tape_?"

Zack's response was to flash Cloud a mischievous smile that didn't reach his eyes. He turned away, continuing to walk forward toward their destination.

A house stood ahead of him, surrounded by flowers. The scent of them alone was enough to bring back a rush of memories, and a wave of fresh guilt. Zack took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he would find on the other side. He felt a hand on his arm, and looked down to see Cissnei standing there, a look of understanding on her face. He met her eyes, nodding once.

She nodded back, and Zack stepped forward, opening the door.

XxXxX

What he found was not entirely what he had been expecting. Elmyra Gainsborough stood in the kitchen, her back towards him. As she turned, her eyes met his, widening slightly in recognition. There was anger in those eyes, but more than that, there was disappointment. Zack paused, staring at her.

She knew.

"So it's true," said Elmyra, her tone level. "You really are back."

"Mm," he said, nodding once. The others took their places around him, Cloud and Cissnei standing at his side. Elmyra eyed the assembled group for a moment, before looking back at Zack.

"This is about Aerith, isn't it?" she asked.

"Sorry," said Zack, lowering his head. "I couldn't save her. Shinra has her."

"It's my fault too," said Cloud, causing Zack to turn towards him in surprise. The younger man had bowed his head as well. He wasn't looking Elmyra in the eye. "I shouldn't have left her alone."

Elmyra stared at the both of them for a moment, before folding her arms and walking away. She looked like she was having a hard time keeping her voice level. Zack wasn't sure whether she was trying to avoid shouting at them, or trying to avoid breaking down. "I already know about that," she said. "They took her from here."

Zack's eyes widened. He hadn't known about that part. "From _here_?" he asked.

"That's what Aerith wanted..." said Elmyra. Taking a deep breath.

"Why is Shinra after Aerith?" asked Cloud.

"Aerith is an Ancient," said Cissnei, speaking up before Elmyra could. She folded her arms, looking down at the ground. "The last one. We—The company has been observing her for a very long time."

Elmyra looked up at Cissnei, renewed suspicion in her eyes. "And you are?" she asked.

Cissnei didn't answer for a long moment. "...I'm Cissnei," she finally said. She hesitated. "I...used to work under Tseng."

The implication went unspoken. Elmyra understood it anyway. Before she could comment on that, Barret stepped forward. "How can Aerith be an Ancient?" he asked. "Aren't you her mother?"

Elmyra shook her head. "Not her real mother," she said. She stared at Cissnei for a moment more, before drawing her eyes away. "It must have been about fifteen years ago during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some faraway place called Wutai." Elmyra took a seat at the table, clasping her hands together in her lap. The others clustered around her, listening intently. Zack listened as well. It occurred to him that he didn't know anything about Aerith's past or her family. When she would speak of her mother, it would always be of something happening in the present time.

"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave." She took a deep breath, clasping her hands together tighter. "My husband never came back. I wondered if something happened to him, but at the time, I thought his leave had just been canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day...I arrived at the station to see a woman lying there. Just...lying there. She was injured and dying, and there was this little girl sitting there, crying over her, calling for her."

"...Aerith?" asked Zack, his expression solemn.

Elmyra nodded once. "Mm. You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were 'Please take Aerith somewhere safe'. My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me." A wistful smile appeared on her face, and she shook her head. "Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything. She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely...and many other things."

"Returned to the planet?" asked Barret.

"I didn't know what she meant," said Elmyra. "I asked if she meant a star in the sky. But she said it was this planet. She was a mysterious child in many ways. A few years later, Aerith came downstairs, looking worried. She asked me not to cry. When I asked her if something happened, she said someone dear to me had just died. He said his spirit was coming to see me...but that he had also returned to the planet." She paused for a moment, a slightly guilty, slightly sad smile coming to her face. "At the time, I didn't believe her. But several days later, we received a notice saying my husband died, and that's how it was."

"A lot happened," said Elmyra. "But we were happy. Until one day..." She looked up, her eyes fixing on Cissnei from across the room. They hardened. "...Tseng came."

"Tseng?" asked Zack.

Elmyra nodded, looking back at him. Cissnei looked away guiltily, rubbing at her arm. "Tseng wanted me to 'return Aerith to them'," said Elmyra.

"He'd been searching for her for a while," said Cissnei, interrupting the story. She looked up. "The labs Aerith and her mother escaped from were the Shinra laboratories. Tseng was the one assigned to surveillance duty. We...would all help out once in a while, when Tseng was on another assignment, but we could tell, you know." She shrugged, her eyes becoming far off. "Tseng would never say as much, but we could tell that this was always a little more than an assignment to him. The fact that he captured her today means things have probably gotten so bad that he felt he had no other choice."

Elmyra stared at Cissnei for a long moment, as though she was trying to decide whether she believed her or not. Zack sighed, shaking his head. He couldn't get the image of Tseng striking Aerith out of his mind. He thought it would be burned there forever, along with the image of the plate falling. Another conversation was ringing through his head, from a time long ago that didn't really seem so long ago to him.

"_Don't worry about Aerith. Protecting the subject is part of surveillance duty..." _

"_You're the only one I can depend on." A laugh. "H-Hey! Why are you laughing? I'm counting on you..." _

_Were you just lying then...Tseng? _The image again, of Tseng in the helicopter striking Aerith, pushing her back. Zack's eyes darkened.

_...Or are you lying now? _

He clenched his fist, looking up at Cissnei again.

"Regardless of his reasons, I can't forgive him for taking Aerith away," said Elmyra coldly. Zack lowered his eyes to the ground, remembering the broken box of letters. He couldn't blame Elmyra. Despite everything, he didn't think he could forgive Tseng either. Not for this. But...

"But why now?" asked Tifa. She looked between Cissnei and Elmyra. "If the Turks have been watching Aerith for so long...why did they wait until now to capture her?"

Cissnei looked down, shaking her head to show that she had no idea. In response, Tifa turned towards Elmyra, who was now looking away as well. "She brought a little girl here with him," she said. "On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"...Must be Marlene," said Cloud.

"Marlene?" asked Barret. "Aerith was caught because of Marlene?"

He imagined Tseng approaching Aerith as she and Marlene were fleeing Sector 7. He imagined Aerith putting Marlene behind her protectively, stepping between the two of them and facing Tseng on her own. He imagined Tseng coming up with the deal and Aerith taking it. He could picture it clearly. She had always been the type of person to put everyone else before herself.

"That sounds like Aerith..." he said.

Barret bowed his head, coming to stand in front of Elmyra. "I'm sorry," he said, sounding genuinely remorseful. "Marlene's my daughter. I'm...really...sorry."

Elmyra stared at Barret. "You're her _father?"_ she asked angrily. "How in the world could you leave a child alone like that?"

Barret shook his head. "Please don't start with that," he said. "I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene if I..." He trailed off. "But you gotta understand somethin'!" he said. "I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene. But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't the planet's gonna die. So I gotta keep fightin'! But I'm worried about Marlene. I really just wanna be with her...always."

_I want to be with her...but I have to fight. _Zack snorted, feeling a sad smile come to his face. He understood the sentiment.

"See..." said Barret, shaking his head again. "...I'm going in circles now."

"I think I understand what you're saying," said Elmyra. "She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go and see her?"

Barret nodded, making his way over to the stairs. Zack watched him go, then looked up to find Elmyra staring at him now. He turned towards her, uncrossing his arms and waiting for her to speak.

"...Before Aerith left with Tseng, she said something," she said. "She said 'Zack promised to come back for me, so don't worry'. You promised her so many things."

"I know. I did." There were too many of those promises, hanging in the air between him and Aerith. A promise to sell flowers under the open sky, a promise to call after the mission, a promise to return. He looked up, meeting Elmyra's eyes. "I haven't been the best at keeping my promises," he said. "I'm sorry..."

"...It's not me you should be apologizing to," replied Elmyra. She sighed. "...When you left, you hurt her. Aerith was...very sad. She kept saying she knew you were alive, but she couldn't reach you. I never want to see my daughter like that again. A year ago, she told me she was moving on. But I don't think she ever really did."

Zack shook his head, feeling a knot form in his throat at the thought of Aerith waiting for four years alone. "I never meant to stay away for so long," he said. "I—."

Elmyra cut him off, shaking her head and looking away. "That's a story you need to tell Aerith," she said. "I don't need to hear it."

Zack hesitated, but he nodded once, taking a step back. "I will." He looked around at the others, but Cloud, Tifa, and Cissnei were all standing around, looking as though they were trying to understand what they had just heard. He shook his head, looking away.

"I'm...gonna go check on Barret and Marlene," he said, walking over to the stairs. Cloud looked up.

"I'll...come with you," he said.

Zack let him, figuring that he was trying to escape from the tense situation as well. He glanced across the room at Cissnei, but the young ex-Turk shook her head. "I have something to say to Mrs. Gainsborough..." she said. Zack nodded once, grabbing Cloud by the wrist.

"Come on," he said, leading him up the stairs.

The door to Aerith's room was slightly ajar. Cloud pushed it open, revealing Barret standing inside, hugging Marlene close to himself. Zack leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he watched the happy reunion. Cloud took a few steps forward, standing there as though he didn't know what to do with himself.

"I'm so glad," Barret was saying. "I'm so glad you're alright..."

Marlene squirmed in protest as Barret hugged her, trying to push him away. "Daddy, don't cry!" she said. "Your whiskers hurt!"

Zack stepped away from the doorframe, placing his hand on the door. As Cloud looked up at him, he pulled away, inclining his head towards the stairs. Cloud nodded once, walking out of the room as Zack moved to close the door behind him.

"Zack!" called Barret, causing the two of them to stop. Zack looked over his shoulder at the other man.

"You gonna go help Aerith, right?" he asked. "She's done so much for me. If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin' too!"

Zack folded his arms, meeting Barret's eyes. Before he could say anything, Marlene ran out from behind her father, running up to Zack. "Guess what? Guess what?" she said. "Aerith was asking me tons of questions! Like what kind of person Zack is, and how Zack's doing, and stuff. I bet she likes you, Zack!"

Zack smiled in spite of himself, leaning down and grinning at Marlene. "Oh really?" he asked. "Does she now?"

"Mm!" said Marlene excitedly. She turned towards Cloud, clasping her hands behind her back. "She was asking about Cloud too!"

Cloud blinked in surprise, looking up and pointing at himself. "Who?" he asked. "Me?"

"Yep!" said Marlene. "So..." She looked back at Zack, seeming embarrassed. "...Um...I really like Aerith. So...are you gonna help her?"

Marlene met Zack's eyes, biting her lip. She looked like she was embarrassed for asking. Remembering how shy Marlene had been when he met her, he realized that she probably was. He crouched down so that he was at her level, reaching out a hand and ruffling Marlene's hair affectionately.

"You betcha, kiddo," he said. He straightened up.

"Really?" asked Marlene.

"Really."

"You're gonna get her back from the bad guys?"

"Yep," he said.

A wide grin spread on Marlene's face. "Good!" she said. "'Cause that's what I said to Miss Elmyra! I told her not to cry because Zack's really strong, and he's gonna come in and beat up the suit man for her!"

Zack grinned, looking over at Marlene. "The suit man won't know what hit him."

"What about you, Cloud?" asked Marlene, turning towards Cloud.

Cloud looked up at Zack. Zack turned towards him, holding out a hand. "Well Cloud?" he asked. "You in, buddy?"

Cloud stared at Zack's hand for a moment, before he smiled as well, grabbing onto Zack's arm. "Of course."

"Then that's settled," said Zack, looking over at Marlene. "Listen," he said. "Me, and Cloud, and your dad, and Tifa, and Cissnei are all gonna go help Aerith."

"Seph too?" asked Marlene, giving Zack a serious look as she rested her hands on her waist. Zack nearly laughed.

"Yes," he said. "Probably Seph too. But you gotta promise me something."

"What?"

"You be good for Miss Elmyra."

"Is that _all_?" asked Marlene, staring up at Zack.

"Yep, that's all. But you gotta _promise_."

"I promise," said Marlene, grinning.

"Good girl," said Zack. He straightened up, looking over at Cloud. Cloud nodded once, understanding. He looked back over at Barret. "We'll be downstairs when you're ready," he said. "Take as much time as you need."

Barret nodded. "Mm," he said solemnly.

Zack placed a hand on Cloud's back, pushing him out the door. He leaned over, shutting the door to the room behind him.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	26. File 009: Rescue pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: Tayashia **and **findthetiger129, **glad you liked Zack's characterization. Yep, he's great with kids, considering there's a part of him that's pretty much a big kid himself. XD

**ryuukoshi, **I think that'll be Cissnei's little secret for now, but we can imagine that it had to do with apologizing for the whole 'spying on your daughter and stealing her away' bit.

**Riku Uzumaki, **well, she's four, and Tseng does seem to fit into the suit well, right? ^^

**JazzQueen, **hmm, we'll see~

**Irish-Brigid, **yep. That's one thing this story didn't change, Cloud's self-esteem issues. They're still quite real, because they didn't come about because of Zack's death—they were already there.

XxXxX

**File 009: Rescue**

Cloud followed Zack down the stairs, taking note of the solemn air that filled the entire room. Cissnei, Elmyra and Tifa were standing there, facing each other. He had no idea what Cissnei had stayed to talk to Aerith's mother about, but he could guess. The moment Elmyra turned to look up at him, he lowered his eyes, slipping his hands into his pockets and avoiding her gaze. He couldn't stand to look at her. The fact of the matter was, she had asked him to leave last night and he hadn't, and he had been the one that had let Aerith go off on her own after Marlene.

"All done?" he heard Cissnei ask, turning towards Zack.

"Yeah," said Zack. "Barret'll be out in a minute."

"Let's head outside," said Cissnei. "We need to come up with a plan."

"Mm," said Zack, nodding once. Cloud followed him towards the door, stopping in confusion when he paused and looked over his shoulder at Elmyra. "Ma'am..." he said.

"What is it?" asked Elmyra, looking up at him.

"I've got a feeling that Midgar's about to get even worse," he said. "You should go somewhere safe."

Cloud looked up in surprise, watching Zack and Elmyra. The older woman stared at Zack, her expression conflicted. He envied Zack for the ability to look Elmyra in the eye. He knew that his friend had to be feeling about as guilty as he was, if not guiltier. After a while, she nodded once.

"You're right," she said. "But promise me that you'll come back for her. Don't get yourself killed."

Zack grinned. "You got it," he said. "Leave it to me."

He turned, ushering Cloud towards the door. Cloud went ahead of him, and had just stepped outside when Elmyra spoke again.

"Zack."

Zack paused, looking up. Cloud looked over his shoulder as well, turning toward the older woman. Elmyra watched Zack with the same suspicion from earlier, but with a new element on her face. Reluctant trust.

"I'm _counting _on you."

Zack's expression grew serious as well, and he nodded. "I know. This time, I won't let you down." He turned, pushing lightly on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud took the hint, stepping outside and into the afternoon sunlight. He shielded his eyes on impulse, coming to stand next to Tifa as Zack shut the door behind him. It was hard to believe that it was only afternoon. This whole day had been...insane, to say the least. He was tired. But...

He glanced over at his best friend and mentor, taking note of the determined look on Zack's face. Cloud clenched his fist, standing up a little straighter. Zack was right. They had to go save Aerith. This day wasn't over yet.

Zack placed a hand on his neck as the door closed, letting out a tired sigh. "So," he said, "That's that, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Cissnei. She folded her arms, looking up at the group of them. "Alright, here's what's happening," she said. "We are going to go infiltrate the Shinra Building. Our objective is to get Aerith and leave Midgar. I'm not going to sugar coat things. The odds are ridiculously stacked against us. I can't guarantee that any of us who goes into that building will survive, and once you go in there, there's no turning back. Who's in?"

"I am," said Zack without hesitating. No one looked surprised. The dark-haired SOLDIER glanced back at the house behind him, turning back to her. "And so's Barret," he said.

Cloud took a deep beath, looking up at his friend. He turned towards Cissnei. "...I'm in," he said.

"And obviously, I'm in," said Cissnei. She looked across the group. "...Tifa?"

Tifa looked up at Cissnei. She nodded once. "Of course," she said. "I'm in."

Cissnei frowned at her. "Think about this carefully, Tifa. Right now, you could walk away. Once you enter the Shinra Building, you can't go back. Living as a fugitive isn't easy. I don't want you to have any regrets."

Cloud glanced at Tifa as Cissnei finished talking, frowning at her. Cissnei had a point. Once they entered that building, it was all but impossible that they would get out without being noticed. He didn't want to drag Tifa further into this, so a part of him hoped that she would choose to stay behind. But if she chose to stay behind, could he really just _not _stay with her after the promise he had made? Tifa stared down at the ground her expression becoming serious as she considered all that Cissnei was saying.

She looked up. "I can't walk away," she said. "Not from this, and not anymore. I want to help Aerith too."

"Alright, then it's settled," said Cissnei. "If we're going, we should be as prepared as we can. Let's wait for Barret, and then head over to Wall Market and armor up."

XxXxX

"How do these feel?" asked Cissnei, handing Tifa a pair of dark gloves.

Their knuckles were studded with metal, making it so that they would pack a harder punch. Tifa slipped them on over her hands, then executed a series of three punches and kicks. Zack watched appraisingly as she pivoted on one foot, kicking out at the air before straightening up and punching at an imaginary opponent's gut. The sight reminded him that he did not want to get caught in one of Tifa's punches, mako enhancements or not. She'd certainly come a long way from the young guide at Nibelheim.

She straightened up, bouncing once before coming to a rest and tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "They feel good," she said. "A little heavier than I'm used to, but good.

"Heavier's good, in your case," said Cissnei. "It packs a bigger punch."

Zack noticed Cloud watching her with a somewhat worried expression on his face. He walked up to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She will be _fine_," he said reassuringly. "I mean you saw that. She could probably kick _your _butt."

Cloud shot him a look. "Thanks, Zack," he said dryly, placing his hand over Zack's and pushing it off his shoulder. He walked forward, going to talk to Tifa about something as Cissnei turned away with a small smile, inspecting the shop's ammunition offerings. Although she mostly dealt with her shuriken, Zack knew she probably had a sidearm or two and maybe a knife on her for emergencies. Paranoia was a wonderful thing.

She caught his eye as he walked over to her, looking up at him.

"Not interested in a new weapon?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No," she said. "Rekka's always been enough for me, as far as main weapons go." She looked over at Zack, her smile growing slightly as her eyes moved over his back. "What about you?" she asked. "Switching it up?"

Zack frowned, reaching up with his left hand. It closed over the light metal staff across his back, underneath the Buster Sword. It was made of mythril, so it was light but strong, and damn near unbreakable—a good, solid striking weapon in the right hands. He had tested it, and it was balanced enough. "It's not for me," he said, releasing it. He shot Cissnei a smile. "Didn't think Aerith should miss out on the party just because she got captured. It didn't seem fair."

"Good call," said Cissnei. "Tseng probably confiscated her staff."

"I figured," said Zack. He turned, leaning his back against the counter so that he could see Cloud, Tifa, and Barret as he watched Cissnei. "Any word?"

Cissnei frowned, placing one hand over the pocket where she kept her PHS. She didn't ask him what he was talking about. "None."

"Dammit," swore Zack. "What is he _doing_?"

She shrugged, probably because she had no idea either. Zack watched as she pulled away from the counter, carrying two cartridges with her and three battery packs and going up to the window. He looked over at the other three, who were now watching them expectantly. Zack folded his arms, waiting for Cissnei to return. She did, the package of batteries tucked under her arm.

"Batteries?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you'll see," she said. She looked over at the others. "Ready to go?"

The other three nodded in assent, and the five of them left the shop. "I still don't get how we're s'posed to get up there in the first place," said Barret once they were outside. "There ain't no more trains runnin'."

"I've got a plan," said Cissnei.

Barret's brows rose. "Oh, you do?"

She nodded. "I started wondering about it after our first mission," she said. "The Sector 1 Reactor? So much of that was built on us being able to infiltrate the train system, so I started to wonder what we could do to get up to the plate in the event that Shinra shut down the trains."

"And what did you find?" asked Zack.

"I found this," said Cissnei, coming to a stop in front of a wall. It had been painted with angry red graffiti, spelling out a word that was a little too faded to read. A single large cable rose up alongside the wall, heading up into the plate. Zack followed it with his eyes, craning his neck. It continued to rise as far as the eye could see, to a height that was almost dizzying.

Cissnei dug into her pack, pulling out several clips and cables. Zack shot her a look.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he said.

"Afraid of a little heights?" asked Cissnei, shooting him a teasing smile.

"No," said Zack, studying the distance again. "But..."

"But?"

_But me and Cloud are probably the only ones that can survive that fall..._he thought. He didn't say it, because she had probably already figured that out. Instead, he sighed, holding out his hand and accepting the meager safety equipment that she gave him.

"We're climbing _that_?" asked Tifa, studying the height as well.

"Awright!" said Barret, grabbing his own clip from Cissnei. "Good job, Cissnei! Let's get goin'!"

Cloud shook his head, his eyes wide. "There's no way we can do this," he said. "Do you know how far it goes up?"

"There _is _a way!" said Barret, pointing at the wire. "Look! What's that look like?"

Cloud frowned, glancing uncertainly at it. "A...wire...?" he asked.

"Oh yeah?" asked Barret. "Well to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope."

"You're right," said Tifa. "This is the only way to save Aerith..." She took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing in determination as she took one of the clips from Cissnei as well and began to fasten it to her belt. Cloud turned towards her.

"Tifa..." he began.

"It'll be easier once we get up into the plate," said Cissnei. "From there, we'll be in the machinery, so the climb will be less steep." She walked over handing the last clip to Cloud. Her own was already fastened. "Come on," she said. "Put those mako enhancements to good use."

Cloud sighed, taking the clip from her. "Alright," he said. "Alright, I'll do it." He walked over to the wire, taking a deep breath and placing his hands on it.

"Zack leads," said Cissnei, interrupting him.

Zack blinked, pointing at himself. "Me?" he asked.

"I don't have a way to attach us to the wall," said Cissnei, pulling the wire out of her pack and uncoiling it. She threaded it through her clip, passing it to Zack. "Just to each other. You're our best bet at being able to carry whoever falls."

Zack frowned, taking the leading end of the wire from her. He threaded it through his own gear. "Cloud's mako enhanced too, you know," he said once he was done.

"I know," said Cissnei. She looked up, smiling at Cloud. "I want him to bring up the rear."

XxXxX

Sector 8 was just as he remembered it, minus the gaping hole where Sector 7 used to be.

The five of them gathered in an alley just in sight of the Shinra Building. Zack and Cissnei stood on opposite sides of the alley's mouth, their backs to the wall. It was nighttime now, but the building was still bustling with activity, several helicopters circling the top of the structure. Zack snorted as he saw that, folding his arms.

No surprise. It had, after all, been a busy day.

He rubbed at his shoulder, shaking it out from the long climb as he looked back over at Cloud, Tifa and Barret. The five of them moved deeper into the alley, Cissnei bringing up the rear.

"You three ought to know this building well," said Barret, turning towards Cloud, Zack, and Cissnei.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably, looking down and shaking his head. "Not really, come to think of it," he said. "I wasn't at headquarters a whole lot."

"I know the SOLDIER floors like the back of my hand, but I'm not too familiar with the others," said Zack.

"Every floor above the 60th is special, and not easy to get into even for employees," said Cissnei. "Aerith is probably in one of those floors. It's after hours, so security will be fairly light in the lower floors of the building, but considering what just happened, the higher floors should still be very secure. We're going to need special key cards to get up past floor 59." She glanced down at the ground. "...Considering what happened on the plate, it's a safe bet that my identification codes no longer work. We're going to have to steal keycards from other employees. Unfortunately, I'm not too sure where they've taken Aerith. She could be anywhere from floors 60 to 70."

A rush of wind sounded from the back of the alley, accompanied by the rustle of feathers and the soft thud of boots striking the ground. "They've taken her to Floor 68," said a smooth voice.

Zack looked up sharply at the sound of it, his eyes widening. The others turned around as well, facing the voice.

Sephiroth stepped out towards them, a handful of scattered black feathers at his feet. He pulled his outstretched wing close to himself, and as Zack watched, it seemed to shrink, folding into his back and leaving no trace except for the feathers on the ground beneath him. He walked past them, coming to stand at the head of the group and looking up at the Shinra Building. Cissnei took a step back as he moved past her, watching him go.

He was holding his PHS in his hand, the screen shining faintly in the dark of the alley.

"...Sephiroth?" asked Zack, staring at him in surprise.

"Floor 68?" asked Cloud.

"The Science Department floor," said Sephiroth. "The Deepground SOLDIERs were waiting on the helipad. There were four of them. I was unable to enter the building."

There was something strange about him as he told the story, an odd look in his eye. On the outside, he was as calm and composed as usual, but there was something wrong. Zack wasn't quite sure what it was, but the look in Sephiroth's eye...

...It reminded him too much of Nibelheim. The thought sent an involuntary chill down Zack's spine.

"...Seph..." said Zack, taking a step towards him. "Is everything okay?" He held out a hand, about to put it on his friend's arm. Sephiroth stepped neatly to the side, and Zack's hand touched empty air where the other SOLDIER had been.

"We should go," he said, his eyes narrowing as he looked over at Zack. "Hojo has her."

Hojo.

Zack stared at Sephiroth for a moment, before nodding once, his hand going up to grip the hilt of his Buster Sword.

"Mm."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	27. File 009: Rescue pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This chapter was a little hard to write because I didn't want to get caught up in the minigames and the floors but I also didn't want to skip too much. So sorry if it wound up being a little odd.

On a side note, I had a shameless "squee" moment when I realized that Sting and Rogue from Fairy Tail are voiced by Cloud and Zack respectively, and Zack's seiyuu sings the ending song for Code:Breaker (White Crow/Shiroi Karasu). Seriously, go look that song up, it's AWESOME. I'm thinking of using it as background music for this story considering the first line says "Someday you will know where the white crow flies."

Thanks so much to **ryuukoshi, Irish-Brigid, JazzQueen, CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, KHGiggle, **and **Riku Uzumaki **for reviewing! Yes, bad things happen when Hojo is involved, and well...you'll have to see about Sephy~ Thanks for your support!

XxXxX

**File 009: Rescue**

Cissnei twisted around as they ran for the elevator, Rekka flying from her hand and soaring diagonally ahead of her. It struck one of the guards that was shooting at them, ricocheting off him and striking his partner as well before doubling back towards her. She reached out a hand, catching it quickly as she jumped into the air. The ex-Turk slid forward the last few feet, barely making it through the elevator doors before they closed behind her. The elevator hummed, slowly beginning to rise.

Tifa reached out a hand and Cissnei took it, letting the other woman help her to her feet. She took several deep breaths, slowly loosening her hold on the shuriken as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Remind me again," she said between breaths as she looked out over the men in their party. "...why we didn't sneak in through the back."

Cloud gave her a sheepish shrug, looking down at the ground as Zack shot her a guilty grin, scratching the back of his head. Sephiroth said nothing, his arms folded as he looked out at her, his green eyes cool. Barret scowled, but looked away from her as well, pretending to be busy checking his gun arm.

"Well?"

Zack looked up at her. "We took a vote?"

"This seemed like the most efficient use of our time," said Sephiroth.

"Security was pretty light, so..." Cloud trailed off uncertainly, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Real men ain't afraid of no guards!" declared Barret.

Cissnei sighed, taking a step back as the elevator came to a stop, alarms blaring. Instantly, Cloud, Sephiroth and Zack reached for swords, Tifa taking on a fighting stance and Barret raising his gun arm. She gripped Rekka tightly in her hand, drawing it in front of her as her eyes fixed on the door.

"Men..." she muttered under her breath, preparing herself for the battle.

From beside her, Tifa 'hmm'ed in agreement, rolling her eyes.

The elevator doors opened to gunfire. Sephiroth and Zack moved quickly, interposing themselves between the party and the shooters. Zack raised his Buster Sword up as a shield, Sephiroth swinging the Masamune in rapid strikes and cutting the bullets straight out of the air. Behind them, Barret hunkered down, returning fire with his gun arm. Cloud held his hands out from behind Sephiroth and Zack, electricity crackling around him. His mako eyes shone brightly as he looked up, a bolt of Thunder rushing outward from him and slamming into one of the armored guards.

Zack and Sephiroth rushed forward after the lightning had cleared, Zack letting out a shout as he slashed at one of the guards. Cissnei heard the hiss of armor giving out and clattering to the ground, and she ran forward, vaulting over Zack's back. She flipped over into the air, swinging Rekka down overhead at one of the unarmored guards. She moved her shuriken quickly to the side as she felt it catch, throwing the guard back and landing crouched on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tifa leap forward, grabbing the guard that was shooting Sephiroth by the head and throwing him down onto the ground with a shout. One of the guards leveled his gun at her, and she whirled around in the air, kicking his gun arm away from herself. Before he could react, Cloud's sword slipped through one of the gaps in his armor from behind, and Cissnei saw him freeze as Tifa stepped forward, getting in a three punch combination to his face.

Sephiroth moved with the same workmanlike speed and efficiency that had gotten them through the other floors. His sword was a streak of light in the air, cutting down the three guards that surrounded him in quick succession. He straightened up as they fell, his coat fluttering back around him as he lowered Masamune to his side in one swift motion. Zack turned, as one of the guards moved to strike him from behind, flipping his Buster Sword over in one hand and striking the guard with the flat of the blade. He crumpled almost instantly.

Cissnei kicked out at one of the guard's ankles as he attempted to approach her, quickly jumping back and straightening up. She threw Rekka at him. The shuriken tumbled over in the air, leaving a long scratch down the front of his armor before bouncing back towards her. She jumped into the air as he raised his gun, catching it in one hand and slashing at the wires that powered his armor. The red armor clattered to the ground, and she wasted no time in grabbing the stunned guard's wrist, whirling towards him and jabbing her hand at his neck. She twisted around, using the momentum from her leap to drop him to the ground.

She heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking uncomfortably close to her ear and lifted her head, staring down at the barrel of another guard's gun. Her eyes widened. A loud blast echoed through the floor, a bright orange fireball streaking past her and slamming into the guard. He fell onto the ground and she looked up, turning back towards the elevator. Barret grinned at her, his gun arm smoking. Tifa ran past her, driving her foot into the unarmored guard's chest as he struggled to get up.

And suddenly it was quiet. Zack spun the Buster Sword over his head as he straightened up, replacing it on its sheath. She saw Sephiroth draw Masamune back so that the flat of the blade nearly touched his chest, sweeping it out in one rapid motion before replacing it on his back as well. Cissnei got to her feet, replacing Rekka at her back and looking around at the others.

"Alright, go team!" said Zack, punching the air. He was grinning.

She had to admit, they had gotten a lot better at working and fighting together. She watched as Cloud took a breath, slashing his sword outwards and replacing it at his back. Tifa stretched, rubbing at sore muscles as she studied the unconscious guards at her feet. Barret shook out his gun arm, coming to join them as well.

"Don't start celebrating yet," she said, walking over to Zack. "We still have eight floors."

"I get it, I get it," said Zack. He looked over his shoulder just as Cloud bent to pick something up, snatching a white identification card off of the ground. "What'cha got there, Cloud?"

"The keycard," said Cloud, holding it up. "To Floor 60."

"Great job," said Cissnei, shooting him a quick smile as Barret, Sephiroth and Tifa came closer. "Let's keep moving."

The other members of the group nodded, and they made their way towards the outside elevator.

XxXxX

Zack let out the breath he was holding as he followed Sephiroth onto Floor 66, the both of them standing against opposite sides of the wall as an employee walked by. It had been a long climb from Floor 60, but compared to the other floors, there had been relatively few fights. He raised his hand to the staff he had gotten for Aerith, still held in place across his back by the magnetic sheath, and closed his hand around it lightly. Two more floors. The fact that they had met so little resistance was a bad sign. He had been in this business long enough to know that it was always the missions that looked like they were going right that ended the worst.

Sephiroth looked up as soon as the hallway was clear, nodding at him. He nodded back, turning and signaling the others. The six of them crept out into the hallway, heading towards the next floor. Zack stared at Sephiroth. He had been acting odd for almost the entire climb. He was still as composed as usual, but Zack couldn't shake the feeling that there was something...off about this situation—something nagging at the back of his mind like a persistent itch. The other First had been quieter than usual since they entered the building, as if he had something on his mind.

Cissnei placed a hand on his arm as they entered a corridor, pulling him back. Zack immediately crouched down in the shadows, motioning for Cloud and the others to do the same. A man in a green suit walked down the corridor, just barely in Zack's vision.

"Heidegger," he heard Cissnei whisper in his ear.

He nodded once, placing one hand on the hilt of the Buster Sword as the Shinra executive passed by. Once the hallway was clear, he, Cissnei, and Sephiroth crept out, Sephiroth motioning for Cloud, Tifa, and Barret to stay hidden. The two of them came to stand against the opposite wall, listening as faint voices echoed from the other side. As soon as the door closed again, the voices were shut out almost completely.

"Executive meeting," said Sephiroth in a low voice.

Zack nodded. It made sense. He would want to have a meeting too, after all of this. He turned towards Cissnei. "Can we listen in?" he asked, keeping his voice to a whisper. Knowing what the company was up to could only help in the long run. Sephiroth glanced at him, as if surprised he had thought of it and Zack rolled his eyes, giving Sephiroth a small grin.

Cissnei thought about it for a moment, before nodding once. She spoke a single word. "Vents."

Zack nodded again to show that he understood, motioning for Cloud and the others to come out. The six of them crept past the room's closed doors, Cissnei leading them to the bathroom on the far side of the floor. They entered, fighting for space in the cramped room as they stood outside the stall.

"We'll have to be quiet," said Cissnei, watching as Cloud stood on the toilet seat and began loosening the grate over the ventilation shaft. "The airconditioning will keep some of the sound out, but keep talking to a minimum."

"Got it," said Zack, watching as Cloud and Tifa climbed into the vent. Cissnei and Barret followed, leaving him and Sephiroth. The other SOLDIER was standing in the corner of the room, holding his head. Zack's brows rose. "You alright, Seph?" he asked.

"Fine," said Sephiroth sharply, lowering his hand. He shook his head. "Just a headache."

He didn't quite buy it, but pushing Sephiroth would be an exercise in futility. "Alright," he said, resting his hands on his waist and jerking his head towards the open vent. "See you up there," he said, walking into the stall. He jumped onto the seat, pulling himself up into the vent easily. Zack shuffled forward a bit on his arms and legs, leaving just enough space for Sephiroth to crawl up and replace the grate behind him.

It was tight quarters. The ventilation shaft was big, but there were still six of them. There was really only enough room for Cloud, Tifa, and Barret to cluster around the grate that let them see down into the meeting room. Cissnei had wedged herself between Tifa and the wall, allowing her to look down as well. Zack settled for scooting as close to the grate as he could. If he lifted his head, he could see a small portion of the room, but that didn't matter. He could hear just fine.

"Geez, that's a lot of suits," muttered Barret.

"It's the entire board of directors," said Cissnei, her voice low. "Shh, they're starting."

"_We have the damage estimates for Sector 7,"_ said a voice. Zack frowned, propping himself up on his elbow so that he could see. He had heard that voice before.

"Reeve Tuesti," supplied Cissnei. "The Director of Urban Development."

"The one who used to send us the construction updates?"

"Shh!"

Zack quieted down, listening closely. Reeve was talking in a slow, deliberate tone, as though he was trying too hard to sound calm. _"Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 billion gil. The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is—." _

"_We're not rebuilding," _said another voice, interrupting him. Zack knew this voice. President Shinra. He scowled.

"_What?" _asked Reeve, sounding surprised.

"_We're leaving Sector 7 as it is," _said the President. _"And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." _

Zack looked across at Cissnei. She raised her head to meet his eyes, the look on her face telling him that she had no idea what he was talking about either. It looked like not even the Turks knew everything.

"_...then..." _said Reeve. _"...the Ancients?" _

Zack tensed. Behind him, Sephiroth had suddenly gone very still.

"_The Promised Land will soon be ours," _said President Shinra. _"I want you to raise the mako rates 15% in every area." _

"_Rate hike! Rate hike!" _shouted another board member cheerfully. He laughed. _"And please include our Space Program in the budget!" _

"Palmer," said Cissnei when he looked up. "Space Program."

"_Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase," _said the President.

"_Oh man..." _said Palmer, sounding disappointed.

"_Sir," _said Reeve. _"If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence." _

"_It'll be alright," _said the President. _"The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence. They'll trust Shinra Inc. even more." _

Another person laughed. Zack assumed it was Heidegger. He had heard that voice before, over announcements on the SOLDIER floor. _"After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" _

Zack's eyes widened, and he clenched his fist. Barret looked up, his expression livid.

"That dirty bitch," he swore.

Zack found he had to agree with him. He grit his teeth. Cloud looked up sharply, his eyes widening in recognition as Zack heard the sound of the door opening.

"_Hojo," _said President Shinra again. _"How's the girl?" _

He looked up sharply, angling himself to get a better view. Sure enough, Hojo was down there. Zack couldn't see him fully, but he could recognize that slouch and that lab coat. _"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%." _

"_How long will the research take?" _

"_Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time." _

Zack sucked in a breath, rushing forward. Sephiroth immediately reached out, grabbing onto his arm and stopping him. Zack turned, about to pull his arm out of Sephiroth's grip when he saw the hatred and rage in the other SOLDIER's eyes. Sephiroth was livid. It reminded him that he wasn't the only one who had a reason to hate Hojo. He glared at Zack, and Zack understood the look on his face.

_There will be another time. _

Zack nodded once, exhaling slowly and forcing himself to listen.

"_What about the Promised Land?" _asked the President. _"Won't it hinder our plans?" _

"_That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong...and yet has her weaknesses. If only we were able to recapture Sephiroth..." _

Sephiroth's grip on Zack's arm tightened painfully as Hojo started laughing, and Zack looked over his shoulder to see Sephiroth with his head bowed, his rage evident on his features. As Zack watched, he slowly took several breaths, loosening his grip and pulling away. Some of the rage faded from his face, but not from his eyes.

"_That concludes our meeting," _said President Shinra.

"If we follow Hojo, we'll find the girl," said Sephiroth softly, his silver hair obscuring his face. He raised his hand to his head for a moment before moving quickly backwards, nearly stumbling out of the vent. Zack glanced back at the others, before quickly following.

He slid out of the air vent after Sephiroth, landing neatly on the tiled floor next to the toilet. Zack followed the silver-haired First out of the room, listening as the others began to jump down from the vent as well. Sephiroth walked a few feet ahead of him, his hands at his sides.

He staggered forward suddenly, taking two steps before placing one hand on his head and doubling over. Zack's eyes widened and he quickly rushed forward, placing one hand on Sephiroth's shoulder and the other on his back. Sephiroth's face was even paler than normal. He was breathing heavily, his expression pained and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Seph?" asked Zack, alarmed. He shook Sephiroth slightly. "_Seph!" _

Sephiroth hissed in pain, shoving Zack away from him with both hands. He stumbled forward again, placing one hand on the wall and leaning on his arm. Sephiroth took several deep breaths with his eyes closed, before straightening up. He paused for a few moments, before slowly opening his eyes.

"...Sephiroth?" asked Zack.

Sephiroth shook his head, turning away from Zack. "I'm fine," he said. "We need to keep moving."

He turned away, heading down the hallway after Hojo. Zack stared at him, his frown deepening.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	28. File 009: Rescue pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I've been so looking forward to writing this chapter, as well as the events of the file that follows it. Hope you guys enjoy, and please don't forget to review! Thanks for the support!

**Irish-Brigid, **well he's Sephiroth. He's not used to getting help from people. Although yes, he's obviously not fine and they really should keep him away from that room? Will they? Probably not.

**JazzQueen, **yep Sephiroth and Jenova don't mix too well. Hope you like how I handled the scene though!

**Riku Uzumaki, **oh yes~

XxXxX

**File 009: Rescue**

Sephiroth walked steadily ahead of Zack, placing his hand on the railing of the stairs to keep himself outright. His head was pounding, had been ever since had heard Hojo's voice. Hojo—_pain, Nibelheim, monsters, basement, files, mako tanks—_He sucked in a breath, nearly missing his next step. Sephiroth managed to make it look as though he was steady, turning around and watching as Zack, Cissnei, Cloud and the others made their way up the steps. He couldn't—he had to press on. They were close, so very close—

How could Hojo ever stand against him anyway? How could any of them stand against him? He was a _god, _chosen by the Planet—

"Sephiroth."

Zack's hand landed on his shoulder, ever insistent, and Sephiroth was suddenly torn between turning around and shoving away or letting out a mad laugh. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to think beyond the pain in his head as he looked up at Zack. Zack's expression was serious, as though he wouldn't take no for an answer—_and who is he to make demands of me—_

"Maybe you should sit this one out."

He shook his head, inhaling sharply and forcing himself to think straight. _You were not chosen to be anything but a monster, _he told himself firmly, his own voice cutting through the chaos in his mind. The world cleared, if only for a moment. He shook his head, stepping away from Zack.

"_Sephiroth!" _shouted Zack insistently.

"Zack!"

The voice came from Cissnei. Sephiroth turned his head slightly to see her standing slightly in front of Zack, her shoulder pressed against his chest as she attempted to stop the former SOLDIER from charging forward. Cloud stood behind them, a concerned frown on his face as Tifa and Barret let on. Cissnei looked up, her eyes meeting his. "...Sephiroth, maybe you should listen to him," she said. He met her eyes. She was worried.

He shook his head, gathering his frayed thoughts around him like his coat. "I will rest when we're done."

She looked up at him, her expression hesitant. At length, she sighed.

"Fine," she said, stepping away from Zack. He straightened up, giving her a confused look. "But I'll take the lead."

He frowned down at her as she walked over to him, before smoothly stepping aside. "All yours," he said, making his way towards the back of the group. Cloud shot him a worried glance as he passed. He suffered it, barely. He could feel another wave of irrational anger rush through him at the ex-infantryman's gaze. _Had he fallen so far as to elicit pity from a mere underling, a—_

_**No. **_

He thought the word firmly inwards, his eyes narrowing in determination as he and the rest of the group followed Cissnei down the hallway. The former Turk quickly ducked out of the hallway and behind a storage crate as they spotted Hojo ahead of them. Zack grabbed onto his arm, pulling him behind a tank as Cloud and the others quickly found their own hiding places.

Hojo stood in the distance, admiring something within a cylindrical glass tank. He didn't even seem to have noticed them. Sephiroth frowned, forcing himself to think despite the constant pounding in his head. There was something in the tank. Something...red...

Next to him, he felt Zack tense, and in a startling moment of lucidity, knew that the other man was probably having flashbacks to his own time spent in Hojo's lab. Sephiroth had spent a long enough time in and out of the library. He didn't need to remember it.

Another scientist walked up to Hojo. Thankfully, he didn't notice the six of them hiding in the shadows of the storage areas either.

The tank next to them was glowing as well. Something about that light was strangely fascinating. He felt drawn to it, like a moth to flame...

"Is this today's specimen?" he asked.

"Yes," said Hojo, glancing at him. "We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."

The scientist nodded, walking away. Hojo leaned forward, studying the creature in the tank for a moment more. "My precious specimen..." Sephiroth heard him say.

Specimen. Project S.

The word brought back a flood of memory, and suddenly he was a child again, sitting idly on a storage crate on the Science Department floor, kicking his legs back and forth. They didn't even reach the ground.

"_Sephiroth, it's time for your tests..." _

He clenched his fist, watching as Hojo walked past them and out of the library. It was all he could do to not rush out and strangle the man, but he had to follow his own advice. There would be another time.

Another time...

As Hojo left, he and the others slowly filed out of their hiding places. Sephiroth stood in the back of the group behind Zack, watching as Tifa walked forward and approached the glass. She leaned in, studying the creature. It looked rather like a red panther, and it had its head down on its paws, as though it was asleep. "Precious specimen?" she asked. She looked back at the rest of them. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

"Probably," said Cissnei. "This is Hojo's lab after all. He..."

He didn't hear the rest of what Cissnei was saying. He was too distracted by Zack, moving forward towards the tank. He looked inside, his eyes widening as he jumped back. "This is—." he began.

Sephiroth made the mistake of looking as well.

His world dissolved into white noise, a high-pitched keening sound making his head feel like it was about to explode. He made a choked sound in the back of his throat, doubling over and clutching at his head.

"_My son..." _

He stepped forward, his face contorting as the pain and the pounding intensified. Images flashed through his mind again. Nibelheim. The reactor. Fire. The files. Jenova. He barely heard Zack and Cloud's alarmed shouts, barely heard the collection of voices calling his name. They sounded muted, quiet compared to all the other sounds, all the other memories.

"_My son...come back to me, my son..." _

He grit his teeth, trying to hold on to some semblance of sanity. Sephiroth turned his back towards the tank, trying to rid himself of the image inside of it, the image of Jenova's headless body, coupled with the image his mind was producing, the image of a woman's head, with long silver hair. Silver hair so like his own...

"_...My son..." _

"M...Mother...?"

"Sephiroth!"

Zack's voice nearly broke through that time, but it was too little, too late. Sephiroth stepped back, feeling a sudden wave of comfort envelop him, whispering, promising to soothe away the pain. Yes. Yes, why shouldn't he come back to her? He was her son—

"_You're better than that, Sephiroth." _

_His eyes widened at the sound of the voice. He was suddenly standing in a field of white, and someone was speaking at his back. Someone..._

"_Where is your pride?" demanded the voice. "Where is your honor?" _

_He took in a shaky breath, raising his head and looking through the gaps in his fingers. He hadn't noticed that he had pressed his gloved hands to his face. A single white feather floated into his field of vision, hovering in the air for just a moment. Sephiroth took a step back, and for just that instant he could feel it, could feel the presence at his back, strong and steady as always. He opened his mouth, slowly speaking the name. _

"_An...geal...?"_

_He had to go back to his mother. He had to—_

"_Fight her, Sephiroth!" yelled the voice. _

_Fight her? Why would he want to fight his mother? _

Because of his honor.

_What honor? He was a monster. _

His SOLDIER honor.

_But his mother..._

"_Sephiroth!" shouted Angeal._

"SEPHIROTH!"

A blow struck him in the shoulder, breaking the illusion as it knocked him clean off his feet and onto the floor. Sephiroth stared up at the ceiling in shock for a moment, taking in the sound of his own heavy breathing as it all became deathly silent. He took in several deep breaths, then slowly sat up, shaking his head. He looked up, seeing Zack standing in front of him, breathing heavily and with his fist raised. He had a pained look on his face, telling him that he wasn't the only one that had been affected. Behind him, he saw Tifa helping Cloud to his feet.

Sephiroth's shoulder throbbed.

Had he really been that far gone...?

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling on his first two steps as he made his way over to Zack. The pain was gone now, but the echoes still remained. They had drained him of energy. Zack looked in his eyes, a scowl on his face. Sephiroth looked back.

Then drew back his fist, driving it into Zack's gut.

Zack doubled over with a gasp, wrapping his arms around his middle. He looked up at Sephiroth, his eyes wide. Sephiroth turned away from him, making sure to keep his back to Jenova's tank. The others were staring at him too, he realized. All of them.

"What the heck was that for?" demanded Zack.

"Payback," he said. He paused for a moment, looking back over at Zack. "...But thanks." He turned towards Cissnei. "You can put that down. My mind is my own."

Cissnei hesitated, then relented, slowly releasing her hold on the syringe of sedatives she had grabbed from the tray behind her. He stared at her, and for a moment, he almost smiled. She would have...what? Charged at him while the madness took him and attacked him with a needle? She watched him, and the hint of an amused smile came to his face anyway. Him. A needle.

For all that, he had to admire her tenacity.

He looked her in the eye, recalling, briefly, fragments of memory. Himself, lying in the mako pool with her standing above him, waking up again in the back seat of a stolen car, again in the mountains of Modeoheim, again in a darkened chamber somewhere within the abandoned reactor, again on the cold floor halfway to the door. Each time, she stood above him, a concerned look on her face, and a question in her eyes. It had shamed him then, that he had fallen so far as to need help from a little slip of a girl. But at the same time, each time, he couldn't help but feel some slight relief.

Because seeing her meant that he was awake. Her face...her eyes had been a constant staccato beat of images, punctuating his fever dreams.

He nodded once in answer to her unspoken question, then smoothly turned away, squaring his shoulders and stepping forward.

"That abomination..." he said. "...should be destroyed."

He walked forward, heading toward the door on the far end as the others watched him. Sephiroth didn't turn back towards them. Turning back towards them would mean looking at the tank, and he didn't want to do that.

"Come on," he said, walking forward.

He hadn't forgotten why he was here. He would help Zack get Aerith back. He owed Zack that much. And then if there was a chance, he also had something he intended to do. For that, he wanted to be entirely sane.

XxXxX

The six of them burst onto Floor 68 as the elevator door opened, coming to a stop in front of the railing. Below them, in a small depression on the floor, was a large glass tank, bearing a familiar brown-haired figure. She lay on her side, obviously unconscious, her back towards them. She wasn't moving. Zack's eyes widened in alarm, and he ran forward, placing his hands on the railing.

"Aerith!" he shouted.

Sephiroth placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back before he could jump over the side of the railing. Zack glared at him, moving to shake him off, when his eyes landed on the scientist that was standing next to the tank. Hojo looked up from where he stood on the bridge, an expression of mild interest on his face. His eyes lit up when he saw Sephiroth, and Sephiroth stepped away from Zack, clenching his fist tightly as he faced Hojo as well.

Hojo smirked, looking away from Sephiroth for now and turning back towards Zack. "Aerith?" he asked. "Oh, is that her name? What do you want?"

Zack moved quickly, taking several steps forward and glaring at Hojo. "We're taking Aerith back!" he said.

"Unfortunately, I'm not done running tests on her," said Hojo, smirking as he looked back at Aerith. Zack scowled, reaching up and grabbing the hilt of his Buster Sword.

Sephiroth stepped forward before he could draw the blade, surprising him. He drew himself up to his full height, standing beside Zack and glaring at Hojo. This close, Zack could feel the anger coming from the other man. When he spoke, his voice was like ice. "You're done _now_," he said.

"Sephiroth," said Hojo cordially. "I'm glad you've returned. If you'll wait your turn, I'll deal with you in a minute. I have plans for you."

Sephiroth took another step forward, reaching behind him and drawing Masamune in one quick motion. He held the hilt in his left hand, the tip of the blade pointed at Hojo. "You'll deal with me now," he said.

Hojo gave an exaggerated sigh, seeming unfazed by Sephiroth's anger. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, folding his arms and shaking his head. "Such a pity," he said. "You always were the most promising out of all of my experiments. Much better than Hollander's legacy. Or Gast's," he added, with a smirk at Aerith.

Sephiroth's grip on Masamune tightened. "What does Professor Gast have to do with anything?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Hojo shook his head, turning back towards the tank. "There's so many frivolous things in the world..." he said. People immediately reached for weapons as he took a step forward, Zack included. He held the Buster Sword lightly in both hands, listening as the others scattered, taking up places around the room and getting into defensive stances. Only Sephiroth hadn't moved.

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Hojo, sounding amused. "I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"

Zack faltered for a moment, watching as Hojo placed one hand on the panel in front of him. The implication was clear. If he died without opening the tank, who knew what would happen.

Sephiroth stepped forward again, still brandishing Masamune. Hojo glanced at him, shaking his head. "Defiance isn't like you, Sephiroth. Where did this come from?"

"I learned what you did," said Sephiroth, glaring. "What you made of me."

"I made you strong," said Hojo, his grin widening. "Jenova Project S. My best work."

"You made me into a monster," said Sephiroth. "You had no right!"

"I had every right," said Hojo, turning away. "After all...don't fathers have the right to decide what's best for their children?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened, his grip on his sword faltering as he took in a sharp breath.

Zack stared, looking between the two of them. Sephiroth...and Hojo...

"You're _lying!"_ said Sephiroth angrily. His face twisted in rage, and he took another step.

Hojo shrugged. "Believe what you want," he said, turning away. "It was never that important to me." He looked over his shoulder, towards the windows that lined the testing chamber. "Now, bring in the Specimen!"

Zack tore his eyes away from the bridge, looking back at the tank as the lift rose. Aerith stirred, looking up in surprise as she jumped back. The creature from downstairs had been lifted into the cell, and it lifted its head, turning toward Aerith. Zack glanced at Hojo and Sephiroth one more time before jumping over the railing, following Cloud, Tifa and Barret as they moved to surround the tank.

"Aerith!" he shouted, standing next to Cloud.

Aerith ran up to the both of them. She placed her hands on the glass and leaned forward, pounding on the tank wall with one fist.

"Zack!" she shouted. "Help!"

"Hold on, I'll get you out!" said Zack, turning back towards Hojo. Cloud turned as well, an angry scowl on his face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cloud demanded.

"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species," said Hojo. "Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, all these animals will disappear."

"...Animal?" asked Tifa, turning away from the tank as well. "That's terrible! Aerith is a human being!"

"You gonna pay!" he heard Barret shout from the other side of the tent. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cissnei crouch down, reaching for Rekka.

"Zack, the control panel!" she shouted.

"Mm!" He nodded, running towards it. "Stand back!" he shouted in Aerith's direction, raising the Buster Sword over his head. He leaped into the air, slicing downward rapidly. The Buster Sword cut straight into the glass door, lightning crackling around it as it sliced through the wires and controls before coming to a stop halfway down the side of the door. Zack grit his teeth as electricity crackled up his arms and into his body, forcing himself to endure it as bright light flooded the tank.

"Stop!" shouted Hojo in alarm.

Zack let out a shout, summoning up all of his strength and throwing his body weight against the sword. It moved, finishing the cut.

A blast of electricity blew him back, throwing him against the railing. Zack let out a grunt as he struck the wall, staring at the tank. Hojo ran forward immediately, ignoring Sephiroth as he placed both his hands on the door. "Wh-What are you doing?" he asked. "Oh, my precious specimens..."

The door of the tank slid open with a hiss. As Zack watched, the red creature let out an angry snarl, leaping forward off powerful hind legs and tackling Hojo to the ground. The blow knocked him off his feet, propelling him back towards the bridge. Cloud looked up sharply, turning towards him.

"Now's our chance, Zack!" he said.

Zack nodded, shaking his head and taking in a slow breath as he placed one hand on the ground next to him, trying to sit up.

"Zack!"

Before he could get to his feet, Aerith ran out of the tank, wrapping her arms around his neck and all but stumbling into him. Zack lifted the hand that wasn't holding the Buster Sword, wrapping it around her waist and pulling her close. "You're alright," she said. "I'm so relieved..."

"Hey, I should be saying that to you," said Zack with a small smile as he looked at her. Aerith withdrew from him, and she smiled as well as she stretched out a hand. He took it, getting to his feet.

Zack paused, looking over Aerith's shoulder. Cloud was standing in the tank, his back towards them. He was tense, looking around nervously as he took another step back. "Cloud, what's up?" he asked,

"...The elevator is moving..." said Cloud nervously.

"Crap," said Zack. He looked back at Sephiroth. "Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth nodded, reluctantly taking a step back and lowering his sword to his side. He ran over to them as Cissnei moved forward as well.

"He's rather strong," said an unfamiliar voice from behind them. Zack turned, his eyes widening as he saw where it was coming from. The creature was talking. "I'll help you all out."

"It...talked?" asked Tifa.

"I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss," said the creature. "For now..."

Zack nodded, looking back at the group. He grabbed onto Aerith's arm, making a split second decision. "Cloud, take care of her!" he said, pushing Aerith lightly in Cloud's direction.

"Zack!" Aerith protested.

"Leave this to me," said Sephiroth smoothly, coming to stand next to Zack. He held his sword at the ready."The rest of you, escape."

"No way," said Zack, grinning as he lifted his sword as well. "What kind of rescuer would I be if I let you take all the glory?"

"Hm," said Sephiroth, glancing over at Zack. A hint of an amused smile appeared on his face, but it quickly disappeared. "Very well."

"Out!" said Zack, looking over at the others. He jerked his head towards the entrance. "We'll take care of this!"

"R-Right!" said Cloud, nodding once. "Come on!"

Zack smiled, watching as Cloud led Aerith out of the room. He glanced back at the craeture behind him, who was still standing there. "Hey, what's your name?" he asked.

"Hojo has named me Red XIII. A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."

"Red it is," said Zack. He watched as the creature rose up from the elevator, raising his sword in his hand. Behind the two of them, Red XIII leaned forward, his tail swishing in the air behind them. Sephiroth glanced at Zack.

"Don't fall behind."

"I should be saying that to you."

The creature surfaced, and the two of them charged.

**END FILE**


	29. File 010: Blood of the Ancients pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **The boss Zack and Seph fight in this story is stronger than the experiment Cloud and company fought in the game, because, well, we know Hojo has stronger monsters than that in the lab—we fight them in Crisis Core as part of the missions, and if he was planning to have it hold back Zack and Sephiroth, he would probably send something made of stronger stuff. (Theme song: SOLDIER Battle).

**JazzQueen, **Hojo wins that award by unanimous vote. And yes. In the actual game, Seph has control over Jenova, but in this version, because he's sane and wants nothing to do with her, she sees it as an opportunity to do the controlling.

**Irish-Brigid, **well, he's Zack. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, lol. And actually that chapter was longer than most of my updates. I'll take it as a good sign that it felt short.

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, **why thank you. I'm glad you think so. I'll keep working on it.

**Riku Uzumaki, **Angeal's probably sitting in the Lifestream thinking 'Zack and Sephiroth are just screwed without me'. XD He's taking on the role that Aerith and Zack took on in Advent Children, it feels like.

**ryuukoshi, **thanks, glad you liked it. And she can't take all the credit. It was a team effort!

XxXxX

**File 010: Blood of the Ancients**

Zack stood at Sephiroth's left side as the monster rose up from the elevator, raising up the Buster Sword to a ready stance. Sephiroth did the same with Masamune, holding the sword in his left hand so that the two of them ended up standing back to back. Hojo's experiment roared, stepping forward. In an instance, the two of them moved. Zack let out a battle cry, ducking underneath one of the creature's sweeping arms and darting to the left. He slashed out at its leg just as Sephiroth leaped into the air, slashing at its right arm. Both blades bit into flesh, and Zack quickly rolled out of the way as the monster thrashed in pain, slamming its fist down onto the ground where he had just been standing. The creature swung its other hand around toward Sephiroth.

The other SOLDIER dropped down neatly onto the ground, ducking his head and avoiding the attack. The monster's fist sailed over his head as Sephiroth stepped neatly inside its range, bringing Masamune up in a single controlled slash. The nodachi cut a line across the creature's chest, and it took a step back, howling in rage. It immediately reached out with one clawed hand, slashing out at Sephiroth. He jumped back and out of the way, just in time for Zack to get back to his feet and jump into the air, slashing downwards across its back with the Buster Sword.

Sephiroth was attacking again before Zack could pull away. His sword was a streak of light in the air, all of his movements seeming to blend seamlessly into each other as he advanced. The monster thrashed, throwing Zack to the ground angrily as it rushed at Sephiroth. It was made of strong stuff, and its hide seemed difficult to pierce—Sephiroth's blade left long gashes, but none of the clean battle-ending cuts Zack was used to seeing when the other SOLDIER got truly serious. Still, Sephiroth was relentless. He moved tirelessly, shifting from form to form almost like he was dancing as he struck at the creature.

Not wanting to be outdone, Zack let out a shout as he rolled himself to his feet, swinging the Buster Sword in a wide arc along the back of the creature's legs. The heavy blade left a slightly deeper cut than Sephiroth's sword, but a blow that would have severed the legs or at least hamstrung the monster instead had it stagger forward a little, before whirling around and sending one massive arm swinging at him. Zack saw the blow coming out of the corner of his eye and bent his knees, bracing himself for impact as he raised his sword. The blow struck the flat of the Buster Sword, and he jumped back upon impact, landing on the ground a few feet away. The monster was strong, and the blow sent shockwaves of impact up his arm, but both he and the Buster Sword could take the hit.

And it had given Sephiroth an opening.

Zack grinned as Sephiroth immediately took it, jumping into the air. He gripped Masamune in both hands, angling the point directly at the monster's face as he plunged downward. The monster growled, turning its head away at the last moment, so that Sephiroth's strike instead sliced a long line down its chest. He landed crouched on the ground, rolling forward with a barely audible grunt of effort as the monster lashed out at him with a fist. Sephiroth wasted no time in turning back around, turning to the left as the monster thrust a clawed hand out towards him. The claws skittered off the edge of his pauldron, giving Sephiroth enough time to step inside and slash at the creature again, his green eyes blazing. He cut and cut and cut, Masamune biting into flesh time and time again.

He was angry, Zack realized, observing the ferocity with which Sephiroth threw himself into the battle. He was angry and was taking it out the only way he knew how. He could understand that. He would be angry too, if he just found out that Hojo was _his_ father.

He spun around, throwing his body weight behind the sword as he lashed out, attacking the monster from behind as Sephiroth attacked it from the front. The monster spun around, and this time the blow did catch him into the side, sending him spiraling into the glass. He thought of Aerith, of what Hojo had been about to do to her, and he could almost feel her presence in the room with him, in the back of his mind. Could almost hear her voice wishing him luck.

He got to his feet, grabbing his sword. The blow was nothing. The monster lashed out at him again, this time with its tail, and Zack jumped clear over it, swinging the sword down over its head. Sephiroth finished one last slash, moving quickly out of the way as the monster snarled at Zack, before careening to one side and nearly crashing against the wall. Zack ran over so that he was standing beside Sephiroth, bouncing once on his feet as he faced the monster.

It was on its last legs. One more good blow would do it. It was clear that Sephiroth knew it too.

As one they charged forward, Sephiroth darting right and Zack darting left. The two of them swung, Sephiroth with his left hand and Zack with his right. Masamune and the Buster Sword crossed over each other in midair, cutting straight into the monster's sides. Zack gripped with both hands, letting out a shout of effort as he pulled.

The blade pulled all the way through. Sephiroth cut straight through on his end. He turned around and faced the monster just as it pitched forward, raising Masamune and bringing it down along his side in one smooth cut. Zack slid and turned as well, giving the Buster Sword a spin before replacing it onto his back.

The monster hit the ground for the last time, the crash reverberating through the chamber. Zack grinned. For a moment, he almost expected to hear that robotic voice that had plagued him through his training simulations.

_Conflict resolved. _

He looked over at Red XIII, who was standing in the center of a collection of three smaller monsters, all of which appeared to have either been clawed to shreds or had died when the larger monster did. He had a cut along his side, but beyond that, he appeared to be unharmed.

"Elevator," said Sephiroth, his tone slightly clipped. Zack nodded once, glancing at it. The rest of their party had gone down there. They were probably waiting on the floor downstairs. The sooner they got to them, the better. This place would be swarming with SOLDIERs soon. He looked over at Red XIII, who was now watching them with a cautious expression on his face.

"C'mon, Red," he said, waving his hand.

Red XIII hesitated for just a moment before bounding over to them, following the two of them as they ran into the elevator and pressed the button to the floor below.

Sure enough, the rest of their group waited just downstairs, varying degrees of concern and irritation on their faces. Aerith stood with Cloud and Tifa in the far corner of the room. Both she and Cloud immediately perked up as the elevator door opened. Aerith immediately walked over to him. Cloud hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he should do the same. In the end, he lingered behind, standing next to Tifa. Aerith stopped a few feet away from him, hesitating slightly as she looked over him.

"Zack, you're hurt," she said.

Zack looked down at himself. The monster had managed to scratch a set of three gashes down the front of his chest. It wasn't too big of a problem for him, enhanced as he was.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch," he said. "I'll deal with it later."

She looked uncertain for a moment, before her eyes drifted towards Red XIII. "You're hurt too," she said. "Let me have a look."

Zack watched as she crouched down next to Red, her hands seeming to glow with energy as they hovered in the air over the creature's side. He shuddered, remembering Hojo's plan. "About that," he said. "Are _you _alright?"

"She seems alright," said Tifa, coming to stand next to them as well. "...In many ways."

Red looked up from the healing, seeming almost insulted. "I have a right to choose too," he said. "I don't like two-legged things."

"What are you?" asked Barret.

Red shook his head. "An informed question," he said. "But difficult to answer. I am what you see." He pulled away from Aerith as she finished, the wound on his side completely gone as he stepped forward. Aerith straightened up, lowering her hands to her side. "You must have many questions. But first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."

"I agree," said Cissnei, folding her arms and coming to stand next to them. "It's too dangerous to linger. Hojo must be sounding every alarm."

Zack nodded, looking around at the group. There were eight of them now, he realized, and with Red, Barret, and Sephiroth they made an odd group. He glanced at Sephiroth, Cloud, and Cissnei, and saw from the looks on their faces that they were thinking the same thing. "We need to split the party," he said.

"Mm," said Sephiroth, nodding his head. "Two groups of three, one group of two. We'll rendezvous at the elevator."

"You said you knew the way out of this building?" asked Cissnei, turning towards Red. Red nodded.

"I've had multiple opportunities to observe the scientists coming and going," he said.

She folded her arms in thought, looking over the group. "That makes you, me, Zack and Sephiroth the ones that know the building best. Cloud and Tifa, I'm assuming you two are sticking together?"

Tifa nodded. Cloud hesitated for a moment, before nodding as well.

"And Zack and Aerith..." said Cissnei, looking over at them.

Zack glanced at Aerith. He wanted to, very much, but now that he thought about it, he had no idea what _she _might want. They hadn't really had a chance to talk, and he'd been gone for five years. She glanced at him, and the look in her eye told her that she wasn't sure where things would go between them either.

They could sort it out later. For now, he had to protect her.

"I'd like that," he said. "Aerith?"

"Mm." She nodded once. "You still owe me a story."

Cissnei looked around at the group, her eyes darting from person to person before she made her decision. "I'll go with Cloud and Tifa," she said. "And, Sephiroth..."

Sephiroth shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me." He paused for a moment, before glancing over at Aerith and Zack. "...Although Aerith is more likely to be targeted."

"Red can go with Barret then," said Zack. "If that's alright."

"It does not matter to me either," said Red. "As long as we hurry."

"Right," said Zack. "So...the elevator?"

There were nods and words of assent all around. Zack took a deep breath, studying the group of eight. "Everyone be careful," he said. "We're all making it out of here alive."

The group nodded. They divided into three, taking off in three separate directions.

XxXxX

Cissnei replaced Rekka at her back as the guard fell over, glancing back at Cloud and Tifa. They were moving quickly, making good time over towards the elevator. The two of them had made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. It was clear that both of them were tired, but they weren't done yet. She ran forward, sliding her keycard through the slit in the door and opening the elevator up.

Cloud and Tifa followed along behind her, the three of them entering the small elevator. Cissnei moved fast, running toward the control panel. She reached into her vest, searching for the right keycard as her hand hovered over the button for Floor 60.

A fourth set of footsteps made her freeze, her hand hovering lightly over the panel.

"Would you press 'up', please?" asked a familiar voice.

Cissnei looked up, turning her head to the side and peering over her shoulder. Rude stood in the elevator with them, his expression serious. Her heart thudded in her chest, her eyes widening.

"Cissnei?" he continued.

She turned around quickly, whipping Rekka from her back and slashing at him. Rude moved as though he had been expecting this, grabbing hold of her wrist. He pushed her weapon hand out of the way, twisting her arm so that she was off balance and kneeing her in the gut. Cissnei gasped for air as the blow connected, Rekka clattering to the elevator floor. She twisted out of his hold, grabbing onto his hands and using the momentum to kick him in the head as she jumped away, pulling him into the elevator. His sunglasses crunched under her boot, and she flipped over in the air, landing smoothly on the ground with her back to the door.

Rude stumbled back, one hand over his face. She took a deep breath, reaching for her sidearm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Something cold and hard pressed into her back, and Cissnei tensed, glancing behind her. Tseng stood directly behind her, his eyes impassive. He pressed the barrel of the gun further into her back to make his point.

Cissnei inhaled slowly, removing her hand from her side. She reluctantly raised her hands up holding them next to her head.

XxXxX

Sephiroth watched as Zack walked ahead of him, one hand on the flower girl's wrist as he cautiously led them along the corridor. Aerith's eyes darted from left to right, as if she was expecting a threat to pop up at any moment. She held the Mythril Staff that Zack had gotten her loosely in one hand, her grip letting him know that she had a minimal understanding of how to use the weapon at best. Likely she would not have been able to find a proper teacher.

Whereas Aerith was nervous, Zack was alert. He kept his eyes focused straight ahead of him, his expression serious. He made sure to keep the girl close to him, even slowing his pace to match hers. It was clear that he took his role as her protector very seriously indeed, and that he understood they were not out of danger yet. He noted, not for the first time, Zack's growth. There had been a time when Angeal's puppy would have treated this like a game.

Zack had grown past that stage. From a puppy to a guard dog. And one with teeth.

Angeal would have been proud.

Or was he already?

Sephiroth frowned as he thought back to the scene he had seen while under Jenova's influence. Had that really been Angeal? Or was that all...just a dream?

The sound of movement ahead of him shook him out of his musings, and he moved quickly, grabbing Zack from behind by his collar and dragging him, and Aerith by extension, into a side hallway. The girl yelped in surprise, but quickly stifled it when she saw his expression, raising one hand to cover her mouth as Zack glared at him.

"What the hell?" he whispered.

"Turks," said Sephiroth, inclining his head to the hallway that led toward the elevator. Zack peeked around the side, his eyes widening.

Tseng and Rude were walking down the hallway, leading a familiar group of five between them. Their hands were bound around their backs, and they walked in a single file line between the two of them. Tseng had Cissnei with him personally, one of his hands gripping the cuffs that bound her wrists as he pressed his gun into the small of her back, egging her onward. She gave him a defiant look, but continued to walk.

Zack muttered a curse. "They got caught," he said.

"What are we going to do?" asked Aerith. She stepped away and looked at the two of them, a worried look on her face. Zack stared down at the ground, his eyes darkening in thought. Sephiroth looked away from the sight.

"...Our priority at the moment is getting you out of the building," he said.

"But what about Cloud and the others?" asked Aerith.

"They knew the risks," said Sephiroth. He glanced out at the hallway again, then turned back toward Aerith. "Besides," he said. "They wouldn't be killed immediately. They'll be held overnight. The President will want them questioned first."

_Except for Cissnei..._said a nagging voice at the back of his mind. _Tseng would deal with her himself._

He shook his head. He couldn't think that way. The mission was to protect Aerith. Once he revealed himself, those Deepground SOLDIERs would come running. And they had the advantage of number. He could protect himself against them, but he wasn't sure of his ability to protect himself _and _her.

"We can't just leave them," said Aerith.

"We're not going to."

The voice came from Zack. Sephiroth glanced over at him in surprise. He had his phone in his hand—his _phone? _Why his phone?—and as Sephiroth watched, he smiled.

"Sorry Seph," he said. "Can you look after Aerith for a while? I've got a plan."

"...Zack?" asked Aerith, concern in her voice as she looked over at him.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Sephiroth.

Zack moved his hand, flipping his phone closed and sliding it back into his pocket. He stepped forward, looking over his shoulder at them. "Something really stupid," he said. He grinned. "I'm calling a friend on his offer."

Before Sephiroth could ask him what he meant, he ran out into the hallway. Sephiroth took a step forward, reaching out a hand to pull him back, but he was already gone.

"Wait—!" Aerith said, taking a step forward as well.

"—Zack," said Sephiroth

Zack looked back at them, pointing at Sephiroth once. "I'm counting on you," he said.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**A/N: **Somewhere along the line, I started referring to Red XIII as Red. I think I'll keep that—Red works a little better in the narration and is easier to type and I feel like they wouldn't actually call him 'Red Thirteen' anyway, now that Zack's shortened it. (And yes, I know his real name is Nanaki. But they don't.)


	30. File 010: Blood of the Ancients pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** Wow so many reviews! Thanks so much for all the support! **Ryuukoshi, Irish-Brigid, Anna Crosszeria, Puti Puripi, **and **Riku Uzumaki**, well...we'll see~ You might be right...hmm...but you'll find out for sure next chapter!

**Jazz Queen, **yep, they will definitely have some challenges later on.

**ryuukoshi, **I'm glad you like the fight scenes! I worked hard on them!

**Guest, **thanks, glad you like it!

XxXxX

**File 010: Blood of the Ancients**

The halls of the seventieth floor were brightly lit, despite the late hour. SOLDIERs and infantrymen stood a quiet watch all across the floor, swords and guns in their hands. Each one was on high alert, the security threat from that day weighing heavily on each of them. They turned their heads, watching stoically as another man in a black SOLDIER uniform walked, one hand pulling a surly prisoner forward by the arm. The prisoner had his hands cuffed behind his back, his signature sword confiscated. He glared at them, putting on a good show of reluctance and resistance. His captor scowled, shoving him forward roughly as he refused to move.

"Keep moving!" he barked. "We don't have all night."

The prisoner shot the SOLDIER a seething glare, stumbling forward and continuing to walk. The men watching relaxed somewhat, some of them standing at attention as the helmeted First passed. They made room for him in narrow hallways, letting him through to the President's office without resistance. Zack, looking at them, thought that they probably all just wanted to go home. He would have, if he were asked to work after hours because of a security threat.

"What did I say about falling behind?" asked his captor, shoving him forward again.

Zack put on his best angry scowl, trying to tug his hands out of his captor's grip. The SOLDIER held fast, shoving Zack down a less-populated hallway as the others turned their attention to other things, seeming to lose interest.

"For the record," said the SOLDIER in a low voice, once they were in a hallway that was virtually empty. "I think this is a stupid plan."

Zack relaxed somewhat, testing his bonds. He kept his eyes straight ahead of him, making sure to look like the hobbling prisoner to anyone who happened to be watching through a security camera. "Just relax," he said. "You know what to do after?"

"Yeah," said the SOLDIER. He paused for a moment as someone passed by, then dragged Zack roughly into another hallway. Zack made a show of resistance as the pair of infantrymen saluted the First. "Remember," he said once the infantrymen had passed. "It's the evidence locker near the prisons."

"Got it," said Zack, nodding. "Thanks man."

The SOLDIER snorted, and although Zack couldn't see his face beneath the helmet, he could practically imagine him rolling his eyes. "You owe me one big time," he said. "Now shut up. We're about to go through another checkpoint."

Zack nodded, lowering on his head and putting an angry scowl back onto his face.

XxXxX

Sephiroth pulled Aerith into the room ahead of him, closing the door of the supply room behind them. He listened as the sound of frantic footsteps down the hall faded away, the voices fading as well until the only sound he could hear was their own tense breathing. He stepped away from the door, loosening his tight grip on the hilt of his sword. He glanced back at the flower girl.

"It should be safe here for a little while," he said. "They'll be expecting us either flee or try to help the others. The stairs and elevators will be blocked."

She nodded once to show that she understood, her hands still wrapped tightly around her staff. Sephiroth studied her for a moment, trying to determine what Zack found so intriguing. She wasn't a strong fighter, nor did she appear to be a strategist or a scientist of any note. Had he seen her on the street, he would have dismissed her as just another ordinary person—a flower peddler from the slums. But then again, shehad offered herself to the Turks in place of a child. He had known grown men—trained fighters who would not do that. And she had healed Red XIII almost effortlessly.

"_Aerith is an Ancient," _he remembered Cissnei saying, in the wreckage of the helicopter near Nibelheim. _"The last one." _

Ancient.

He glanced at her again. What connection could this girl possibly have to Jenova?

Sephiroth turned away, pacing the room to make sure it was secure. The hallway outside was quiet. He didn't hear any footsteps, but just in case, he didn't sheathe Masamune.

"I can't believe that man," said Aerith after a few moments of silence.

Sephiroth looked back at her. She was turning her staff around in her hands, her eyes on the floor of the storage room.

"Zack?" he asked.

"Mm," said Aerith. She shook her head. "...What is he thinking?"

"He wants to protect you," he said, looking back at the door.

"Does he?" she asked. He hesitated, then looked back at her. Her green eyes were focused on the ground, her expression melancholic. "...I can't tell anymore. Five years of no word, and then this..."

He realized, in a somewhat detached, academic way, that the girl was trying to talk to him about a perceived relationship issue with Zack. The realization made him feel profoundly uncomfortable, because his sole experience with relationship advice involved a semi-awkward conversation with Genesis about whether or not it would be proper to respond to the advances of a member of his fan club and because he had never once thought about what it was like to have a relationship with Zack.

But he knew that this was important to Zack. And at the very least, he wanted the truth to be known.

"...I can't tell you where he was in that time," said Sephiroth, his expression serious.

"I figured," said Aerith, hugging her arms close to her chest. She kept her staff tucked into the crook of her arm, looking somewhat disappointed. Sephiroth continued to speak.

"But I can tell you that his isolation was not through any choice of his own."

Aerith looked up, her eyes widening. "...What?" she asked.

"He was captured by Shinra," said Sephiroth. "...Specifically Hojo."

She stared at him, slow horror spreading over her face. "What did they do to him?" she asked.

He hesitated, glancing off to the side. "...I can't say," he said quietly. "But when I found Zack, he was fighting his way through the Shinra army, trying to get back into Midgar."

Aerith gave him a worried look, taking a tentative step forward. "...Was he...?" she began.

"He was severely wounded in the encounter," said Sephiroth. "It's...unlikely he would have survived without our intervention."

"Our?"

"Mine and Cissnei's."

She frowned in thought for a moment. "Cissnei is...the Turk, right? The one who was Zack's friend?"

"Yes." He nodded once. Sephiroth paused, taking note of the sudden guilty expression on her face. He turned away. "...It isn't something you should blame yourself for. Zack has always been irrational in matters regarding the people closest to him. It is his greatest weakness...and also, arguably...his greatest strength."

There was a long pause. Then, Aerith raised her hand to her face, giggling into her wrist. He glanced back at her, quirking an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, her green eyes gleaming, "It's just...you're exactly how Zack described you.

"And how's that?" he asked.

Aerith turned, clasping her hands together behind her back and pacing the length of the room. "Cold, detached, serious, and really professional, but you can tell there's a heart in there." She smiled, looking over her shoulder at him. "Don't you also have someone you want to protect?"

He snorted softly, feeling his mouth turn up in what might have been a smirk or a smile as he looked away. The words were on the tip of his tongue. _I don't have time for such frivolous things. _

He froze. The smile faded.

"_There's so many frivolous things in the world..." _

Hojo.

His hand clenched into a fist. That man was _not_ his father. He was notlike him.

Because it was easier, he turned back towards her and changed the subject. "I have a few questions for you," he said. "Regarding the Ancients."

XxXxX

The Turks led the five of them up the stairs toward the 70th floor—President Shinra's office. Even as an active Turk, she had hardly ever been here. It was always Veld who dealt with the President, and later Tseng. But she knew where the floor was, and what it represented. Tseng placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her roughly so that she was facing him as they came to a stop. She sucked in a breath as her handcuffs dug into her wrists, but turned anyway, glaring at President Shinra. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cloud, Barret and Tifa walk forward so that they were facing him, their hands bound. Red's paws weren't bound, but they were chained together, making it difficult for him to walk or run very far. He was also wearing a collar.

The President watched them all, a frown on his face, as though this was simply another ordinary day.

Cissnei looked up as another set of footsteps came up the stairs, turning her head. Her eyes widened. Zack was being escorted by another SOLDIER First, his face hidden by his helmet. He was struggling somewhat, but the other First had a firm grip on him, and judging from the bruise forming on Zack's face, he had been caught by surprise.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," said the other SOLDIER. He shoved Zack forward. "Found this one creeping around the air vents."

Zack stumbled forward, letting out a curse. President Shinra raised an eyebrow, looking over at the two of them. Cissnei felt Tseng's hold on her change, his attention shifting towards the pair.

"Yes, very well," said the President. "Good work. Return to your post."

"Sir!" said the SOLDIER, saluting. Cissnei watched as he turned around and left, her eyes wide. She knew that voice. Where had she heard that voice before? Back when she was tailing Zack?

If he was a First Class now, he could have been a Third Class five years ago. Or a Second Class...

Zack straightened up, glaring heatedly at the President. President Shinra got to his feet, holding a heavy file folder in his hand with the SOLDIER logo embossed onto the front. Cissnei had seen it before. It was Zack's file. He looked up at Zack, meeting his eyes. "Zack Fair," he said. "Former SOLDIER First Class. I believe you have something of mine. I'd like to know where it is."

"Don't know what you're talking about," said Zack.

President Shinra's eyes narrowed. He tossed the file at Zack's feet, almost casually. It opened, revealing a stack of photographs. They were pictures of Zack and Aerith, together in the church in the slums. Cissnei realized with a sinking feeling that she recognized the photos. She had taken them. Zack stared down at them, before looking up at President Shinra. The look in his eye was almost murderous.

"Aerith isn't yours," he said.

"Isn't she?" asked the President. He turned, clasping his hands behind his back and stepping around his desk. "She's the last surviving Ancient. Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they are just a forgotten page in history."

Red's ears perked up at that. He turned towards the President. "Cetra...? That girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?"

President Shinra shrugged, as though it didn't matter to him. "The Cetra, or the Ancients, will show us the way to the Promised Land. I'm expecting a lot out of her."

"The Promised Land?" asked Red. "Isn't that just a legend?"

The President walked over so that he was standing in front of his desk, facing them. "Even so," he said. "It's just too appealing not to pursue. I've been told the Promised Land is very fertile. If the land is fertile..."

"Then there's gotta be mako!" growled Barret.

"Exactly," said President Shinra, turning toward him. He looked pleasantly surprised that Barret had deduced that. "That's why our money sucking Mako Reactor is necessary. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built," he said, turning away. "Shinra's new glory..."

"You're insane." A voice spoke. It took Cissnei a while to realize it was her own. Tseng tightened his hold on her.

"Am I?" asked the President, looking over at her. "What some might call insane, others call visionary."

Barret leaned forward, swearing loudly. "Keep dreaming!"

The President shook his head almost sadly. "Oh really, you don't know?" he asked. "These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power." He looked up at Zack, his expression hardening. "Now, I'll ask you one last time," he said. "Where is the girl?"

A defiant grin spread over Zack's face. "Actually, I've got no clue," he said. "All I know is that she's with Sephiroth. Good luck with that."

The President seemed unfazed. "A minor complication," he said. He turned towards Rude, nodding. "Take them away."

Rude moved towards Cloud and the others. As he did, Tseng spoke up. "Sir."

The President looked over at him. "What is it?"

"I would like to request that this prisoner be remanded to the Department of General Affairs for questioning."

Cissnei tensed. The calm, neutral tone in which he spoke told her exactly what he meant by that. The President looked over, and she carefully schooled her expression, keeping it composed and just slightly defiant. She thought of Veld, and thought of her training. _Go ahead, Tseng, _she wanted to say. _You can't break me._

"Very well, you can do as you wish with the traitor Turk," said the President. "...Once you find the girl, of course."

"Of course," said Tseng smoothly. "We'll put her with the others for now."

How long was 'for now'? An hour? Maybe two. It wouldn't take too long for them to either find Aerith or count her as escaped and try another day. Well, it didn't matter. She was ready to die.

Almost.

She watched as Rude walked up to Cloud and the others, ordering them out of the President's way. All reluctantly complied, except for Barret and Zack.

"Hold it!" said Barret. "I got a lot I want to say to you!"

Barret moved, about to run up to the President, but Zack beat him to it, walking towards the President. Rude stepped forward, grabbing Zack roughly by the arm to stop him. They froze, but only for an instant.

Zack moved like lightning. He pivoted around, kicking Rude squarely in the chest and knocking him back. As Cissnei watched, he pulled on his cuffs. They broke, clattering uselessly to the ground. Her eyes widened. They looked almost as if...

...almost as if they hadn't been secured correctly in the first place.

Zack tilted his head towards the President, grinning. "Might need to get better equipment," he said. "These things are falling apart."

With that, he charged, running for the President.

Tseng moved quickly, throwing Cissnei onto the ground. She let out a yelp as she struck the ground hard, her hands tied behind her back and preventing her from protecting herself. Cissnei skid across the tiled floor, quickly opening her eyes. She saw Tseng reach for something inside his suit jacket, heard a muted hiss.

Zack froze, reaching up with one gloved hand. A small dart had embedded itself in his neck. Cissnei saw him turn, facing Tseng, saw the dart gun in the other Turk's hand. Zack scowled, and for a moment it looked like he might have something to say to the head of the Turks, to someone he once considered a friend.

But before Zack could say anything, the drug took effect, and he collapsed onto the ground.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	31. File 010: Blood of the Ancients pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** You know, writing this just gives me an appreciation of how _long _the Shinra Building portion of the game is. I've cut out a lot of the walking around and random battles, and yet we're STILL here.

I'm not _too _happy with this chapter, but I hope you guys still like it. Next chapter we'll start to get out of Midgar! Yay! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

**Puti Purinpi, **well, I wouldn't write Tseng out just yet. Remember, he's very much a company man. That doesn't mean he doesn't care, in his own covert way~

**Riku Uzumaki, **you'll have to read to find out. It was a good try for Zack though.

**ryuukoshi, **yep, that's Zack for you!

**Irish-Brigid, **yeah, Seph doesn't quite get it yet. But he's been warming up slowly but surely. Angeal and Genesis taught him about friendship, now Zack and company are teaching him about teamwork.

**Gohan Roxas, **read on to find out!

**JazzQueen, **lol yes, learning Hojo is your father definitely counts as a traumatic experience.

XxXxX

**File 010: Blood of the Ancients**

Sephiroth half-expected her to not respond. But after a moment's pause, she turned towards him, an obliging smile on her face. "I can't promise I'll know how to answer your question" she said. "But what do you want to know?"

"Why is Shinra after you?" he asked.

Aerith frowned, clasping her hands together as she looked down at the ground. "They...want me to find the Promised Land for them," she said. "...I think they think there will be mako energy there."

He nodded once. He remembered reading about the Promised Land, or about Professor Gast's theory on the Promised Land, at some point in his frantic search of the records in Nibelheim. His memories of that time were blurred, but he could remember the fragments of information he had received.

"Does it exist?"

"The Promised Land?"

Sephiroth nodded. Aerith's response was to tilt her head back, looking up at the ceiling as though it had the answers she was looking for. "...I don't...know," she admitted. She took a step forward, gripping her staff behind her back. "...All I know is..." She took a deep breath, and when she spoke next, she seemed to be reciting something from memory. "The Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet. And then..." She shook her head. "The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."

"Meaning?" he asked.

She lowered her eyes from the ceiling to the ground. "I don't know."

He studied her, trying to tell if she was lying. There was no hint of deceit on her face. Just, perhaps, the slightest bit of longing. And...grief, maybe? She obviously wanted to know.

"...What does it mean..." he asked. "...to speak with the Planet?"

Her expression brightened somewhat at this question. Ah, so this was a question she could answer. "I hear things," she said. "In the wind, or in the earth. But sometimes...when it's full of people and noisy, I can't make out what it's saying."

"You must never hear it in Midgar, then."

Aerith smiled brightly, shaking her head. "You'd think," she said. "But there is one place..."

He glanced at her, his expression skeptical. "...The Sector 5 church?"

"Mm!" she said. "But...only sometimes." Her expression changed, becoming contemplative again. "...Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is...my real mother."

"The Ancient?" He remembered Cissnei telling him about this, about how Aerith and her mother had escaped the laboratories fifteen years ago.

"Ifalna," Aerith supplied. "...Her name was Ifalna." She shook her head, as though banishing a bad memory. Sephiroth found that on some level, he understood. He had been a child in Hojo's lab before. He knew what it was like. The only difference for him was that escape had never happened, and he had grown into it. Aerith went on. "She said that...someday I'll get out of Midgar...speak with the Planet, and...find my Promised Land."

"She told you this while she was alive?" asked Sephiroth.

Aerith shook her head. "No," she said. "...Recently."

His brow rose. "...Recently?" he repeated.

Aerith looked away, taking a few steps away from him and facing the wall. "I used to hear her all the time," she said. "As I grew..." She shook her head. "I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up. But..." Aerith took a deep breath, falling silent. A part of him was instantly skeptical. The dead didn't talk. He knew that.

...Or he thought he did. But...

The image of the library at Nibelheim flashed through his mind, of Angeal standing over the files, as though telling him he would have to fight through him to read them. And more recently, in the laboratory...

Who was he to say what was real and what was not? The world had truly gone insane.

The question was out of his mouth before he had time to fully think about it. "...Do you hear...other dead?"

"His name's...Angeal, isn't it?" asked Aerith.

"How do you know that?"

Aerith smiled, looking over her shoulder at him. "I heard it from Zack," she said. "You know...you and he aren't really that different." She shook her head sadly. "No. I can't hear him. It's too noisy in Midgar. And...he never came to speak with me."

"I see."

He nodded at her, turning away. It had been a stupid question to ask. The things he had seen were probably just images projected by his tired mind, and he was a fool for wanting them to be real.

"But..." she began. He looked up to find that she had turned toward him fully now, a thoughtful look on her face. "...I get the sense that he's watching, and that he's worried about Zack, and about you as well. I think he really wants the both of you—no, _you _to find peace."

"I am at peace," said Sephiroth, turning away.

"Are you really?"

He didn't have an answer for that. So he didn't respond, instead going back to guarding the door.

XxXxX

Zack awoke to a throbbing pain in his head and the faint sound of metal clinking. His body felt heavy, as though someone had come and replaced all his limbs with lead while he was asleep. He opened his eyes, the ceiling of the room slowly coming into focus above him. He was lying in a square metal room lit by a harsh fluorescent light. The room only had one bed, covered by a thin mattress. It was barely big enough for him—he could feel the railing against his boots.

He wasn't alone in the room. A small figure sat on the floor with her back to the bed, her knees curled up close to her chest. She had her head down, her face obscured by a curtain of brown hair. Zack took a deep breath, forcing himself to sit up. His body protested the movement, but he managed with a small grunt of effort, the bed creaking underneath his weight. The movement was accompanied by the sound of metal again, and Zack looked down at his hand.

They had chained him to the wall. Figured.

The sound caused the room's other occupant to look up. "Zack," she said.

"Yo," he said, as cheerfully as he could manage. "How long was I out?"

Cissnei lowered her eyes to the ground. "Thirty minutes," she said. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've been better." Zack took the opportunity to glance around the room. "We're in the brig, aren't we?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mm. Cloud, Tifa, Red, and Barret are in the cells next door."

"They're alright?" asked Zack.

Cissnei nodded again. Zack leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. "...I feel like crap," he admitted.

"Mako suppressants will do that to you. Your body's basically recovering from a sudden severe drop in usable mako energy. Give it a few more minutes to get you back to normal."

"Huh..." said Zack. "Didn't know the Turks had drugs that could do that."

"We made SOLDIERs," was the bitter reply. "We wouldn't make what we couldn't control."

Zack cracked an eye open, looking over at her. "Alright," he said. "What's wrong?"

Cissnei didn't answer for a long while. Long enough that Zack had already given up on the question and had laid back on the bed to stare at the ceiling by the time she did. "...Tseng will be here soon," she said. "...To come get me."

He turned his head, looking over at her. She hadn't moved from her position by the bed. Although her voice was flat and her eyes were fixed steadily on the wall ahead of her, she was curled up like a scared child. He didn't like where this was going. "Yeah?"

"...When that happens, you probably won't see me again."

Zack scowled at her defeated tone, his eyes narrowing. "I won't let him take you," he said.

"You won't have any choice," said Cissnei. "...That's why he had you secured. So I want you to listen to me."

"I'll make a way—," began Zack.

"Just _listen _to me, Zack," she said, interrupting him. "Please."

Zack clenched his fists, but nodded once. "I'm listening."

"...If...If he comes and takes me...but you guys escape, I want you to go to our hideout. Sephiroth knows the way. In my room, there's a section of loose paneling in the wall above my desk. Open it, and you should find a stack of papers inside..."

Zack sat up, listening intently now. "And...?" he asked. "What's on the papers?"

She hesitated, not looking up at him. "They're...plans," she finally said.

"Plans?"

"...Information on the security details, living arrangements, and routines of the different members of the executive board. As accurate as I could manage."

Zack stared at her, his expression grim. "You're talking about assassination plans."

"You don't need to use them for that," said Cissnei. "I'm sure...if you had them, you'd find the right use for them. Whatever that may be."

"Cissnei," said Zack. She slowly looked up, tentatively meeting his eyes. He held them, his own eyes resolute. "I will get you out of here," he said slowly.

"We have to be realistic, Zack," she said. "The mission—."

"Forget the mission," said Zack, leaning over and looking down at her. "Listen to me. I will get you out."

Cissnei stared at Zack for a long moment, wide-eyed and unmoving. She trembled slightly, and Zack saw her clench her fist to hide the tremors. She sighed, her shoulders rippling with the movement as she lowered her head again. "I believe you..." she said quietly. "That's the stupid thing. I believe you...even when I know I shouldn't."

Zack stared at her. She didn't say anything, keeping her head down and her eyes on the floor as she draped one hand over her knee. After a moment, Zack sighed, laying back on the bed. "Let's get some rest," he said. "I feel like we'll need it."

"Mm."

He didn't press her, rolling over onto his arm and staring at the wall. Zack closed his eyes, but did not fall asleep.

XxXxX

Another crash sounded from the hallway outside, the sound reverberating inside the small storage room. Sephiroth crouched by the door, his sword in his hand. He glanced over at Aerith, but she was still standing by the crates as she had been instructed, her staff at the ready. It wasn't much of a defensive stance, but it would do for now. The sounds had started only recently, but Sephiroth recognized the unmistakable sounds of a battle, probably one with several participants. The fighting had started after the sound of frantic footsteps, and it was over quickly, leaving them with a sudden stillness.

A solitary pair of footsteps rose up from the stillness, making their way down the hallway. Sephiroth tensed, crouching down further and tightening his grip on his sword. He shifted position as the footsteps neared, quietly backing away from the door.

He heard Aerith step back, taking a breath.

The door opened, letting a sliver of light into the room. Sephiroth caught sight of a black uniform, a SOLDIER helmet, and a gleaming blade. The SOLDIER turned towards him and took a step back, as if in shock.

Sephiroth attacked.

He pulled Masamune back, swinging it at the SOLDIER's head. The SOLDIER took a stunned step back, raising his blade to parry it, but Sephiroth could feel the force behind the blow shake the SOLDIER, breaking his stance only briefly. He recovered quickly, taking a step back and meeting the second strike that Sephiroth sent his way. Sephiroth turned, raising Masamune a third time and thrusting down, and the SOLDIER raised his sword, bracing the flat against one hand and catching it just barely. The force behind the attack threw him back, ramming him into the wall, and he let out a grunt of pain.

"Wait!" shouted the SOLDIER as Sephiroth took a step back. "Wait! I'm not here to fight you! I'm a friend of Zack!"

Masamune froze in midair, an inch from the SOLDIER's neck. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed skeptically, and he watched as the SOLDIER slowly opened his hand, his sword clattering to the ground. He raised his hands, holding them up close to his ears. "No, really," he said, turning his head towards Aerith. "Aerith knows me."

Sephiroth's response was to glance towards the girl for confirmation. Aerith stared at the SOLDIER for a moment as he looked at her. She took a step towards him, her expression uncertain. The SOLDIER tilted his head slightly, and Aerith's eyes widened in recognition.

"...Kunsel?" she asked.

"Yeah..." said the SOLDIER, nodding once.

"Sephiroth, it's alright," said Aerith. "He's one of Zack's friends. He came to check on me a couple of times."

Sephiroth turned away from her, staring at the SOLDIER a moment more. He reluctantly drew back, lowering his sword. The SOLDIER stepped away from the wall, tugging his helmet off his head and revealing his face. He was about Zack's age, with brown hair cut somewhat messily and bright mako blue eyes. He tucked his helmet under his arm.

"Explain yourself," said Sephiroth, pointing the tip of his sword at the floor.

Kunsel took a deep breath, stepping forward. "Zack got in touch with me," he said. "We met up, and he told me what was going on. He came up with a plan to have me pretend to arrest him, so that he could get into the President's office and break the others out. It didn't work. Zack and the others are in the brig."

"Alive?" asked Sephiroth.

"As far as I could tell," said Kunsel. He looked up as Aerith came to stand next to them, then looked back at Sephiroth. "I overheard one of the Turks, the one with sunglasses, say he found you guys down here. I knocked him out and dealt with the guards heading this way, but they won't be held off for long, and they're probably already keeping an eye out for me as well."

Sephiroth frowned, considering it. He didn't recognize this man, but he knew that Zack had been quite popular among the men during his term as a SOLDIER. "...How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"You don't," said Kunsel. "You just have my word. But I'm here to help"

"True enough," said Sephiroth. He glanced over at Aerith. "Do you trust this man?" he asked.

Aerith glanced at Kunsel, nodding once. "I do," she said. "He was one of Zack's best friends. I don't think he's lying."

He didn't detect any deceit from Kunsel either. But he had been wrong before. He paused for a moment, considering his options. Zack and the others were in the brig. They were alive, but they wouldn't be for long if left to their own devices.

He thought back to the conversation he had overheard before his reunion with the group, the two Deepground SOLDIERs talking on the rooftop. The memory of that conversation gave him renewed purpose, and he clenched his fist.

Yes. There was still something else he had to do.

"...Very well," he said. "Take Aerith. Find a way to assist the others."

"You mean—?" began Aerith.

"Yes," he said, looking her in the eye. "We are not leaving them here." He turned towards Kunsel. "Do it now," he said. "This is an order. And if I find out you have tricked us, I will kill you myself."

Kunsel straightened up. "Yes, sir!" he said.

Sir. Sephiroth turned away, hiding the ghost of an amused smile on his face. How long had it been since he had been called that?

"What are you going to do?" asked Aerith as he walked away.

"Something that I should have done a long time ago." He tightened his grip on Masamune, stepping out the door. As he left, he paused, hesitating for a moment. He took a deep breath. "Kunsel."

"Sir."

"The Turk imprisoned with Zack and the others," he said. "Get to her before Tseng does."

Kunsel stared at Sephiroth for a moment, seeming taken aback by the request. He recovered quickly, nodding once. "Yes, sir," he said.

Aerith's eyes widened. She took a step forward and stared at him, a hopeful expression on her face. Sephiroth glanced at her, meeting her eyes. "It's not that I want to protect someone," he said.

He turned away from her, holding Masamune loosely in his left hand and starting down the hallway.

"But there is a debt I have to repay."

**END FILE**


	32. File 011: Trail of Blood pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: ** Sorry for this chapter being somewhat later than usual. It was delayed by Thanksgiving celebrations and the exams I had to take as soon as I got back. But it's here now! It's a short chapter, because that felt like the perfect place to end it, but I'll hopefully get a new one out soon.

**Ryuukoshi, **he meant Cissnei. As for your first question, well...you'll have to see~

**JazzQueen, **yeah I know what you mean. In Crisis Core, he was shown to have a "Sugar and Ice Personality" before he went insane, where he actually did care about Zack and Angeal and Genesis, but appeared cold on the outside aside from some special moments (like letting Zack go back to Midgar to protect Aerith). Angeal, Genesis and Zack had already helped defrost him a little bit in CC, but his going insane kind of ruined that, so for this story, I'm going to attempt to continue the defrosting process! As for the romance, yes, I will expand on that, but it will have to wait till they get somewhere peaceful—no romantic interludes in the Shinra Building!

**Irish-Brigid**, having Sephiroth come charging at you in a dark room is bound to scare the pants off of anyone, SOLDIER or not, lol. And yes, Sephiroth is mad, but thankfully it's the angry kind now, not so much the crazy kind. (Angry!Sephiroth is slightly less dangerous than CrazyAngry!Sephiroth).

**Riku Uzumaki, **hmm...well, logically, it can only be one. (Hint: I like Tseng too much. Read and find out about the others)

**Anna Crosszeria, **he's still learning about all the interesting things this "heart" thing can do, so he'll be swimming that river in Egypt for a little while yet~ And yes, Kunsel's back! Because Zack needs all his friends around him...seriously, Zack is starting to feel like a Magnetic Hero in this story.

**Justin, **so glad you like it! I could make the chapters longer but they would also be more infrequent, and I like to update fast in slightly smaller doses. I hope they're not too short though. This story's pushing 100K as it is, so...yeah.

**CISSNEI ORIGIN STORY ANNOUNCEMENT: Falling Stars** is now out. You can find it if you look on my profile. It's from Veld and Shion (Katana)'s POV, but it also functions as a nice little origin story for Cissnei, so go check it out!

XxXxX

**File 011: Trail of Blood**

When Zack woke next, it was to the sound of battle. He shot out of bed, forgetting his bonds and letting out a surprised grunt as they snapped back, nearly knocking him back down. Cissnei had already stepped back, and was standing next to the bed and facing the door, crouched slightly with her hands extended to either side of her as though she was ready to pounce at any moment.

He heard a crash, followed by a groan that probably belonged to one of the guards. The sound of swordfighting in the hall continued.

"Aerith!" shouted a male voice. Zack's eyes widened as he stared at the door. He recognized that voice. He and Cissnei exchanged glances and he felt his face spread into a grin.

Kunsel.

A rush of cold air accompanied the shout, followed by the thud of ice impacting something. The metallic tinkling sound of ice crystals hitting the ground followed. "I'm alright!"shouted a voice that could only belong to Aerith.

"Get Zack and the others! I'll hold them off! Zack, you in there?"

"Right here, buddy!" Zack called out.

The door opened with a hiss, revealing Aerith, flushed and out of breath with exertion. A few strands of brown hair had escaped her ponytail, and she was holding her staff in one hand, frost crystals covering the tip. She was holding a keycard in one hand, pressing it to the door. Her eyes moved from Cissnei, to Zack, to the restraints on his wrists. They widened.

"Zack," she said, moving forward quickly and holding up the keycard. She looked around, looking for something to swipe it through, but there was nothing on the wall next to him.

"Leave it to me," said Cissnei suddenly, getting up and holding her hand out for the card. "The shackles are probably electronically controlled. I can use the data on the card to hack into the system and—."

A brown-haired SOLDIER rushed into the cell, brandishing his sword. He pulled back, thrusting it sharply into the wall a few feet away from Zack. The sword sank into the metal, sparks flying up around it as it struck circuitry. The restraints binding his wrists fell open with a hiss, falling from his hands.

Kunsel withdrew his sword, shifting it to his left hand and holding a hand out towards Zack. "You alright?" he asked.

Zack grinned. "Perfect timing," he said, letting Kunsel pull him to his feet. Cissnei blinked in surprise, staring at the crack in the wall.

"...Or that," she said.

"I'll get Cloud, Tifa and the others," said Aerith. She turned on her heel, rushing out of the room in a whirl of pink. Zack turned to watch her go, releasing Kunsel's hand. The Second—well, Zack supposed he would be First now—turned towards Cissnei.

"How many of you are there?" he asked.

"Counting Sephiroth, there were six of us that entered the building. There are seven here now." She looked over at Kunsel, raising an eyebrow. "...Can I assume eight?"

"Well, I can't exactly stick around after helping you escape," he said. "Get everyone together. We need to leave."

Cissnei nodded, darting outside after Aerith. As Kunsel watched her go, Zack took a moment to study his friend. The stress of the past five years seemed to have taken its toll. When they were in training together, Kunsel was always the more laid-back of the two of them. He did his job, quietly and reliably, didn't make waves, and yet somehow was always in the know. He never would have pegged Kunsel as the type to make an enemy out of the company. But the mail he had received while on the run with Cloud...

_I don't care if you've made an enemy out of Shinra. _

_Just come back alive. _

Kunsel glanced back at him, frowning as he noticed Zack's scrutiny. "What's up?"

Zack shook his head. "Nothing, man," he said. "Come on. Let's get out of here before they notice we're gone."

Kunsel nodded, following Zack out of the cell. The others were already waiting outside, forming a loose circle near their cell doors. As the two of them stepped out, Aerith moved away from Barret and Red's cell, letting them through. Cloud and Tifa looked up as Zack approached, both of them looking a little worse for wear, but alive and unharmed. Tifa was leaning against the wall, a tired expression on her face, as Cloud folded his arms and rubbed at his shoulder.

There were three unconscious guards on the floor near the cells. They didn't seem to be any more than knocked out, but from the looks of it they wouldn't be getting up for a few more minutes. Another had been—Zack blinked—frozen, by the looks of it. There were still frost crystals on the ground, making it look as though winter had made it into the building. He made a mental note not to get on Aerith's bad side any more than necessary and wondered briefly where she had gotten the Materia. Kunsel had probably lent it to her.

Barret scowled as he noticed Kunsel, turning towards Zack. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Old friend of mine," said Zack. He grinned at Kunsel. "We don't have time, so I'll make this quick. That's Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Red, Cissnei, and you know Aerith. Everyone, this is Kunsel."

Barret's eyes roved suspiciously over Kunsel's uniform. "He in SOLDIER too?" he asked.

"Yeah." Zack looked over Kunsel's black uniform, grinning. "Apparently First Class. But you can trust him."

"Where's Sephiroth?" asked Tifa.

"Good question," said Zack. He glanced between Kunsel and Aerith. Aerith frowned, hesitantly stepping forward.

"He said he had something to do," she said.

"He'll probably meet us later," said Kunsel. "He told me to get the rest of you out of the building."

"Guess it's easy when you can fly," said Zack, trailing his eyes up towards the ceiling. He pictured the relatively short distance to the seventieth floor, compared to the more than sixty flights of stairs that led down.

"What's up with that anyway?" asked Barret. "That wing. That ain't normal."

Zack folded his arms. His mind went back to the first time he had seen a black wing like that. It had belonged to Genesis. In Banora. He remembered what Genesis had said about it then.

"That's not important right now," said Cissnei, staring down at the ground.

"Mm," said Cloud, nodding. He straightened up. "Let's get out of the building first."

"Our weapons and Barret's ammo are in the evidence locker, two doors down," said Cissnei, pointing down the hall. "Grab them and go."

The others nodded, taking off in that direction. Cissnei brought up the rear, leaving Zack with Kunsel and Aerith. Aerith walked up to him, an uncertain look on her face. She placed a hand on Zack's arm as Zack turned to head to the evidence locker as well. Zack paused at the touch, glancing back at her. She raised her eyes to his, her green eyes luminous. It reminded him of all the things he still had to explain. His eyes darkened. He wasn't afraid of memories...but there were some things he'd rather not have to dig up.

"We will talk," he promised.

Aerith nodded in understanding, her fingers on his arm both hesitant and gentle. "Later," she said.

Zack nodded, stepping away from her and following the others down the path.

"The Buster Sword's safe," said Kunsel as he walked. "I put it there myself."

He raised a hand in thanks, stepping into the small room.

XxXxX

Cissnei couldn't shake the feeling that something about this felt horribly wrong.

She reached up over Tifa as the other woman crouched down, rummaging in the drawer for her gloves, and picked Rekka up off the shelf. The shuriken had been carefully placed there along with all the other weapons, and she thought she should have been grateful that Tseng hadn't carted it off to the General Affairs Department for processing. Cissnei spun it around in her hand, feeling along the center of it with her free hand for the Materia slot. Alright, so she wasn't _that _lucky. They'd confiscated her Materia. Still, she supposed it could be worse. She replaced the shuriken at her back, then checked her sidearm's magazine. They'd taken the bullets as well.

She sighed, replacing it in its usual hiding place. That wasn't a problem. Bullets weren't too hard to replace, considering where they were. Her eyes moved over the shelf again, and she frowned. By all accounts, Tseng should have taken her shuriken. There was no reason for him to leave it here, when she wasn't supposed to stay at this department, and Rekka had been issued by the Turks in the first place. Granted, it had been a gift, but the same could be said of all the things the Turks had given her in the early days.

She shook her head. She should be grateful, not suspicious. But then again, she was a Turk. Suspicion was part of her nature. She watched as the others grabbed their weapons, stepping around Zack and Kunsel and heading out the evidence room door. Her eyes moved over the walls, fixing on the keypad that hung next to the door that led out of the prisons.

The light above it was green. Had Kunsel opened the door?

No, he wouldn't have had the requisite clearance. SOLDIER First Classes may have had military authority, but that didn't give them free reign over Shinra's prisons, especially not with an ex-SOLDIER in the brig. But she was inclined to believe that Kunsel had found a way in, because there was only one other option, one that left more questions than answers.

The door had never been locked in the first place.

Cissnei walked over to the door, trailing one gloved hand across the metal wall as she stared up at it. Her eyes moved over the area, trying to figure out what felt so wrong about this entire scenario.

It hit her like a ton of bricks.

It was quiet.

No, not just quiet. Besides the conversation coming from the evidence locker behind her and the sound of steel as the group grabbed weapons and looked for other things to salvage, it was silent as the grave. The entire floor should have been loud by now, bustling with activity and swarming with troops ready to open the prison doors and start shooting at anything that tried to get out. It should have had someone raising the alarm, or even at the very least troops _patrolling _the area just in case.

But there was nothing. Just...silence.

And that was very, _very _wrong.

"...Cissnei?" asked Zack from behind her, making her look up.

"...Where's Sephiroth?" she asked, turning towards Kunsel.

Kunsel shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "He just left."

"What did he say?" asked Cissnei. She forced herself to speak slowly and evenly, looking Kunsel in the eye. "Tell me what he said exactly."

"He said...that he was going to do something he should have done a long time ago."

Cissnei's eyes widened, the pieces beginning to fall into place. Zack frowned at her in concern.

"Cissnei?" he asked.

She whirled around, ignoring him completely as she pressed the button that opened the door. She knew this silence, she realized as she ran down the hallway.

It was the silence of a battlefield after a bloodbath. It was the silence of darkened locked rooms and closed doors, of silenced strikes and muted whispers. It was a silence she had wrapped herself in, enveloped herself in since childhood until it belonged to her, and she moved within it—the silence of the suit that still clung to her skin even though she was no longer wearing it, and the silence of that night in the courtyard of the orphanage when she was fourteen, and her hands were covered in blood.

It was the silence of death.

And accompanying it, as she ran, was the familiar metallic tang of blood.

Cissnei skidded to a stop in front of the laboratory, staring at the sight in front of her. At first, all she saw was red. The floor was slick with it, disguising the glowing blue tank that they had rescued Red XIII from. And interspersed inside the red were several figures, in coats that had once been white.

The scientists were dead.

All of them.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	33. File 011: Trail of Blood pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I've noticed that I'm looking up walkthroughs less and less, which means we're gradually getting farther away from the canon progression of the game. I imagine we'll get to a point where I have to stop looking at walkthroughs and start just making stuff up. I'm actually looking forward to that time.

Another plug for **Falling Stars**, my Turkfic prequel to **Another Side**. It's not an AU, but it IS my interpretation of both Shion/Katana's transition into the Turks from being a prisoner and how Cissnei was "discovered in an orphanage as a young girl and raised and trained as a Turk". There are several nods and shout outs in the narrative to BC and CC canon, as well as events in **Another Side. **(Review it please~)

Cissy's POV for this chapter because she's a neutral observer. Another short chapter, I know, but again, a perfect place to end it.

**JazzQueen, Canard Pars, Anna Crosszeria, **and **Riku Uzumaki, **you're going to have to read and find out whether Hojo made it out or not~ Thanks for the reviews!

**Irish-Brigid, **well, no matter how neatly you do it, attacking people with a sword is going to get messy. Especially if you're Sephiroth. And yes, training does count for a lot. At this point, only Aerith and Red really have their hands clean.

**SapphireMyst, **Seph's sane but he's not perfect. And he does have a lot to be angry at Shinra for. Don't worry, he's not going to get off with a handwave—the other characters aren't all cool with this either. Thanks for the review!

XxXxX

**File 011: Trail of Blood**

Cissnei's hand curled close to her chest, her fingers hooking into the edges of her vest's collar. Her heart pounded beneath her fingertips, the blood rushing in her ears as her eyes fixed on the scene. She took deep breaths, her grip tightening slightly as she felt the initial rush of panic start to recede, her training kicking in as minor details became more and more apparent.

The first thing she did was study the bodies. There were seven or eight of them—easily recognizable by their coats as members of the Shinra Science Department. But not the entire department, Cissnei realized as the adrenaline rush started to fade. Just Hojo's personal team. Their wounds were long and deep gashes, caused by a slender, curved blade wielded with inhuman strength. They were as distinctive as fingerprints.

Sephiroth.

Behind her, she heard the sound of footsteps as Zack and the rest of the party arrived. Someone—either Tifa or Aerith—gasped. She turned her head, looking back at them. They were clustered in the entryway to the labs, Cloud, Kunsel, Zack and Barret standing at the front of the party. Tifa stood behind Cloud, a stunned expression on her face as the blond swordsman stepped in front of her, his eyes wide as he studied the scene. Aerith stood with her hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes wide as well. Zack stood protectively in front of her, so that she was looking over his left shoulder.

"What the hell happened here?" demanded Barret.

"Did...did Sephiroth do this?" asked Tifa, disbelieving.

Zack scowled in response, immediately turning towards her. Cissnei looked away, taking a step forward towards the nearest body. She looked down at it, studying it, then moved her eyes across the rest of the lab, taking note of each body and its position on the ground. There were eight dead. Hojo wasn't among them.

On instinct, her eyes drifted toward the chamber containing Jenova's remains. The chamber still glowed, its unearthly contents still bound beneath the layers of metal and glass that enclosed it. Her eyes drifted to the pool of blood, noticing now that there were one or two sets of footprints leading away, and not stopping. The bodies, she noticed, aside from one or two, were mostly facing the center of the room, their wounds on their chests. Very few were facing _away _from the swordsman when they were cut.

Several pieces of scientific equipment had been knocked over in the melee. They were strewn across the floor, between the bodies. She recognized them as the tools Hojo used to subdue his specimens, particularly those that were much stronger than himself.

"They weren't his target..." she said. The thought made her feel somewhat relieved, for a reason she couldn't quite name. "They tried to stop him. They were in his way."

An image flashed through her mind—Sephiroth at the train station before the Sector 1 Reactor bombing, Masamune flashing through the air as he easily cut down the two guards that flanked him. He almost didn't seem to notice them, so focused was he on his end goal. Zack's words echoed in her mind, their tone darker now.

Never get in Sephiroth's way when he has somewhere he wants to be.

Silence followed her announcement. She looked up at Zack. He didn't seem to share her relief. Aerith slowly lowered her hands away from her face, her expression growing sad as she looked out at the bodies. Barret looked unfazed. Cloud slowly removed his hand from the hilt of his sword.

To her surprise, it was Kunsel who stepped forward first, coming to stand next to her. She watched as his eyes moved over the scene, focusing on the small trail of red that led away from the carnage.

"So he went this way..." he said. "...And into the elevator."

Cissnei nodded. "Looks like."

There were only three floors above this one. That left a limited number of places Sephiroth could be headed. And only two of them made sense. The lab, where Hojo was, except for the fact that Hojo would probably no longer be there, and the seventieth floor.

With a sinking feeling, she realized she knew where Sephiroth was.

A look at the SOLDIER beside her told her that he realized it too.

In silence, they followed the trail upstairs, the others following behind them.

XxXxX

The trail stopped on the seventieth floor.

There had been other dead along the way. This time, it had been mostly SOLDIERs and infantrymen. Again, they were all facing their killer when they died, some of them with swords in their hands. Some escaped. One terrified man had run right past them, nearly knocking her over as he ran towards the nearest exit. Another pair of escaping infantrymen had regained their wits long enough to try and recapture them. Zack and Cloud had quickly knocked them out, leaving them unconscious in the hallway.

There were fewer survivors than they should have been. The sight of each body made her feel colder inside.

Cissnei came to a halt as she crested the top of the stairs, staring at the scene in front of her. The President's office looked the same as it had a few hours ago, brightly lit, with the Midgar skyline's lights shining through the large windows behind the president's imposing desk. If she kept her eyes anywhere but behind the desk, she could almost pretend that this was just another workday, and she had been sent up here to deliver information, or to answer a request because Tseng, Reno, or Rude were unavailable. But behind the desk, everything changed.

President Shinra was dead.

He lay slumped over the front of his desk, his head resting on an open file folder. He was still sitting down, as though he hadn't fully had time to process what was happening. Maybe he hadn't. A sword protruded from his back, pinning him to the desk. It was seven feet long, bloodied metal gleaming in the room's fluorescent lights.

Sephiroth stood over it, half turned away from them. He didn't seem to notice their approach. His face was as composed as usual. She studied his eyes. They were unusually contemplative, studying the body almost as though he had never seen a corpse before. There was an entire cocktail of emotions churning in them—things she had never seen Sephiroth express before. Guilt. Self-doubt. Relief. Uncertainty. Shame.

It struck her, because she understood. She knew what sort of questions came with not being ordered to kill, but choosing to do it. Did I do the right thing? Was there no other way? Shouldn't I be feeling better now?

"Sephiroth!" shouted Zack. "Why did you kill them?"

The moment shattered. She saw it in the sudden tension of his shoulders beneath his coat, the return of awareness as his eyes hardened. He didn't turn towards the sound of the voice.

"Answer me, Sephiroth!"

His mouth tightened. She saw his fingers twitch. He didn't turn around.

Zack let out a shout, running forward and pulling back his fist. He swung it at Sephiroth's face.

A hand shot up, catching the fist in mid-air as Sephiroth turned smoothly, facing Zack. "Shut up!"

Zack did, his entire body seeming to freeze in place, coming to a standstill. Cissnei would have too, if only for the fact that it was Sephiroth, and he had raised his voice, and _he had issued an emotional command. _

"How many people have you personally killed?" demanded Sephiroth.

Zack stared at Sephiroth. He didn't answer, but his expression darkened, his scowl deepening as he shot the other SOLDIER a glare. Cissnei saw his free hand clench into a fist. He grit his teeth, a vein pulsing in his jaw.

"I thought so," said Sephiroth softly, his voice going back to its normal tone. He released Zack's fist with a small push. Zack stumbled back a step. He raised his head as soon as he regained his balance, meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"Before you arrived, I overheard two Deepground SOLDIERS talking," said Sephiroth. "Sector 7 was dropped because of me. They were trying to kill me. I killed those people...so what are a few more?" He turned away from Zack, facing President Shinra again.

"You didn't have to kill them all," argued Zack. He straightened up, taking a step forward. "Those SOLDIERs? The scientists? Were they all fighting back? What about honor?"

"Honor left this place long ago and _you know it_!" snapped Sephiroth, looking back at Zack. "It left when Lazard disappeared. It left when Shinra decided that Angeal had to die."

A terrified squeak echoed from the corner of the room, and both Zack and Sephiroth froze, lifting their heads at the same time and turning to face it. Palmer, the director of the space program, let out a yelp when he saw them looking, scrambling past them and attempting to run for the stairs.

"Help!" he screamed as he ran for the stairs. "Help! Weiss! Shelke! Somebody!"

"They won't be coming," replied a smooth voice.

Cissnei stiffened. Across the room, she saw Zack and Sephiroth immediately turn, their eyes narrowed dangerously. She looked back over her shoulder.

Genesis strode calmly up the stairs, his black wing trailing feathers behind him. There was a smirk on his face. The ex-SOLDIER stopped as he reached the top of the stairs, glancing down at Palmer, who let out a terrified whimper.

"Nero and Weiss are busy..._preparing_."

He walked forward again, walking around to the back of the desk. Sephiroth glared at him, his expression murderous. Genesis simply smirked in response, tilting his head upwards. He raised his hands, bringing them together in slow, mocking applause. "A marvelous performance," he said. "I couldn't have done better."

"Genesis," said Sephiroth.

Genesis turned away, raising his hand in a sweeping gesture towards the President's body. "The President of Shinra Inc. dead, killed in a brutal massacre after the dropping of Sector 7 by the terrorist group AVALANCHE, with the Hero of Wutai as the culprit. The Great General Sephiroth, loved by all, has fallen into the shadows. All that's left is for a hero to rise from the ashes and defeat this new villain." He smiled, lifting his Rapier from his back and holding it in his right hand.

"You're insane!" shouted Zack.

"On the contrary," replied Genesis. "It's amazing what a few strategically placed words can do, isn't it Sephiroth?"

Cissnei's eyes widened. Sephiroth tensed.

"You made them say that?" asked Cissnei.

Genesis ignored her. "I will admit I was skeptical," he said. "I didn't think you had such...human emotions. But I suppose in this case..." He looked over his shoulder, giving Sephiroth a knowing smirk.

"Mother knows best."

Several things happened in an instant. Sephiroth moved forward, gripping Masamune in his left hand and pulling it from President Shinra's body in one quick motion. He stepped forward, glaring heatedly at Genesis as he pushed himself off the ground and launched himself at him. Genesis's eyes widened in surprise as he turned, raising his Rapier to counter the attack. The impact sent Genesis falling backwards, into the window. Glass shattered. Sephiroth unfurled his wing.

The two of them fell in a tangle of feathers, shards, and steel, vanishing from sight.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	34. File 011: Trail of Blood pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I just realized something. Everyone in FFVII has daddy issues. EVERYONE. (Except Zack, who had no issues before deciding to go make issues for himself). Rufus, Lazard and President Shinra, Godo and Yuffie, Grimoire and Vincent, Veld and Felicia/Elfe, Cloud and his non-existent father, Aerith and Gast, Tifa and her dad, Seph and Hojo, Genesis and his adopted parents, Angeal and his dead dad, Barret and Marlene, Dyne and Marlene, Cissnei being an orphan...*sweatdrop*

Also, I don't support yaoi pairings (unless there's actual canon evidence), but the amount of Foe Yay in this chapter is too damn high! Genesis is sooo much better as a villain though. His insanity seems to have taken the opposite route from Sephiroth's. Seph went from being stoic to being a bit of a drama king with a god complex, and Genesis went from being a drama king to being actually more coherent...I like it! (Theme for the Fight: The Planet Has Become My Guardian, Crisis Core OST)

**Irish-Brigid, **oh yes. Yes it will. Genesis has a slightly different set of goals and methods than Sephiroth did in the game, because even though he's taken over as the one getting controlled by/controlling Jenova (haven't decided which), he's still Genesis.

**JazzQueen, **thanks! I hope this story lives up to your high hopes! And, yes, there will definitely be some discussion about that once I get all these fights written out.

**Anna Crosszeria, **to say he's stressed out in this situation would be putting it lightly. His mental state is definitely a little unstable right now—but at least he's letting off steam like this instead of going completely mad. And the Tsviets were out earlier in the story, but yes, their connection with Genesis and Project G has a LOT to do with this turn of events. (Remember, Weiss refers to Genesis as his brother in that last scene of Crisis Core~)

**Ryuukoshi, **I went and listened to it too, and you know what, you're right. And yes, she does get where he's coming from, and that's going to come up as soon as they get out of Midgar. I'm really glad you like this story and I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.

**Riku Uzumaki, **I think in this case, he meant to do that. But so true. Crisis Core pretty much puts him as the catalyst that made Seph go crazy in the first place.

**Furionknight, **thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

XxXxX

**File 011: Trail of Blood**

Zack's eyes widened in alarm as Sephiroth and Genesis tumbled backwards, falling through the hole in the broken window.

"Sephiroth!" he shouted, stepping forward and holding out his hand.

He thought he saw Sephiroth's eyes shift towards him, just moments before the two of them tumbled backwards over the side of the building and disappeared from sight. Zack scowled, running forward towards the broken window at the same time as Cissnei did. He came to a stop at the room's edge, glass crunching underneath his boots.

The two falling figures separated, wings outstretched as they pushed away from each other. As Zack watched, the two of them righted themselves, before flying towards each other again. Sword scraped against sword in a flurry of bright sparks, Masamune sliding down the Rapier's length as Sephiroth turned in midair.

Cissnei tugged insistently at his arm. "Zack!" she said.

He slowly tore his eyes away from the sight, looking down at her. Zack nodded once in understanding. There was nothing he could do to help them at the moment, not unless he managed to sprout a wing or two, and there were more important things. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder. Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith had all come over to the window as well, and were watching him expectantly.

"Everyone head out," he ordered. "Let's get out of here."

He turned away from the windows, heading towards the door. The others nodded, quickly hurrying towards the stairs.

He had barely gone a few steps when he heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter approaching the Shinra Building. Zack froze, looking back out the window. Behind him, Cissnei and the others came to a stop. The helicopter swung around, revealing the Shinra logo emblazoned on its side. The chopper itself was completely white, compared to the usual black Shinra helicopters.

Cissnei tensed. "That's..."

"Rufus!" said Barret from behind them. "Shit! I forgot about him!"

Zack looked back at Barret, his eyes widening. "The vice president?" he asked in disbelief.

"Who's that?" asked Tifa.

"Rufus Shinra, the president's son," replied Kunsel, looking back at her.

"Zack, it's landing," warned Aerith from beside him. Zack looked up, turning back towards it. The helicopter skirted around, seeming to ignore the two ex-SOLDIERs fighting in the sky around it and making for the helipad. Palmer chose that moment to jump up from his position cowering by the stairs, running out the door and onto the rooftop.

"What do we do?" asked Cloud, looking back at Zack.

Zack glanced from the open window to the door of the rooftop. "Dammit!" he swore, shaking his head and running out after Palmer. He heard footsteps behind him, and assumed the others were following. It was nearly freezing outside, and the cold winter wind buffeting the building caught him off guard, but there were other things to worry about. He shielded his face from the wind as the helicopter's blades stopped whirring, hearing the distant clash of steel from where Sephiroth and Genesis continued to fight.

A blond man dressed entirely in white stood on the rooftop, talking calmly with a frightened Palmer. As Zack and the others emerged, Palmer squeaked and ran onto the helicopter, leaving the man there. He looked up, facing the group of them. Looking at him, Zack noted the same blond hair, blue eyes, and haughty expression that the President wore so well, along with something else, something a little bit more familiar, but that he couldn't quite place.

"Who are you guys?" he asked, looking up at Zack.

Zack glared at him, straightening up and stepping forward. "I'm Zack," he said. "Former SOLDIER First Class."

"I'm from AVALANCHE!" said Barret, raising his fists as Rufus turned towards him.

"Same here," said Tifa.

"Ex-Turk," said Cissnei as Rufus glanced at her.

"Uh...former Shinra infantryman," said Cloud.

He turned towards Aerith next. Zack instinctively shifted a little bit to the right so that he was slightly between her and Rufus. She hesitated for a moment before answering, her grip on her staff tightening. "...a flower girl from the slums," she said, looking up.

"A research specimen," said Red, rising on his haunches.

Rufus smirked, shrugging his shoulders dismissively and shaking his head. "What a crew." He turned away from them, running a hand through his light blond hair. "Well, I'm Rufus. The President of Shinra Incorporated."

Zack blinked in surprise. "President?" he asked.

"You only President 'cause your old man died!" said Barret.

Rufus inclined his head towards Barret in acknowledgment, then turned away from them, placing one hand on the railing and looking over at the fight as though he found it mildly entertaining. "That's right," he said. "I'll let you hear my new appointment speech." He turned away from the fight, his hand sliding off the railing as he walked towards them.

"The old man tried to control the world with money," he said. "It seems to have been working." Tifa, who was nearest him, tensed, her hands clenching into fists as she crouched down. He turned away from her, walking behind the seven of them. Zack tensed as Rufus passed him, turning his head to keep the President in his sight. He threw a hand out in front of Aerith as Rufus stopped in front of her, pulling her back and separating the two of them. Rufus ignored him. "The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside."

He came to a stop in front of Barret, completing his circuit. "It seems perfect on the outside," he continued. Barret glared at him, making a noise in his throat that sounded almost like a growl. He acknowledged it with a mocking gesture, as though he were speaking in front of a crowd. "But I do things differently."

"I'll control the world with fear," he said, turning away. "It takes too much work to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no need to waste money on them."

"He likes to make speeches just like his father," said Tifa with a glare, her tone laced with venom.

Rufus turned towards her, his eyes narrowing just slightly.

Zack scowled, about to step forward and force Rufus to back away, when he saw Cloud move out of the corner of his eye, glaring at Rufus and raising a hand to his sword. Rufus looked from Cloud to Tifa to Zack and shook his head, taking a step back and facing them.

"Perhaps you'll feel a little differently when my reinforcements arrive," he said.

Zack stared at Rufus. By reinforcements, he couldn't mean those SOLDIERs from before, could he?

"Everyone out now," said Cissnei, raising her hand and pulling Rekka from her back.

"I'm staying," said Cloud, pulling his sword from his back and holding it in his hands. Zack stared at Cloud. The younger man stood with a steady stance, a determined look in his eyes. It was a far cry from the uncertainty he had displayed upon first arriving at Midgar.

"Suit yourself," said Cissnei. "Barret!"

"I ain't leavin'!" protested Barret.

"You go get the others out," said Cissnei. "There's no reason for all of you to stay here. We'll meet you downstairs."

Barret scowled, but looked from Cissnei, to Cloud, to Rufus before nodding. He raised his human hand. "Awright, come on!" he said, waving at them to follow him. The others left, excluding Kunsel, who came to stand next to Cloud, his sword in his hand as well. Zack glanced back to see Aerith watching him, an uncertain expression on her face.

"Aerith, go," he said, nudging her in Barret's direction.

"But—," began Aerith.

"I'll be fine," said Zack. "Just go."

"Zack, go with her," said Cissnei.

Zack looked over at her in surprise, his eyes widening. She glanced back at him.

"She's still their target. And besides...," A small, knowing smile spread over her face. "I thought you didn't want to leave her alone again."

"Leave it to us," said Kunsel, glancing back at Zack and grinning. "Go be a hero."

Zack stared at her, then looked back at Aerith. She was watching him almost guiltily, her hands loosely holding onto her Mythril Staff. Cissnei was right. She was still a target. And he'd left her alone one too many times.

"Well, you heard the lady," he said, a smile on his face as he grabbed onto her hand. "Let's get out of here."

He turned, the two of them running back inside after Barret, Tifa and Red. Zack held Aerith's hand tightly as she followed him, not looking back as the door to the roof closed behind him.

_Cloud...Kunsel...Cissnei..._he thought. _...And Sephiroth too. _

_You guys better make it back alive. _

XxXxX

Sephiroth raised Masamune as Genesis flew towards him again, blocking the Rapier. He extended his wing, pushing himself forward with one powerful flap as the swords connected. The force behind his push shoved both him and Genesis backwards. Genesis tucked his own wing inwards, dropping down below Sephiroth and out of Masamune's reach as Sephiroth swung his sword. He righted himself, shooting up from underneath him and lashing out with his Rapier.

Sephiroth immediately launched himself into the air and then dived downward, meeting Genesis's blade with his own. The other man grit his teeth, pushing back against Sephiroth's sword for a moment before allowing himself to fall back down. He swung the Rapier three times in Sephiroth's direction, three lines of fire following in its wake. Sephiroth slashed through the first two, raising Masamune and blocking the third. The beam struck the sword head on, parting as it hit the blade. He felt the heat of the flames go to either side of him, and swatted them away with his sword, tucking his wing against himself and diving down to meet Genesis.

Genesis was ready. He parried Masamune, placing his free hand on the Rapier's hilt. The sword glowed a bright red, runes tracing their way across the length of the blade. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as a concussive blast shot outwards from the sword, accompanied by a wave of heat. The blast propelled him backwards and into the air. He flipped over, righting himself and extending his wing to keep himself steady. He hovered over the building for a moment, glancing once at the scene on the roof.

The entire group had gathered there, and were now speaking to Rufus Shinra.

His eyes narrowed at the sound of movement from below him, and he quickly raised his sword, parrying Genesis's blow.

"Getting distracted, Sephiroth?" asked Genesis, a smirk on his face. He swung his sword four more times. Sephiroth blocked each strike quickly, twisting left and right as Genesis aimed each blow at him. On the fourth blow, Sephiroth swatted the Rapier away with a powerful strike, drawing Masamune back towards him.

"My apologies," he said coldly, thrusting the blade at Genesis. Sephiroth moved eight times in quick succession, moving so quickly that the only things seen of Masamune were the blurry images it left behind. Genesis let out a grunt of pain as some of the blows struck home, flying backwards into the air. He thrust out his wing to stop himself before he flew too far away, holding his sword up in his hand. His face contorted into an ugly scowl as he glared at Sephiroth, raising his left hand. He held it out towards Sephiroth, a blast of fire forming in it and rushing towards him.

Sephiroth flew towards it, holding out Masamune and slashing at the fireball multiple times. It parted just enough to allow him to fly through, although he could feel the heat of the flames across his skin. Genesis clenched his hand into a fist as Sephiroth emerged from the flames, and the remnants of the fireball doubled back, flying towards him. Sephiroth pulled his wing close to himself, weaving underneath one and around another. The third, he slashed at with his sword, then flew upwards to avoid the fourth. He used the blast of light from the fireball to hide himself, dropping down from above and rushing towards Genesis. Genesis raised his sword, meeting the blow. The impact drove him downward, their eyes meeting over their crossed swords as they plummeted.

Genesis smirked, sliding out from underneath him and breaking the lock. He shot to the side, straightening in the air and rushing towards Sephiroth as he continued to plummet. Sephiroth quickly pulled himself out of his dive, twisting around to block Genesis's strike. The other swordsman had come in from his right, forcing him to do almost a complete turn to block the Rapier.

The result pushed him in the direction that Genesis was flying—back toward the Shinra Building.

"Do you know what heroes become when they fall, Sephiroth?" asked Genesis as they flew back. Sephiroth glared at him, pushing off of his sword to put some distance between them as Genesis whirled around, swinging Rapier in his direction. The force of the spin caused Sephiroth to fly back slightly upon impact, giving Genesis enough time to run his free hand over the blade. The runes flared into existence again, Genesis's mako eyes glowing. "They become monsters!" He shot forward, raising his sword. Flames trailed behind it as the sword came down over Sephiroth's head. Sephiroth quickly raised Masamune to counter it, flames blanketing the area.

Sephiroth grit his teeth, summoning up his strength as he pushed back, slipping Masamune out from underneath the lock just long enough to slash at Genesis. Genesis flew back and upward with a loud rustling of feathers, the tip of the blade just barely missing him.

"Speaking from personal experience?" asked Sephiroth, flying upward and slashing at Genesis. Genesis's smirk widened.

"You wish," he said, spinning around in the air and striking Sephiroth with the flaming sword.

The two swords met, the impact sending both swordsmen flying back and away from each other. Genesis raised his left hand, flames coating the glove as he held it out in front of him. He swept it to the side. "Shall I get rid of these distractions?" he asked, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. A scarlet circle of runes began to surround his hand, tracing themselves in the air around him.

He held it out toward the rooftop where the rest of the party stood, flames igniting at his fingertips. Sephiroth glanced in that direction, his eyes widening slightly.

He rushed forward, shooting toward Genesis. Sephiroth pulled Masamune close to him, grabbing at the outstretched wrist with his right hand and pushing it off target. The circle flickered and faded, and Genesis twisted around, moving his sword arm. "Psych," he said.

Sephiroth let out a small gasp of pain and surprise as the Rapier bit into his chest. He looked down to see the hilt of the sword in Genesis's hand, the blade impaling him.

"That's your weakness, isn't it," asked Genesis as the two of them fell backward. "Range. So powerful everywhere else, but once you let someone get as _close_ to you as this..." He pushed forward, driving the sword deeper. Sephiroth let out a grunt, reaching out with his left hand and attempting to ready Masamune.

The runes on the Rapier flared into life. Sephiroth had a split second to comprehend the blinding light as it traced its way along the length of the blade before he felt the heat of the sword inside his chest, burning white-hot as the blade ignited.

The blast that followed managed to tear a shout of pain from him as he was propelled backwards, the explosion of heat and force pushing him off the sword. He smelled burning flesh and blood as Genesis flew into the air, descending on him. Sephiroth took a deep breath, ignoring the searing pain in his chest as he straightened up, meeting Genesis's blow with his sword. He pushed back, slashing four times with Masamune. The force from the blade and the speed at which he cut tore the air, each slash hitting the Rapier and pushing Genesis back. The final slash pushed him back and upwards, three lines of blood appearing across his chest and arms.

Sephiroth immediately launched himself upward, Masamune crashing into the Rapier before Genesis had a chance to fully recover. Genesis quickly gained back his posture, flying back a few feet before meeting Sephiroth's blade in a steadier block.

"If I were you," said Genesis, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. "I would destroy everything close to me."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed in anger. "Go burn," he said, lashing out with Masamune. Genesis grit his teeth, flying back into the air as the blade propelled him back and away. He raised his left hand.

"An excellent idea," he said, his eyes narrowing as well. He held his hand out in front of him. "You first."

Sephiroth glanced down at his feet. A scarlet circle had formed around his feet, words enscribing themselves into the empty air. He spread his wing, looking up at Genesis. The auburn-haired SOLDIER grinned at him, holding out his glowing hand. The grin faded, his eyes narrowing in anger again.

"_Apocalypse!" _

A pillar of fire rose up from the circle, consuming him. Sephiroth grit his teeth, swinging Masamune quickly around him in an attempt to disperse the flames. He managed to avert the worst of it, but the flames still clawed at him, surrounding him and twisting around him so that all he could feel was heat. It would take more than heat and fire to kill him, though.

He emerged from the pillar, flames wreathing him and trailing along behind him as he rushed straight at Genesis. Genesis's eyes widened, and he raised his sword, but evidently Sephiroth's strike held more power than he anticipated. He flew back.

"This ends now," said Sephiroth, gripping Masamune tightly in his hand and flying towards Genesis again.

Genesis let out a small shot of rage, righting himself and attempting to raise his sword to meet it.

The two of them came together again, swords clashing.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	35. File 011: Trail of Blood pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **The monster faced by Zack and Aerith is somewhat based off of Hundred Gunner and Heli Gunner, but once again, modified to match the stronger opponents they're facing. I'm trying really hard not to make a trope page for this story...(Zack and Aerith = Sword and Sorcery/Battle Couple?)

The next chapter will have some abbreviated fight scenes, but probably not the same full-length ones that the past two chapters have had. Sorry about that in advance.

I made a Zack Fair AMV to the song Some Nights by Fun. You can find it on Youtube by searching "Zack Fair Some Nights Mystwalker17". It should be the first hit.

**JazzQueen, **yep. Genesis's priorities can pretty much be summed up as follows: 1) Tear Sephiroth down. 2) Become hero. 3) Gift of the Goddess/Jenova/I'll figure this out later 4) ? 5) Profit.

**Guest, **why thank you. Glad you liked it!

**Omegadude1, **yeah I meant "shout of rage". Thanks for catching that! And really, my fic is the only one? That's pretty cool, considering the number of odd pairings FFVII spawns. ^^ Yeah, I think I might end up going in that direction with Jenova. She's "in control" and they're working together, but Genesis's priorities are a little different from Sephiroth's in the original game.

**Riku Uzumaki, **yeah, after five years and a heaping dose of Jenova cells, he's definitely gained a few levels.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**Irish-Brigid, **I could just see Genesis sticking to fire because he's a pyromaniac and it goes with his outfit XD. Although considering he never uses any other element in the games and his sword never glows any other color, I'm tempted to believe fire is just Genesis's thing.

**Ryuukoshi, **glad you like it! We'll see the ending of the fight in a chapter or two—at the moment Seph and Gen have kind of been moved to the background. There's too many characters in this game!

**Draconic, **thank you! That's high praise! I'm so glad you like it!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **thanks! Glad you like it. ^^

XxXxX

**File 011: Trail of Blood**

"Tch!"

Zack skidded to a stop as a large crab-like machine came into view, blocking the corridor and cutting him off from Barret and Red. He immediately turned, pulling Aerith behind him and spreading his arms to shield her from view. She let out a surprised yelp, looking over his shoulder.

Of course they would encounter resistance on the way down. This was Shinra after all—they wouldn't just let them go that easily. He regretted letting Tifa stay behind to wait for Cloud, but she wouldn't be persuaded otherwise.

On the other side of the hallway near the elevator, Barret and Red stopped as well.

"Zack!" called Barret.

Zack reached up as the machine raised its guns towards him, grabbing his Buster Sword. "Keep moving!" he yelled. "I'll handle things here!"

For a moment, Barret looked like he was going to stay behind. But he nodded, turning and following Red into the open elevator. He heard several clicks as bullets slid into place, followed by a whirring sound as the machine ejected three drones, their propellers spinning rapidly as they got into place. A single red light glowed in the center of the machine.

"_**Target identified. SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair. Accessing records..." **_

Zack sighed, lifting the Buster Sword from his back and holding it in both hands. "Why oh why did I take on so many Weapons Development missions?"

"Zack?" said Aerith.

He smiled, glancing back over his shoulder at her. "Don't worry about a thing," he said, turning back towards the machine. "Just stay back. I'll handle this."

The drones split off from the machine, rushing towards him. Zack gripped the Buster Sword tightly, running forward to meet them. He dodged the first bullet, running to the side as the first drone fired a shot at him. The second's shot, he deflected with the Buster Sword's side, the bullet pinging off the metal. Zack leaped forward as the third shot at him, taking a roll and jumping back onto his feet. The main machine's cannons locked onto his position as he rushed at it. Zack jumped into the air as they fired, sailing easily over the blasts. He flipped over in the air, plunging downwards with the Buster Sword.

It bit into fortified metal with an ear-piercing screech, scraping a line down the machine's side. The robot had obviously been built to take blows from SOLDIERs, though—the sword didn't get through its core. Zack barely had a moment to realize that before the machine spun around, lashing out at him with a long metal arm. He let out a shout of surprise as it caught him across the middle, flinging him back into the wall. Zack struck the wall hard, feeling the shock of impact travel through his body as the machine whirled around again, its turrets locking onto him. He grit his teeth, pushing off the wall and rolling to the side as blasts echoed in the corridor.

Zack ran forward, raising the Buster Sword in both hands and preparing to swing. One of the machine's pincer-like arms shot out again, this time sweeping at his ankles. Zack jumped clear over it, letting out a shout as he raised the sword over his head. The machine raised its second arm, but Zack met that head-on with the Buster Sword, the large sword's blade causing sparks to fly through the air as it scraped down the side of the machine, shaving off a layer of metal in its wake.

He quickly jumped away as the machine struck at him again, evading both that strike and the blast from one of the cannons. Zack grinned, catching sight of the machine's red eye as it turned towards him again. The movement had left it open, if only for a brief moment. He ran forward, avoiding a second blast as he rushed at it.

His eyes widened as he heard a whirring sound, one that seemed dangerously close to his ear. He glanced at his right. One of the drones hovered close to his head, a gun trained directly at him. He turned, but it was a little too late—the drone swerved just out of reach of his sword, preparing to fire.

Lightning crashed down from overhead, slamming into the drone. It swayed in the air and fired madly, the bullet flying way off target and going just over his shoulder. As Zack watched, sparks erupted from its surface, and the drone clattered uselessly to the ground. He glanced behind him, his eyes wide.

Aerith stood in the hallway, her staff floating horizontally in the air in front of her. Electricity crackled around her for a moment, before her staff slowly lowered itself to the ground. She grabbed onto it, her eyes wide.

"Zack, behind you!" she said.

Zack immediately turned, the Buster Sword slashing through the second drone. The third zipped over his head, heading towards Aerith. She frowned in determination, raising her staff a second time. Bolts of lightning sprouted from its tip, this time throwing the drone off balance but not shutting it down completely. Zack quickly fixed that, turning and dispatching it.

Aerith shot him a teasing smile. "Stay back, I'll handle this, huh?" she said.

Zack returned the smile with a cocky grin of his own. "Hey, what can I say?" he asked, turning back toward the machine. "Can't win 'em all."

Aerith arched a disbelieving eyebrow. "Sure, Zack," she said as the machine rolled forward, raising its guns. Zack tensed, holding the Buster Sword in front of him in a defensive position. "What do you want me to do?" he heard Aerith ask.

"More lightning," he replied, rushing forward at the monster. It raised one of its blades to meet his sword, and Zack braced himself as the swords clashed, pushing forward with a shout. The Buster Sword cut straight through the metal, lopping off the end of the machine's sword.

Aerith complied. He could feel the air around him crackling with static as she called up another charge, and ducked his head as a bolt of lightning came crashing through.

XxXxX

"You want to fight me," said Rufus, facing the three of them calmly, as though he faced threats like this everyday. Cloud studied him from the center of their group of three, his sword in his hands. The blade didn't waver, the point aiming straight for the President's neck. "Why?"

"A lot of reasons," said Cissnei.

Kunsel stepped forward, holding his sword as well. "I won't let you take Aerith and Zack," he said.

Cloud gripped his sword tighter in both hands, nodding once to show his agreement. Images flashed through his mind—the Nibelheim Reactor, followed by disjointed images from the mansion, the desert, Zack in the back of a yellow pick-up truck...

Rufus looked behind him, glancing up at the duel between Sephiroth and Genesis. The two continued to fight, blasts of fire occasionally illuminating the night sky as the two of them clashed and came together.

"The cells of an Ancient, hmm..."

He shook his head, turning back towards them. Cloud's eyes narrowed, realizing something.

"You're after the Promised Land," he said.

"Exactly," said Rufus.

"We can't let you have it."

"I see," said Rufus. He frowned, shaking his head. "I guess this means we won't become friends."

Cloud raised his arm to his face as twin blasts suddenly erupted onto the rooftop, on either side of him and Rufus. Kunsel and Cissnei both jumped to opposite sides as the blasts tore through, kicking up the wind in their wake. Kunsel raised his sword as a pair of orange sabers cut through the dust, quickly blocking the strike from the same young, blue-eyed girl that had faced Zack in the Mako Reactor.

On his left, Cissnei whirled around, pulling Rekka from her back. "Cloud!" she shouted, turning towards him. Before she could get back to him, a hand shot out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away. She twisted her wrist, yanking her hand out of his grasp and jumping backwards, flipping neatly over in the air to gain distance. The ex-Turk landed on the ground, straightening up and holding her shuriken in front of her.

Auriel, the golden-eyed Tsviet, stepped forward, a smile on his face as he held his sword loosely in his hand. "Unfortunately," he said, "You have to deal with me."

She slowly exhaled, her grip tightening on Rekka. Above them, Sephiroth and Genesis continued their aerial duel, swords clashing in the sky.

Cloud turned towards Rufus as the new Shinra president pulled out a gun, a dark-haired feline creature bounding over to him. He took a deep breath, focusing on his sword and all of the things he had learned as Rufus raised the gun, firing the first shot.

XxXxX

Zack raised his sword as the machine shot another blast at him, grunting from the impact as the blast struck the side of the Buster Sword and drove him back slightly. He cursed, letting out a gasping breath as the smoke and flames cleared.

"Zack, are you okay?" asked Aerith, running forward in alarm.

"Stay back!" he yelled, glancing back at her. Zack rolled out of the way as the machine swung its arm out again, this time embedding it into the ground. Tiles cracked and metal buckled as the machine thrust its claw down. Zack ducked under it, aiming once again for the red orb at the machine's heart, but it quickly fixed on him, and he was forced to jump out of the way as another blast tore through the area. He jumped to the side and rolled, getting quickly back to his feet.

A cool wave rushed over him, trickling over the burns he had received in the last blast. Green light brushed against his skin, healing the injuries almost completely. He heard footsteps and turned to see Aerith standing just a few feet away from him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't get at it," said Zack with a scowl, readying himself and jumping out of the way of another blast. "It's programmed to fight me. It already knows all my moves."

Zack clenched his fists, blocking another blast with his sword. No matter what he tried, the machine was always one step ahead. Aerith's magic was helping, but it was starting to look like it would come down to a test of endurance, and although he didn't want to admit it, the day's events were starting to take their toll. He was a SOLDIER First Class, with all the strength that came with the title. But it had been a very long day. He glanced back at Aerith, who was already readying another lightning spell.

He couldn't fall here. Not with Aerith in the fight.

He ran forward as she cast her spell, his sword crashing down on the machine's arm as soon as the bolt of lightning struck home. The machine slid back as the force of Zack's blow struck it, sparks flying across its arm and scattering onto the ground.

"Zack, look out!" he heard Aerith shout in alarm.

Zack's eyes widened at the sound of footsteps and he turned. Aerith was running at full tilt to meet him, just as the machine's second arm swung around to strike him from behind. He saw the machine's red eye lock onto Aerith, and he looked back at her in alarm. "Aerith! No! Get back!" he shouted.

For one terrifying moment, Zack saw the arm freeze, then swing in a different direction as the machine changed targets. Aerith turned, her eyes widening. She raised her staff, gripping it in both hands in an elementary defensive position. The arm slammed right into the Mythril Staff, and Aerith let out a high-pitched shriek as she was flung back into the air, her staff pressed up against her body as the machine threw her into the wall.

Zack's eyes narrowed in rage, and he turned, swinging the Buster Sword in a wide arc as he eyed the machine's exposed core.

He ran forward, drawing the sword up beside him and stabbing down at the single red eye.

Sparks flew, the sword cutting through wire and metal as the machine staggered forward, slowly collapsing at his feet.

Zack took a deep breath as the machine collapsed, straightening up. He withdrew the Buster Sword from the monster, replacing it at his back. He walked over to where Aerith was crouched on the ground, holding out his hand to her. She took it with a grateful smile, letting him pull her to her feet.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, taking a deep breath. He gave her a quick inspection, reluctantly releasing her hand. Her green eyes were wide, and her face was pale, but she looked fine. He could see the beginnings of a bruise where the monster had struck her, peeking out just over the neckline of her dress, but even as he watched, green light surrounded it, the swelling slowly going down as she turned towards him and offered him a tentative smile. "See? All better."

"That's good," said Zack, running a hand through his hair. He glanced away, slightly embarrassed at how worried he had actually been.

He heard Aerith chuckle at his expression, and glanced back at her as she took a step forward, quickly hiding her smile. "I'm not helpless, Zack," she said. "I can handle a scrape or two."

Zack rested one hand on his waist, tilting his head slightly and studying her. "...Huh, so you can," he said, nodding once and turning away. He glanced back at the fallen piece of machinery, shaking his head. A small smile appeared on his face. "Now I know how Cloud feels."

"Hmm?" asked Aerith. "What do you mean?"

He folded his arms, frowning thoughtfully. "Nothing, it's just...you've...changed a little."

She clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward and into his field of vision as she approached him from the side. "In a...bad way?" she asked with an uncertain smile.

He glanced at her, then grinned, shaking his head. "Nah," he said. "I kinda like it." Zack turned back towards her, raising one finger. "But next time, stick to magic, got it? No..."

"Heroics?" she supplied playfully.

"Very funny," said Zack, although he was smiling as well. He looked away from her, walking down the hallway. "I mean it though. Stick to casting. At least until you get better at using that staff."

Aerith hurried to catch up with him. "Well, maybe you could teach me," she said.

"Well you know what, Aerith, when we get out of here, I just might," he said. He pressed the button to call the elevator, glancing back at the fallen machine in the hallway. "Let's just hope Barret and Red had better luck," he said.

"Mm," said Aerith with a nod, her expression growing concerned as well as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

**END FILE**


	36. File 012: Escape from Midgar pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** *points at new file name* FINALLY! I was getting really tired of Midgar, haha! After this file we get a set of three interludes, one for each shipping in this story! AND ZACK AND AERITH TALK!

For those of you who remember that scene in Chapter 18 where Seph makes a passing mention to "the last time he was drunk", that story exists now. It's called **A Tale of Two SOLDIERs**, and can be found by looking at my profile page.

**CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT: **So, I have a bit of a contest/challenge for you, dear readers. Consider it the first of several chances I'll be giving you guys to influence the story. Answer the question: **What is Kunsel's last name, and where is his hometown?** Send suggestions in your reviews or as a PM, and I'll take the one that most sparks my inspiration.

In a rush, so I don't have time to respond to all your reviews. But I appreciate them, and thanks so much for your support! I'll respond next chapter!

XxXxX

**File 012: Escape from Midgar**

Wind skirted around the Shinra Building, bringing with it the biting cold associated with midwinter. The wind whipped at her skin, the tips of her fingers feeling almost numb outside of her fingerless gloves as they gripped onto the cold metal of her shuriken. She ignored the cold, bracing herself as Auriel rushed at her and started with several elegant thrusts. Cissnei raised Rekka to block the first, gritting her teeth and stifling a shout as the impact sent a tingling sensation from her hand to her elbow. She took a step back as he struck again, bringing her arm up close to herself as defense and twisting to the side for protection. The third strike came at her head. She took a small dancer's step back, tilting her head slightly so the blade sailed over her shoulder.

He stepped back, finishing off with a thrust at her shoulder. Cissnei didn't attempt to meet the weapon head-on, instead catching it with one of the shuriken's points and pushing off of it as she slid underneath it. It didn't waver—Auriel was stronger than that—but she was counting on that fact, using her opponent's strength as something she could push off of. She stepped into his range, letting Rekka slide along the length of his blade before pulling it back and rotating it with a flick of her wrist. The spinning blades tore into the skin of his arm, and he cursed, pulling back just enough to attempt to slash at her. She ducked, pulling Rekka in and rolling to the side to avoid his strike. Cissnei sprang to her feet, spinning the shuriken quickly to clear it of blood as she turned towards Auriel, catching her breath.

She was bleeding from a cut down the length of her arm where the tip of his sword had managed to score her, along with a second shallower cut on her cheek. Gold light surrounded Auriel's blade, motes of light trailing in the air behind it. He was bleeding too, from a gash on his arm where her shuriken had managed to make contact. She clenched her free hand into a fist, wishing she still had her materia or any of the other equipment Tseng had confiscated. SOLDIERs were hard to kill, but a bullet to the brain killed the mako-enhanced just as well as it killed a regular human.

As it was, if she didn't think of something fast, this was a fight she was doomed to lose. Auriel seemed to realize it too, because he raised his head and sneered at her, picking up his sword in his hand and rushing towards her again.

"What's wrong?" he asked, swiping his sword quickly at her chest. "You were so feisty at the Reactor." He attacked with fast, efficient strikes and thursts, the light trailing from his blade tracing delicate patterns in the air as he moved. She blocked his attack with Rekka, moving the shuriken along with the blade in an attempt to deflect the force instead of stopping it head-on. She shifted Rekka from her right to her left hand effortlessly as he struck at the other side, employing the same tactic. "Cat got your tongue?" He struck again, and she took another step back, passing the shuriken between hands and deflecting the blow. Cissnei glanced behind her as she felt another rush of wind. They were getting dangerously close to the edge of the roof.

She bent her knees as he slashed at her again, putting a foot behind her and attempting to hold her ground as she deflected the blow. As she did, she raised her head up, meeting his eyes. "I don't have anything to say to you," she said.

"So cold," he commented. "But I guess that's not unusual. The Turks have to be that way, don't they?"

He turned, slashing downwards diagonally in one grand sweeping motion. The light surrounding his sword grew brighter. Cissnei's eyes narrowed and she quickly stepped in instead of away, getting inside his range before the sword could reach her. She grabbed onto the wrist of his sword arm, pushing off on that and launching herself into the air. She kicked at the side of his head, using his momentum to turn him so that he had his back to the edge of the roof and she was now closer to the side of the building.

Cissnei snapped back as she felt her foot connect, pushing off of him and throwing herself to the ground. She ducked underneath his sword, raising her arms up to shield her face as her back hit the ground and she slid away from him. She sprang up as Auriel took a step back, placing a hand over his face. Cissnei took advantage of the moment to rush at him, angling Rekka so that it was pointed straight at his neck.

He took a step back again, raising his sword to block her strike. He seemed unconcerned about the sheer drop behind him. As a SOLDIER, he would probably survive it, she realized, looking over at him as she tightened her grip on Rekka. Her arms were bleeding, she realized—long shallow scratches snaking across her forearms. She didn't have time to worry about where they had come from.

He met her eyes, a genial smile appearing on his face. "Cissnei's a pretty name," he commented. "Did you choose it yourself or did the Turks assign it to you?"

"I chose it myself," said Cissnei, narrowing her eyes. She whirled around, slipping Rekka underneath his blade and slashing out at his chest. He blocked it, then countered with a slash of his own, his blade passing dangerously close to her neck. Her eyes widened and she jumped back, avoiding the tip of it just barely. A single mote of light drifted up from his sword as it passed her, brushing across her cheek and leaving a line of blood in its wake. Cissnei's eyes flicked towards it as she noticed it, and she quickly flipped backwards again, gaining distance.

He slashed his sword through the air in front of him in a mock salute, holding it lightly in his hands as he watched her. Her own hands tightened their grip on her weapon, remaining steady. She glared at him. He was baiting her, toying with her in a game of cat and mouse, and she knew it.

She didn't dare throw Rekka. It was her only weapon, and considering where they were, there was a distinct possibility that if it ever left her hand, she would never get it back. That left her with only a handful of options. She looked up at him, her eyes hardening in determination as she leaped forward, swinging the shuriken at him in several rapid strikes. He grinned, blocking each one. Light flared up as the shuriken connected with the sword, waves of light flying in different directions.

"You can relax," said Auriel, smiling as he blocked another one of her strikes. "I told you, didn't I? I wasn't going to kill you until you remembered me."

"Unfortunately for you," said Cissnei, turning around and striking again. Sparks flew as her weapon connected with his. "I don't have those compunctions."

"Of course you don't," said Auriel, nodding. "You're a Turk." He caught her next strike, pulling his sword close to himself to absorb the blow. He met his eyes, his smile quickly becoming a smirk. "But what are you going to do about it?"

"Like you said, I'm a Turk," said Cissnei, meeting his eyes. Her lip quirked in a smile. "And we get creative."

She immediately collapsed herself, crouching down and lashing out at his knees.

He stumbled back, his eyes widening as the heel of his boot caught the edge of the rooftop. Cissnei didn't waste a second, immediately turning again and kicking him in the chest.

He caught her foot before it could connect, his eyes seeming to light up as he regained his posture. Her eyes widened, and he grinned at her.

"Nice try."

She glared at him, tightening her grip on Rekka.

XxXxX

Kunsel took a step back as the young girl moved forward, blocking her sabers with his sword. He grit his teeth, sliding his sword out from between them as he whirled around, slashing out at her middle. She jumped back, springing lightly into the air and holding her sabers into a defensive position.

He stared at her. She looked like a child, but she certainly didn't fight like one, and her mako eyes told him all he needed to know about her fighting capabilities. Was there really a child among the Deepground SOLDIERs? Or was there something else going on here? Something different. She looked up at him, her eyes focused on him and only him, and no trace of emotion on her face.

"Name: Kunsel. Designation: SOLDIER, First Class," she recited, reading it off as if she was reading directly from his file. "Length of service: nine years." She frowned at him. "You have no reason to fight me. Your orders were to detain the insurgents."

Kunsel held his sword out in front of him, pointing it at her. "One of those insurgents is my friend," he said. "That's enough of a reason."

"That is irrational," she said, her tone completely flat. "You cannot defeat me."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Hm." She held her sabers out in front of her, rushing at him suddenly. Kunsel's eyes widened, and he took a step back, raising his sword up. He blocked her first strike, turning quickly and managing to dodge her second. His eyes widened at her speed. She was fast. Much faster than any SOLDIER he had seen, save perhaps Sephiroth. And she made use of her small size, making herself into a small target.

"Who are you?" he asked, raising his sword to block her next blow. Her saber clashed into his blade, humming with orange light.

"They call me Shelke the Transparent," she responded, her eyes meeting his, over their crossed blades.

XxXxX

Cloud grit his teeth as Dark Nation crashed into his sword, the creature's teeth clamping onto the flat of the blade as its claws scrambled for purchase. He leaned back slightly from the force of the attack, trying to find a way to throw the creature off. A sharp crack echoed through the air, a painful burning sensation spreading across his right shoulder as Cloud stumbled back again. Rufus lowered his shotgun, readying it again.

Cloud scowled, letting out an angered shout as he summoned up his strength, taking a step forward and slashing his sword to the right. Dark Nation went flying, landing on the ground on its side with a yelp. He gripped the blade tightly in both hands, leaping forward towards Rufus. Orange light trailed behind his sword as he moved, his mako eyes glowing as he slashed at Rufus three times. The third slash pushed him back, and Rufus let out a grunt of pain as he hit the ground, the light fading.

He pushed himself back to his feet with his free arm, raising his shotgun again and taking aim. Cloud's eyes widened, and he took a step back, raising his sword to defend himself as Zack had taught him. The bullet struck the blade squarely, the impact causing him to shudder, but he managed to hold his ground. He lowered the blade, preparing to strike at Rufus again.

The whirring of a helicopter stopped him mid-rush, and he raised his arm to shield his face from the wind. Rufus pressed his hand to the wound that Cloud had inflicted, glaring at Cloud for a moment before grabbing onto one of the helicopter's runners. "That's enough for now," he said as the helicopter flew off, his glare turning into a smirk.

Cloud moved, trying to catch Rufus, but the helicopter quickly rose into the sky, taking him just out of reach.

Auriel pulled away from Cissnei as the helicopter flew over them, making a running jump. He caught the runner with one hand, swinging himself up and into the helicopter with a small wave at the rest of them. On his other side, Shelke finished off with another set of blows, knocking Kunsel back before running up to the helicopter as well. She made it just as they left the roof, pulling Rufus into the chopper and closing the door.

Cissnei ran up to Cloud, her shuriken still in her hand. She was breathless and bleeding from several cuts and scrapes up her arms. Her eyes fell on his shoulder for a moment, but she reached out with a hand, pushing his uninjured shoulder lightly. "Come on," she said. "We have to hurry."

Cloud nodded, replacing his sword at his back and following her into the building. Kunsel swiped his blade through the air, replacing it at his back as well and following the two of them.

"Cloud!"

He looked up as they neared the elevator, his eyes widening as Tifa ran over to him. "Tifa? What are you doing here? Where are Zack and the others?"

"Downstairs," she said. "I waited for you." She stared at him, her own eyes falling on his shoulder. Her expression quickly grew alarmed. "Cloud, you're hurt!" she said.

"It's not that bad. Don't worry about it," he said. He was surprised to find that that was true. Being shot would have hurt him a lot more before the enhancements. And back then on the rooftop...his sword had definitely glowed...He closed his hand into a fist. Was this the power of SOLDIER?

Tifa didn't seem quite so sure. "But—," she began, taking a step forward to examine it more closely.

"We don't have time for that," said Cissnei, running up to the elevator and pressing the down button. She raised her arm, waving them over to it. "Come on!"

Cloud nodded, quickly running forward to catch up with her. Tifa followed as well.

XxXxX

Zack exited the elevator with Aerith to find Barret hunkered down by the front of the building, shooting through the shattered glass doors. Bullets flew everywhere, pinging off the walls and pillars of the lobby as the forces outside returned fire. He quickly checked to make sure Aerith was behind him, before running over to the stairs.

"Barret! Red!" he yelled from the landing. "What's wrong?"

"It appears they have us cornered," said Red from his position behind one of the desks.

"We're surrounded!" growled Barret, glancing back at Zack.

Zack scowled, taking a step back. He reached up, grabbing onto his sword. Aerith put a hand lightly on his arm, turning him to face her.

"Zack, get out while you can," she said, her green eyes wide. "It's not you they're after. It's me."

"No way in hell," said Zack, stepping in front of Aerith. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"But, Zack—!" began Aerith as he ran forward, running down the stairs towards Barret. She followed him, her staff in her hand. Barret scowled, firing off another round into the crowd outside before looking back up at Aerith.

"That ain't happening, you here?" he yelled. "You got caught up in this over Marlene! So now it's my turn to help you. You with me, Zack?"

"You bet," said Zack, pulling up beside him and drawing the Buster Sword from his back. He bounced once on his heels, gripping it tightly in both hands.

"Playtime's over," said Barret, pulling his gun arm close to himself.

Aerith stared at the two of them as they closed ranks in front of her, Zack holding the Buster Sword in front of himself protectively. "Thank you..." she said. "Zack. Mr. Barret."

"Who you callin' Mr. Barret?" asked Barret, looking over his shoulder. "That don't sound right!"

Zack turned towards her as well, tilting his head in her direction and giving her a grin. "Thank me later," he said.

"If you are through talking, may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here?" asked Red, turning towards them.

"Huh?" asked Barret. He glanced at Red. "Oh. Oh, yeah. You a cold man...just like someone else 'round here I know."

Red's ears perked up, and he lifted his head. "Did you say something?" he asked.

Barret shook his head. "Notta thing," he said. "So, what're we gonna do?"

"Hmm..." Zack frowned, cupping his chin with one hand as he thought about it. Between himself, Cloud, Kunsel, and Sephiroth, they could fight their way through the crowd, but two out of four of them were still on the rooftop, and Sephiroth was definitely occupied. He didn't much like his chances on his own.

"Barret! Zack!" yelled Tifa, running down the stairs and causing him to look up.

"Tifa!" shouted Zack.

"Where's Cloud?" asked Barret.

"Everyone, over here!" she said, running up the second set of stairs. She raised her arm, waving them urgently over to her. Zack frowned at her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later! Just hurry!" she said, taking the stairs at a run.

Zack glanced back at the door, before nodding at Tifa, replacing the Buster Sword at his back and running with her. Aerith, Barret, and Red followed, jogging up the steps. Zack followed Tifa as she turned, heading through a set of doors. His eyes widened as he realized where she was going.

The exhibit room.

The sound of an engine running made him look up. Cloud rode a dark motorcycle down the stairs, pulling into a stop in front of them as he reached the bottom. Zack grinned. "Cloud! Great idea, buddy!" he said, quickly heading upstairs as well.

"Zack!" shouted Cissnei, causing him to look up. She tossed something towards him underhand, and he caught it. It was a set of keys. He nodded in thanks, shooting her a grin before running over to a second motorcycle. Zack swung his leg over the side, sticking the key into the ignition and turning.

It came alive with a throaty growl. Zack's grin widened, and he gripped the handlebars. "Oh yeah," he said, kicking down the stand and following Cloud down the stairs.

Tifa had found the keys to a truck, and was now getting into the driver seat, Aerith making to get into the front. He pulled up beside the front door, a smile on his face as he tilted his head in Aerith's direction. "Need a lift?" he asked, pulling the Buster Sword from his back. He fixed it to a magnetic sheath along the motorcycle's side, grinning at her.

Aerith blinked, her eyes traveling from his face to the motorcycle he was riding. A smile spread onto her face, and she tucked her staff into the crook of her arm. "Thought you'd never ask," she said. She gathered up the skirt of her dress, swinging one leg over the side and holding onto his waist from behind.

"Show off," he heard Kunsel say as he swung into the front seat of the truck, slamming the door shut. Cissnei quickly clambered into the back, carrying with her a rifle that she had probably stolen from one of the nearby storage rooms. Barret hopped into the back as well, sitting down with his back to the glass window and resting his gun arm across his knee. As the truck pulled away, Red took a running jump into the back, settling down beside Cissnei, who was now crouched down, the rifle propped up on the tailgate.

Zack zipped around the Shinra sign just moments before the truck barreled through it, pulling up beside Cloud. He had stopped just a few feet away from the window, revving his motorcycle's engine.

"You ready?" asked Zack, looking up at him.

Cloud nodded. "Yep," he said.

"Alright," said Zack. He settled back into his seat, glancing over at Aerith. "Hold on tight."

Aerith nodded, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and pressing her face into his back.

Cloud took off, his motorcycle shooting forward and ramming straight into the glass. The window shattered, Cloud flying through the air and landing on the highway below. Zack took a deep breath, revving his engine as well. He took off, following him. Aerith didn't make a sound as the motorcycle flew through the gap Cloud had left, but he felt her hold tighter, grabbing onto him for dear life as the motorcycle drove straight into empty air.

Zack grinned, leaning forward and feeling the wind blow through his hair as they flew directly over the heads of a group of stunned Shinra troops, heading straight for the highway. The motorcycle hit the asphalt with a thud, and Zack quickly righted himself, zooming off after Cloud with the truck following behind them.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	37. File 012: Escape from Midgar pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** **A Tale of Two SOLDIERs **and **Falling Stars **will be updated soon. I just really want to get them out of Midgar before I take that on. Red's POV in the final scene because a random number generator said so, and why the heck not?

**CONTEST UPDATE: **I've settled on a hometown, but I'm not quite sold on a last name, so if you missed out on that from the previous chapter, suggest a _last name for Kunsel _in your review and I'll pick the one that most sparks my inspiration! (The previous two suggestions are still in the running too (**Gohan Roxas **and **Riku Uzumaki**).

**JazzQueen, **it might happen, but I won't confirm anything for sure.

**Irish-Brigid**, he's getting used to some things. But he's slowly becoming more competent and taking the lead more times, as some of the characters have pointed out.

**Ryuukoshi, **gotta love excellent and extensive training, right? And yes, trust Zack and Cloud to escape the city WITH STYLE!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **and **Furionknight, **thanks for the reviews!

XxXxX

**File 012: Escape from Midgar**

Sephiroth and Genesis's swords scraped against each other as the they came together again, sliding down to the hilt. Genesis smirked, his eyes traveling past Sephiroth to the highway below them. "It's getting a little late, don't you think?" he asked. "I don't mind continuing this, but...can you handle seeing them die?"

Sephiroth tensed, glancing back at the road. The Shinra troops were in hot pursuit—not surprising—but from this angle, he could see something that the men on the ground probably couldn't.

A pair of armed flying drones were skirting the building, zooming towards the truck.

Genesis pushed off on Masamune, using the added force to propel him several feet away from Sephiroth. Sephiroth turned his head as he felt the pressure suddenly ease, watching as Genesis shot him another smirk, flying off after the white helicopter.

Sephiroth stared, his grip loosening on his sword for just a moment.

XxXxX

Shinra operatives poured onto the highway in pursuit, several of the SOLDIERs zipping forward in motorcycles as well as they attempted to chase after them. Zack and Cloud drove on either side of the truck, the both of them looking back at the sound of engines. Cissnei braced the butt of the rifle against her shoulder as Barret started shooting at their pursuers, her fingers curling slowly around the grip. She took a deep breath, settling down and slowly squeezing the trigger. A bullet tore into the front wheel of one of their closest pursuers, sending him flying over the handlebars of his motorcycle as it tumbled end over end.

"Zack! Cloud!" she shouted, pulling away from the scope. "Keep them away from the truck!"

"You got it," said Zack from the truck's right, his motorcycle falling back and letting the truck go ahead as he reached for his Buster Sword.

"Ten four," said Cloud, sliding back as well. He held onto the handlebars with one hand, reaching back and grabbing his Shinra issue sword.

Zack spun the motorcycle around, putting himself between Aerith and their pursuers as he swung the Buster Sword one-handed, catching one of the pursuing SOLDIERs with the flat as Cloud immediately drove forward, trapping one of the pursuing SOLDIERs between his bike and the railing as he swung his sword. He grit his teeth as the SOLDIER attacked back, his motorcycle drifting just slightly to the left. Cloud quickly pulled it back into place, finishing the battle with one strike and sending the SOLDIER flying off his bike.

Zack grinned as he pulled his own bike to the left, dodging the falling SOLDIER. He sped up, forward and into the wind as he made to catch up with Cloud. Gunfire echoed around them as Barret started shooting at their pursuers, accompanied by the occasional sharp crack of Cissnei's more focused shots.

"Zack!" shouted Barret, causing him to look up.

The truck lurched as a SOLDIER neared it, sparks flying as the back of it hit the stone guard rails on the left side of the highway. Metal clashed on metal, and Zack watched as Kunsel leaned out the window of the front seat, sword in hand as he attacked the enemy SOLDIER. Aerith leaned forward, her grip loosening slightly from around his waist. "Zack," she prompted.

He nodded, leaning forward further and pulling up beside the enemy SOLDIER's motorcycle. He grinned, raising his hand in a friendly wave as the enemy SOLDIER looked up at him.

"Hi there," he said.

Behind him, Aerith pulled away from his back, smiling as Zack sped up. She raised her hand in a wave, gripping her staff tightly in the other. "Bye there."

The enemy SOLDIER stared after them in confusion, before returning his eyes to the road in front of him. He let out a shout of alarm as ice suddenly encapsulated his front wheel, trapping the motorcycle in place and sending him flying. Zack swerved to the right to avoid him as they drove past him, pulling up next to Cloud as Cloud kicked out at another SOLDIER, throwing him off his bike.

"You alright there?" asked Zack.

Cloud looked over at him. "Fine," he said. "Behind you."

"Gotcha," said Zack, pulling away from Cloud and falling back so that he was driving beside the enemy motorcycle. The driver turned towards him, reaching up for his sword. Zack shook his head. "Oh no, you don't," he said, swinging the Buster Sword around and catching him in the chest with the flat. He went tumbling into the air, his bike going on without him for a few moments before crashing into the railing.

Zack ducked underneath a flying piece of metal as it zoomed over his head, tilting the motorcycle and riding right underneath it. Aerith let out a squeal of surprise, grabbing onto him tightly as he straightened up. "_Zack!" _

"Sorry about that," he said, grinning sheepishly as they sped past. He looked back at her to make sure she was alright, but she only seemed to have been startled. "How's the truck?" he asked, returning his eyes to the road.

He felt Aerith slowly pull away from his back, looking over her shoulder. "It's good. Cloud's taking care of it."

Zack grinned. Cloud was getting better at this everyday. He flexed his grip on the handlebars. "Alright," he said. "Let's give him some room to work." Zack fell back, glancing through the mirrors as a pair of SOLDIERs immediately moved to flank him, reaching for their swords.

"Hey, Aerith. You got this?" he asked, speeding just out of reach.

"Mm!"

"Okay," said Zack. "Get ready."

He slowed down, falling back and directly between their two pursuers. As soon as he did, he felt Aerith release her hold on him completely, leaning back and grabbing her staff in both hands. She closed her eyes, and he felt electricity crackle around her as her staff floated in front of her horizontally.

"_Thunder!" _she called.

Lightning erupted from both ends of her staff, catching both SOLDIERs off-guard. They shouted as they were both flung outwards from the blast. One of them released his hold on his bike, flying off and crashing into the railing. The other turned, bike and all, veering too far to the left and tumbling onto the ground. She quickly snatched her staff out of the air as the spell finished, gripping it in her right hand and hooking her left arm around Zack's waist. Zack took the hint, speeding off quickly and out of the way of the first SOLDIER's spinning motorcycle.

He and Aerith both let out the breaths they were holding as the motorcycle straightened up, resuming a steady speed. Aerith leaned forward, wrapping her other arm around his waist. He felt her turn her head, looking back to measure their progress.

"Zack!" she called suddenly, alarmed.

Zack immediately swerved as he caught sight of something in his rear view mirror, dodging the missile that fell out of the sky. Aerith screamed as it embedded itself in the ground a few feet away from their bike, and Zack quickly zoomed off, the motorcycle tilting slightly as the missile exploded, peppering the both of them with debris even with the distance they had taken. He righted the bike, looking up.

A pair of silver robots with the Shinra logo painted on the sides of them were flying through the sky, their guns trained on him, Cloud, and the truck. A second missile exploded on the ground, and Zack saw both the truck and Cloud swerve in opposite directions, Barret and Red throwing themselves to the floor of the truck bed as Cissnei quickly covered her head with her arms. Cloud swerved out of the way and righted himself, but just barely.

The robots flew close together, preparing to fire another blast. Zack grit his teeth, getting ready to dodge it.

A black and silver figure suddenly flew between the two machines, corkscrewing through the space between them. Both robots exploded in the air, the figure continuing to plummet towards the ground. Zack saw Sephiroth spread out his wing at the last moment to slow his descent, landing crouched on the roof of the truck. He landed with a thud, the truck shaking somewhat from the force of his fall.

Cissnei, Barret, and Red immediately looked back at him.

"Sephiroth!" he heard Cissnei shout.

Sephiroth glanced back at them, before looking back at the road in front of him. "Drive!" he ordered.

Cloud nodded, flanking the truck before pulling away from it and chasing down another pursuing SOLDIER. Cissnei whipped around, raising her rifle and firing at a group of three. She caught the tire of the leading one, his motorcycle spinning out and slamming into the other two and throwing the group of them back.

Zack fell back, driving beside Cloud. Aerith slowly lifted herself from his back, looking behind them.

"They're falling back!" she said.

Zack frowned, gripping onto his handlebars tightly. "That's...not a good sign," he said.

"Zack, the road!" shouted Cloud in alarm.

Zack's eyes widened. The road ahead of them sloped upwards before seeming to disappear completely, leaving nothing but empty sky and the Midgar wasteland in the distance. He immediately skidded to a stop, turning the bike around so that it was facing the way they had come. Cloud followed, bringing his own motorcycle to a stop just a few feet away from him.

The truck swerved to a stop, Tifa yanking on the wheel and turning it sharply. Behind them, a large tank lumbered through the tunnel, its cannons focused on them.

"Oh no..." said Aerith.

Zack scowled, reaching for his sword. Beside him, Cloud stood up, grabbing onto his own blade as well.

Before any of them could do anything, Sephiroth pushed off from the roof of the truck, leaping towards the tank.

Masamune cut a single line down the tank's middle, sparks and fire flaring up in its wake. Sephiroth reached the other side, calmly and coolly swiping the blade in front of him as the tank buckled and collapsed, falling into two pieces on the highway.

Zack stared, slowly releasing his grip on his sword. He glanced over at Cloud to see the other man staring as well, his blue eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. Sephiroth turned and walked towards them, seeming oblivious to the sudden silence. He reached down and picked up a coiled metal cable near the edge of the road, holding it lightly in his hands. As Zack watched, he looked back, his eyes hardening into a glare as he looked over at the city.

He tossed the coil towards Zack. It struck him squarely in the chest, and Zack blinked in surprise, catching it in his hands before it could fall.

"Start climbing," said Sephiroth, turning around fully and watching as the others started climbing out of the truck. He gripped Masamune in his left hand, turning it slightly so that the edge of the sword gleamed. "I'll cover you."

XxXxX

Red XIII watched as Cissnei slid down the last few feet of cable, landing neatly on the ground. Getting everyone down had been a little bit of a challenge, but they had managed it, despite having to tie the cable around him and painstakingly lower him down the hundreds of feet to the ground. He flexed his claws, feeling the solid earth beneath his feet. It was an odd feeling, after so many years in the lab. He had almost forgotten what it was like. For a moment, he was possessed by the sudden urge to run without stopping. He resisted. Despite his appearance, he was not an animal.

The ex-Turk tugged once on the coil, taking a few steps back. There was a rustle of feathers as Sephiroth swept down from above, landing on the ground neatly. He straightened up, his black wing slowly folding into his back until there was no trace of it. He gave them a sidelong glance, his silver hair concealing part of his face from view for a moment, before turning towards them.

He was met with silence for the first few moments. Red didn't say anything, simply watching him, as he recalled those last few moments in the President's office. Unlike the others, he did not know this man. However, he would have been one of those inclined to agree that aside from the untimely arrival of Rufus Shinra, Sephiroth might just have done the world a favor.

It was Zack who broke the silence first, stepping forward. "Sephiroth, you're hurt," he said, his tone concerned.

Sephiroth glanced down at the wound on his chest. It certainly looked bad—at the very least severely burned. He shook his head, looking over at Zack. "It's nothing," he said. "The sword cauterized the wound on the way out. I'll survive."

"Still—," began Zack.

The Cetra hesitated for a moment before hurrying forward, moving past Zack. She raised her hands, holding them lightly over Sephiroth's chest. They glowed with a green light. Sephiroth blinked in surprise, looking down at her. "I said—," she began.

Aerith shook her head, not looking up from her work. "It will make _me _feel better," she said. "Humor me."

Sephiroth frowned, but relented, looking over at the rest of the group. He stood still for a few seconds, before placing his hand on Aerith's wrist, slowly pushing her away. The green light faded, leaving the wound looking better than it had before, but still present. "That's enough," he said, when Aerith looked at him in confusion. He released her wrist, stepping away from her. "There are others who need it more."

He turned towards Barret, who was sitting on an upturned piece of scrap metal, watching Sephiroth closely. Barret looked up. "So..." he said. "What now?"

"You're asking me?" asked Sephiroth. Barret shrugged in response, shaking his head.

"Not much of AVALANCHE left, is there?" he asked. He looked over at the group, snorting. "'Sides this crew. Me 'n Tifa's pretty much all that's left."

Sephiroth frowned in response, looking out at the wasteland. "I..." he began. He shook his head. "...Genesis left with Rufus Shinra. Whatever is happening...whatever he's planning...the two of them are very close to the center of it. And I...suppose I have to settle a score." His voice grew cold. "But this doesn't involve the rest of you," he said. "I'll go alone."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back. Zack was walking up to him, his expression determined. "You saw what happened back there in the lab," said Zack. "With all the things Genesis is getting caught up with...don't you think that might happen again? Who's going to stop you if you're alone? Besides..." He stopped, standing beside Sephiroth and facing him. "You're not the only one with a score to settle."

"Mm," said Cloud, coming forward as well. Sephiroth glanced at him. "Genesis attacked Nibelheim. I can't just let that go. And Sector 7..."

"I'm coming too," said Cissnei, walking forward. Sephiroth looked up at her as well, his eyes widening imperceptibly. "There's nothing more for me here," she said, looking back at Midgar. "Not with Tseng and the company wanting me dead. Besides..." She looked up, meeting Zack's eye and smiling slightly. "Zack made me a promise."

Zack glanced at her, a smile spreading over his face as well. "You bet," he said.

"If this'll help save the Planet," said Barret, jumping up from his seat and coming to stand with the rest of them. "Then I'm comin' with. You won't get rid of me that easily, pretty boy."

"I'll go too," said Aerith quietly, stepping forward. She walked over to Zack, coming to stand next to him. Aerith didn't look at him, instead looking off at the vast expanse of wasteland ahead of them. "...I have...things that I want to find out..."

Sephiroth glanced over at her. "About the Ancients?" he asked.

She lowered her eyes to the ground. "...Many things."

"If Zack and Aerith are going, then so am I," said Kunsel. "There's no point in me staying anymore."

Red shook his head. "...I suppose I don't need to say where I stand in all of this," he said, slowly padding over to where the others were standing.

"I guess this is goodbye, Midgar," said Tifa, walking over to Cloud and staring at the base of the city.

"We can't all leave together," said Cissnei, folding her arms as she glanced out at the desert. "They'll be pursuing us. We'll stick out like a sore thumb if all nine of us try to leave Midgar by the same route."

"Then let's split up," said Zack. He looked over at the others. "Three groups of three?"

"Mm," said Tifa, looking around.

"Let's meet back up at Kalm," said Barret. "In case anythin' goes wrong. We can figure out what to do from there."

"Then we need three leaders, don't we?" asked Aerith, looking around. Kunsel stepped forward, folding his arms.

"That's easy enough," he said. "Zack, Sephiroth, and..."

"Course, only me could be the third one," said Barret, getting up.

Tifa frowned, tilting his head towards him. "You think so?" she asked.

"I think it should be Cloud," said Aerith, smiling.

Cloud looked up, his eyes widening. "Who? Me?" he asked.

Cissnei glanced over at Cloud, a smile slowly spreading onto her face. "...I agree," she said.

Zack grinned. "Hey, great idea!" he said, patting Cloud on the back. "You'll do fine, buddy!"

Barret sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Oh, awright..." he said. "So...who's going with who?"

Zack turned towards Aerith, grinning. "Aerith, with me?" he asked.

She met his eyes, nodding once. "Sure, Zack," she said, smiling. "I'll go with you."

Zack nodded, looking past Aerith and over at Kunsel. "Hey, Kunsel, what about you?"

"Because I _really _want to be your third wheel," teased Kunsel, smiling at Zack.

Zack shook his head. "Come on, man," he said. "It's not gonna be like that."

"I'm just kidding," said Kunsel, stepping forward. "Of course I'll come with you."

"I'll go with Cloud, I guess," said Barret.

"Me too," said Tifa, nodding.

"Which leaves the three of us," said Cissnei. Red glanced up, looking over at her and Sephiroth. The silver-haired SOLDIER glanced from one to the other, before giving a resigned sigh. He nodded once, facing the wasteland.

"At Kalm," he said.

"At Kalm," repeated Cloud, nodding.

"You guys be careful!" said Zack, walking off. Aerith and Kunsel followed him. "See you there."

Sephiroth nodded, walking off in one direction. Cissnei followed him, and after a moment's pause, Red did as well. As he walked, he could just hear the beginning of a conversation coming from Aerith and Zack, as they walked down their own path into the desert. He looked over at them, watching the two of them walk away.

"...This is my first time leaving Midgar," said Aerith, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Oh really?" asked Zack. He frowned down at her. "You scared?"

Aerith paused for a moment to think about this, tilting her head back. She smiled warmly at him, shaking her head.

"No," she said quietly.

"No, not at all..."

XxXxX

Tseng clasped his hands behind his back, staring down from his office window at the commotion below. The report hadn't officially come in, but he had seen some of the chaos on the highway from his office. He already knew what it would say. Slowly, he turned around, glancing down at the screen on his desk.

A picture was on display there, one taken from the top of the support pillar. It showed Cissnei, the wind in her hair and her hand on her shuriken as she stared up defiantly at the helicopter.

He didn't hesitate, leaning forward and pressing a single button.

SEND.

**END FILE**


	38. Interlude 001: Sephiroth, Cissnei, Red

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I couldn't decide whether to write the Zerith interlude or the Sephissnei interlude first, so I left it up to a coin toss. Sephissnei won. Enjoy guys! The next few chapters will be a series of interludes, one for each group. Some may be long and some may be short, and the plot will resume once I get through all of them. I'll probably have more of these as the story progresses. Think of them as extra cutscenes some video games give you—minimal relation to the main plot, but chock full of character arc progression and development.

**JazzQueen, **it will take a while. But yes, eventually, Seph will warm up to them.

**Riku Uzumaki, **until it sticks. Or until Zack beats it into his head. Whichever comes first, lol.

**Irish-Brigid,** he's not surprised. It was more of a conversational 'oh really', followed up with asking her if she was scared to be leaving.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **thanks! Glad you're enjoying it, and glad you liked the fight scene!

**Anna Crosszeria, **you'll see soon~

**Ryuukoshi, **yes he does. And since Seph/Cissnei won over Zack/Aerith in the coin toss I did before writing this, you actually get your wish first~

**Furionknight **and **CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, **thanks for the reviews! Glad you liked it!

XxXxX

**Interlude 001: Sephiroth, Cissnei, Red XIII**

Midgar's wasteland seemed to go on forever, a vast patch of desert that stretched on in all directions. Sephiroth had traveled to and from the Planet's largest city several times. He knew just how large the desert was, and just how long it would take them to get out of it. He knew that by sometime tomorrow afternoon, the barren earth would fade slowly into greenery, until they reached Kalm's outskirts by tomorrow night.

But knowing it and feeling it as he stared out at the wasteland in front of him were two completely different things.

He turned back, slowly making his way towards camp. Although they were far enough away that the city was nothing more than a glowing landmark in the distance, the sky was still blank, devoid of stars. It would take at least another day before they truly left Midgar's influence. He'd never thought about such things before. It surprised him that he was thinking of them now. Perhaps there was something to what Barret was always preaching after all. Perhaps they were killing the Planet.

Cissnei looked up as he stepped into the circle of light provided by their small fire. He had finally ordered her to start one, despite the danger that it might give away their position. It was still the dead of winter, and although all of them had the discipline to spend a night in the cold, there was really no reason to. Let Shinra come. He would be ready, although he had a feeling that after what had happened in the Building, they would not come after them tonight.

"Well?" she asked.

He paused for a moment, studying her. She was sitting with her knees pulled up close to her chest, a blanket draped loosely over her shoulders. A military supply pack lay on the ground a few feet from her, propped up against a rock. She was also alone, with no sign of their other companion in sight. He frowned.

"The area is secure," he said, walking over to her. "No sign of enemy pursuers for miles." He stopped, a few feet from her side. "Where's Red?"

"I sent him off to find food," said Cissnei, a faint smile appearing on her face as she looked out into the distance. "He looked like he needed to run."

"Hm."

He lowered himself to the ground, sitting down so that he was on the same side of the fire as her, but still far enough to keep his distance. He removed Masamune from his back, laying the sword by his side, with the hilt in reach of his left hand. Sephiroth sat there in silence for a moment, staring into the small, crackling fire. He could still feel the heat of the flames from his battle with Genesis—burning, consuming...

Just like Nibelheim.

Genesis had definitely gotten stronger. Had the battle continued, he honestly wouldn't be able to say which one of them would have won. He had finally gotten the strength he always craved.

But at what cost?

He squeezed his eyes shut, taking in a slow, deep breath. Genesis, Sector 7, the President, Angeal, the Ancients, Jenova...those thoughts swirled around inside his mind, overlapping each other until he couldn't sort out one from another. They pounded on the inside of his head like incessant drums, each one demanding that he address them right at that moment. His whole life, he had been trained to fight, to kill...

But he had never been trained to face this. Uncertainty. Self-doubt. He had always known who the enemy was...

...Always.

_Him, standing in front of the President's chair, his sword in President Shinra's back..._

_He and Genesis, talking, smiling, teasing each other over something or another..._

_Angeal preaching about honor..._

_Himself, pushing Genesis through the open window as the two of them fell backwards into the night sky..._

_A Banora White, falling to the ground..._

_White feathers. _

_Nibelheim. _

He opened his eyes slowly, staring into the heart of the fire. It burned and crackled, shooting embers into the wind.

"...My friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams...no honor remains..."

Cissnei blinked, looking over at him. "Hmm?" she asked.

He slowly shook his head, lifting his eyes from the fire. He looked up instead, feeling the cool wind on his face as he studied the blank night sky. "...Somehow, I was just reminded of that line," he said.

"I see..." she said. He glanced over at her. She was turning her shuriken over in her hands, painstakingly cleaning each of the points. Her hands moved quickly and meticulously, going through the routine motions with the sort of efficiency that came from years of training. It was something he was familiar with himself.

His brows rose. "...Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked.

"About the President?" asked Cissnei, looking up. Her hands never stilled, moving the cloth carefully around Rekka's blade and cleaning off the blood. He nodded, and she sighed, finishing her work and setting the shuriken and cloth aside. "Sephiroth, I'm a professional assassin," she said. "I've done worse things to better people. You're going to have to do more than that to disturb me."

"But..." he began.

"I know," she said, interrupting him. "It's different. But I understand why you did it." She wrapped her arms around her knees, staring into the fire. "I'm not going to vindicate you by telling you you did the right thing. You're the only one who can decide that."

He drew his right knee up, resting his gloved hand across it. His left hand he kept close to his sword, just in case. Sephiroth looked back into the flames. "...Can a monster do the right thing?" he asked.

Cissnei looked up at him, turning her head sharply in his direction. "You are _not _a monster," she said. "A monster would not spend four years in the mountains waiting for a chance to save his friend because of a promise he made to a dead man. A monster would not risk himself to save a woman he knows nothing about because she means something to someone he cares about. And a monster would not be so disturbed by the destruction of Sector 7 that he would feel the need to avenge them by killing the single most powerful man on the face of the Planet."

"I'm not human," said Sephiroth. "You saw—you _know_ how I was created. I bear that thing...that creature's cells. And also..."

"_...Don't fathers have the right to decide what's best for their children?" _

He trailed off, his left hand clenching into a fist where she couldn't see. If he truly...if he had that man's blood in his veins...then he was truly damned.

"Wings don't make you a monster," said Cissnei heatedly. "S Cells, mako, strength...none of these things make you a monster. Who your father is..." She froze, as if realizing how much emotion was in her voice. She took a deep breath, slowly looking away from him and sitting back. She shook her head, and when she spoke next, her voice was quiet, but still carrying the same conviction she had spoken with earlier. "...Who your father is, shouldn't matter either. _They _are the monsters, Sephiroth. The ones who did this to you—to us..."

She trailed off, looking back into the fire. Sephiroth stared at her in surprise. They had spoken many times over the past few years. There wasn't much else to do in Modeoheim. But he couldn't recall the last time he had seen her get as emotional as this. Shortly after Nibelheim, he had gone into darker moods on many occasions. Sometimes, he would speak about them, and she would respond. He would talk about his past, and she would listen. But she had never spoken about her own past.

And he had never thought to ask. Before coming to Midgar, she had never shown any indication that her past haunted her. Or maybe she had...maybe she just hadn't noticed. How many far-off glances into the snow had he missed because he was too focused on his own problems? How many times had he returned to their hideout from a hunt or a quick battle to see her working—always working, even in the dead of night, without even thinking to ask her why?

But now...

"...Cissnei?" he asked, not sure how to broach the subject.

She sighed softly, not looking up. "...I never knew my parents," she said. "Like you...I was raised and trained inside Shinra. By your standards, I might be a monster as well."

He stared at her. He had had no idea. He knew that she was skilled, that she had been accepted into the Turks at a young age, but for some reason, he had always assumed...

...That what? That she had had a normal life before joining the Turks? That she had simply entered the training program early, or been some sort of prodigy? Had he thought that he was the only one who had been raised to kill?

How arrogant of him.

"...How long?" he asked, looking away from her and back at the fire.

"...Before I became a Turk?" asked Cissnei. "...Seven years. When I was seven years old...Shion...and the director of the Turks back then, found me in an orphanage in Junon. They saw potential in me. Veld...the director...had me placed in the training program. When I was fourteen, they let me take the examinations. I passed."

Seven years.

"I see..." he said. "I was six when they truly started training me. I think they had always been training me in subtle ways before that, but I was too young to really notice."

She snorted, and he looked over at her to see her lips curve in an amused smile, her eyes still on the fire. "I was a pickpocket," she said. "A fairly good one too. I didn't think I'd end up using it like this though." She tightened her hold on her knees, looking up at the sky. "...Cissnei isn't my real name," she said. "It's a name I took on when I joined the Turks."

"...Really?" he asked. "Why?"

"It's Costan," she said. "...Or at least it's derived from Costan...but my pronunciation was horrible when I chose it. _Cisne. _It means swan. When I was a kid...I always wanted wings. I thought if I had them, I would be free. But I guess..." Her fingers slowly clenched, tightening around her arms. "...You can have wings, and still be in a cage after all."

He stared at her, not really knowing what to say to that. "...And...your real name?" he asked.

She didn't answer for a long moment. The two of them sat in silence, the only sound coming from the crackling of the fire and the wind. She tugged on the blanket around her shoulders, pulling it tighter around herself. "...I carry a lot of things on my back," she said at last. She slowly shook her head. "...But maybe I'll tell you someday."

He watched her for a moment more, before sighing, standing up and lifting Masamune in his hand. She looked over at him in surprise.

"Sleep," he said. "You need it. I'll keep watch until Red returns."

She stared at him, her expression uncertain. At last, she shook her head. "At least let me see to that wound," she said.

He shook his head. "It will be fine."

"You know," she said, her tone becoming lightly teasing again. "When you get impaled in the chest by a flaming, exploding sword and shrug it off, you make the rest of us look bad."

He glanced back at her. "I'll take care of it," he said. Aerith had already healed it to the point where it wasn't bothering him as much as it used to. Even though Cissnei had lost their Curaga materia after her capture, he would be able to treat it with the emergency supplies she had managed to salvage.

Her expression grew slightly more concerned, her brows knitting together. "It will scar," she warned.

He looked away. "I don't," he said simply. Another thing that set him apart. "...Sleep. That's an order."

She sighed. He looked back at her, thinking she was about to argue again, but she was already lying down, curling up next to the fire and pulling the blanket over herself. "Don't forget to douse the fire before you turn in," she said.

He nodded. "I won't," he said.

"And don't stay up all night either," she said, opening her eyes and looking over at him. "Even if you can. You need your rest too."

He nodded again. He had actually been considering it, but the fight with Genesis had taken more out of him than he expected. Perhaps it couldn't hurt to get a few hours of sleep. "I won't," he promised.

"Alright," she said, closing her eyes and turning onto her side. "Good night, Sephiroth."

"Good night," he replied, continuing to watch the desert.

XxXxX

Red XIII padded softly into the small ring of light cast by their small fire, his mouth closed lightly around his prize. Sephiroth looked up as he approached. The warrior was seated by the fire, part of his sword resting across his lap as he tended to the blade. He set it aside, watching as Red slowly lowered his catch to the ground. It was a small burrowing creature—not much, but considering the choice of game in the wasteland, more than expected. There was probably enough meat on it to get the three of them through one more day of traveling, coupled with the rations that Cissnei had managed to steal.

"There's hardly anything alive out there," said Red, nudging the creature towards Sephiroth's direction before settling down next to the fire and resting his head on his front legs. He could feel exhaustion beginning to set in. He had indeed started running, almost as soon as he was out of sight from camp. He'd chosen a direction and just run, reveling in the feeling of the wind in his fur and the earth disappearing beneath his feet. It had been _too _long. "This is all I managed to get."

"Hmm," said Sephiroth, glancing down at the small creature. "...It will do." He set his sword aside, getting up and walking over to the supply bag. As Red watched, he pulled out a folding knife, flicking it open and walking over to their catch. Sephiroth dragged it a little bit away from the fire, crouching down and holding the knife to the skin. He paused for a moment, looking over at Red. "I'm going to cook the meat," he said. "Do you mind?"

Red rolled his shoulders, mimicking a human shrug. "By all means," he said.

Sephiroth nodded, proceeding to skin the animal. Red took the opportunity to glance back at the camp, his eyes fixing on the figure on the other side of the fire. She had her back to them, the blanket pulled up tightly over her shoulders. He took note of her even breathing, and the hushed tone that Sephiroth used when he spoke.

"She's asleep?" he asked.

"She needs it," said Sephiroth, continuing to work. He finished up quickly, bringing three skewers of meat over to the fire. Red watched as he set them down, propping them up with rocks. The scent of cooking meat filled the air, accompanied by the sizzling of fat and other juices. Red watched as Sephiroth went to clean up, studying the other man. So this was the famous Project S, Specimen 1...

"You did that well," Red commented, as Sephiroth returned to the fire.

"I fought on the frontlines of the Wutai War for many years," said Sephiroth. "Setting up camp and other survival skills were necessary. I'm surprised you managed to find anything out here."

Red shrugged again. "I have a good nose," he said. He looked out at the wasteland. It was dry and barren place. Looking at it now, it was hard to believe that in his childhood, it had been one of the most fertile grasslands in the area. But that was what had drawn Shinra to it, after all. The promise of mako. He lowered his head again, looking back at the fire. "I suppose some things make their home even in a place like this."

"Mm," said Sephiroth idly. He reached out with a stick, stoking the fire. Embers crackled into the air. Red watched him, once again taking note of his posture, and of his eyes. He looked tired, Red decided. Not physically weary. But tired.

"What are you going to do about her share?" he asked, moving his head in Cissnei's direction.

"Save it," he replied. "There's some foil in the pack. She can have it when she wakes up to take her watch."

"I see..." said Red. He lifted his head, looking into the fire again. "...Well...when you finish eating and packing that away, go sleep. I'll take first watch tonight."

He had been expecting an argument. But instead, Sephiroth simply nodded, watching the fire like a man lost in his own thoughts.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	39. Interlude 001: Aerith and Zack

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Here it is! Finally! Zack and Aerith ^^ I REALLY love this pair, but they're so hard to write because there's a fine line between sweet and cheesy. I tried REALLY hard not to mess this up. I hope that I managed to write them well. Enjoy! Kunsel and Zack will get their own scene soon, but I felt it best to leave this one for Zack and Aerith. Those two have been through enough to warrant getting their own chapter, haha.

Kunsel's last name and hometown will be revealed in his chapter, but I've already decided on them. Thanks to everyone who sent me suggestions!

**JazzQueen, **in the game, sane Sephiroth was shown to actually care, he just wasn't very good at showing it. It's possible that his inability to express his emotions or deal with them in a healthy way contributed to his going insane. He wasn't trained to deal with that XD.

**Irish-Brigid**, thank you! I'm glad you like it! And yes, the two of them finally found some common ground. Seph might not be too happy with you hugging him out of the blue, but he's not likely to kill you now that he's sane.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**Ryuukoshi, **they'll spend more time figuring out how to get out of the room and coming up with tactics than actually developing a relationship, haha (I've thought about it). And when they do get out, they'll be coming for you. At least you'll see Sephiroth coming.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **thanks! Glad you like it! Yeah, he has a lot on his mind.

**Riku Uzumaki, **he's not good at the whole "socializing" thing. But he does do a lot of thinking, clearly.

**Anna Crosszeria, **I know what you mean! I could imagine it when I wrote it (him saying it in kind of a defeated tone because Genesis probably drilled it into his head so many times), but going back over it, I kept reading it as Genesis. And Cissnei's true name was meant to be up to interpretation (whatever you named her in BC), but I know what it is in this story and I'm not telling~ Also...your wish is my command. *gestures at Zerith chapter*

XxXxX

**Interlude 001: Aerith and Zack**

It was well into the night by the time they finally got far enough away from Midgar to stop. Zack followed Kunsel towards the small cavern they had found for shelter, the both of them carrying bundles of wooden scraps and brush that they had found while combing the area. Aside from bandits and the occasional rogue machine, the area seemed pretty much safe. Nothing much lived out here, and if the company was searching for them tonight, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The wasteland went on for miles, and there was no fixed route to Kalm through it.

Zack paused, halfway up the incline that led to their hiding place. Aerith stood near the edge of a ledge overlooking the city of Midgar, her back to him. She had her hands wrapped around her staff, holding the weapon in front of herself contemplatively. Zack frowned. They had spent the majority of the day running, moving, or fighting, leaving very little time for him and Aerith to actually talk. But they had a lot to discuss—including, he realized, their relationship and where it was going to go. The memory of her last letter was still fresh in his mind, along with how he had felt after learning that he had been gone four years.

Kunsel stopped as well, noticing what he was looking at. Zack glanced back at him, lifting the pile of scraps he was carrying off his shoulder and looking over at his friend. "Hey, Kunsel..." he began. "You mind...?"

Kunsel nodded in understanding. "I'll set up camp," he said, taking the wood and other supplies from Zack.

"Thanks, man," said Zack, looking back at Aerith again. He took a deep breath. It was now or never.

Kunsel clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Good luck," he said, nudging Zack slightly in Aerith's direction before making his way up to their camp.

Zack nodded, walking slowly over to Aerith's direction. Gravel crunched under his boots as he walked, alerting her to his presence. She didn't turn around, but Zack saw her shoulders tense slightly before she relaxed, twisting the staff around in her hands almost nervously. A cold wind blew across the top of the ledge, and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, holding onto her elbows.

"Cold?" asked Zack, drawing up beside her.

"A little," she admitted.

Zack studied her. Five years had done a lot for Aerith. She had always been pretty, but now...even after the night she had had, even after the disaster at Sector 7, even after their hurried escape from Midgar and the battle they'd fought, he still found her beautiful. A flower blooming in the slums.

She was really one of a kind.

"You've been really quiet since we left," he commented, turning away from her and looking out at the city. "What are you thinking about?"

"Midgar," she said, joining him. "And...a lot of things. My mother...both of them. The Promised Land..." She hesitated, glancing over at Zack. "You."

Zack frowned, looking back at her. "What about me?" he asked.

"I was starting to think I'd never see you again..." she admitted. "And then you show up out of the blue. And then all this..." She looked back at the city, gesturing vaguely in its direction before lowering her eyes to the ground.

Zack rested his hands on his waist, walking over to the edge of the ledge as he looked out over the city. He sighed heavily, lowering himself so that he was sitting down, his legs hanging over the side. He drew one knee up close to his chest, resting his arm on it. Aerith stood still for a few moments before moving hesitantly over to him. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she slowly sat down, sweeping her dress underneath her. She lay her staff down on the ground by her side, resting one hand over it.

"I have a reason..." he began, not looking her.

"I know," said Aerith. "Sephiroth told me." She rested her hands on her lap, fiddling idly with her bracelets. Zack turned his head towards her.

"Did he, now?" he asked.

Aerith nodded. "Mm," she said. "While we were hiding. He didn't tell me what happened to you in that lab, but I can guess enough. He said you were with Hojo..."

She trailed off, her expression growing almost guilty. Zack sighed, resting his hands on either side of him and leaning back. They were too close to Midgar to properly see the stars, and the sky seemed to glow faintly from the city in the distance. He didn't _want _to remember his time in the lab, or the things that had been done to him and Cloud. But they were all things that he would have to face. He closed one gloved hand into a loose fist.

"It was part of the Jenova Project," he said. "From what I understand anyway. Hojo was...trying to see if he could make Sephiroth copies...the same way Genesis and Angeal copies were made."

Aerith's eyes widened. "Oh, Zack..." she said, leaning towards him slightly. Her hand landed beside his, but didn't bridge the distance. He shook his head, not turning to look at her. If he looked at her now, if he saw the concern for him in her eyes...

...He honestly wasn't sure he wouldn't fall apart.

So he continued talking. "It was me and Cloud," he said. "...And a bunch of other people. Cloud got overwhelmed really easily. The cells took too well, and they...poisoned him. And apparently I was too good at fighting back. So they called us both failed experiments and put us in mako cylinders. I...don't remember much else...I just remember..." He trailed off. How was he supposed to explain this part? Waking up every now and then to find a new message scribbled in Cloud's chamber? Himself, scratching words in the glass until his fingers bled? The constant lethargy, the green mako surrounding him until he couldn't think of anything else? Angeal?

He opened his mouth, but for some reason, he couldn't find his voice. Zack closed it again, taking a slow, shuddering breath.

Her fingers slowly curled over his hand, squeezing it lightly. "...You don't have to say any more," she said.

"Uh—mm..." he managed, nodding once. He kept his eyes on the city in front of him. Aerith slowly released his hand, leaning back. Her fingertips lingered on the back of his hand for a moment, trailing over his gloves before falling onto the ground.

"...Sephiroth also told me...about where he found you," she said, after a few moments of silence. Zack nodded mutely, looking out at the city. It hadn't been too far from here, now that he thought of it. When he had faced the army down. He honestly hadn't been expecting to survive that.

"He said you were trying to get back into Midgar," said Aerith.

"He's right about that," said Zack.

"Why?" asked Aerith, looking back at him with wide eyes. "You'd already escaped. Why would you want to come back here...where Shinra was waiting..."

Zack smiled, leaning back and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper, holding it up to her. "Well..." he said. "I figured I'd be the worst boyfriend ever if I couldn't fulfill one tiny little wish."

Aerith stared at the letter and at him, her eyes wide. Without warning, she suddenly launched herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Zack blinked in surprise, managing somehow to not fall over as he wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the embrace. She trembled slightly in his hold, her face pressed against his shoulder.

"...I was so scared," she admitted, mumbling the words into his shirt. "I thought...at first I thought something might have happened to you. And then I thought you were busy. And then I thought you just left...and I was angry...and I thought you forgot about me...and then you came for me, and I...Zack, I'm sorry..."

"H-Hey..." he said as she trailed off. He placed one hand on the back of her head, cradling her close to him. He smiled into her hair, breathing in the scent of flowers and reveling in the warmth of her. He had almost forgotten how much he missed this. "Hey, it's alright. I came back, didn't I? It took me a little bit...but I figured things out in the end, right?"

He placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back slightly so that he could look her in the eye. She looked up at him, biting her lip. There were tears in her eyes, she realized, and an uncertain expression on her face as she watched him. He continued to smile. "Right?" he repeated, looking her in the eye.

She took a deep breath, then nodded once. "Right..." she said.

"So..." he began, leaning forward slightly and grinning at her. "...I guess this overrules letter 89?"

Aerith blinked at him, then paused, her mouth slowly turning up in a playful smile as the light returned to her eyes. "I don't know..." she said, pushing away from him and jumping back up. She pressed one finger over her lips, tilting her head back and looking at the sky as though she was seriously thinking about it. "I mean...you _were _gone a long time..."

"Oh, come on," said Zack, his eyes glinting mischievously as he stood up. He placed one hand on the back of his neck. "Give a guy a break," he said.

"How about...this?" asked Aerith, whirling to face him. She clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward. "We start over."

"Start over?" asked Zack.

She nodded. "From the very beginning," she said.

Zack looked away, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I guess that's fair..." he said.

"Alright," said Aerith. She smiled, holding out a hand towards him. "Hi. I'm Aerith."

Zack shot her a smile, raising his brows. "That far back, huh?" he asked, looking back at her. "Well, alright." He reached out, taking her hand and clasping it tightly. "Hi, Aerith. I'm Zack."

"Nice to meet you," said Aerith, releasing his hand.

Zack smiled. "You too," he said, letting go of her hand. He gestured at the ribbon in her hair. His smile widened into a grin. "That's a pretty ribbon you're wearing," he commented. "It suits you."

"Thank you," said Aerith. She clasped her hands in front of her, turning to the side. "A...friend bought it for me."

"A friend, hmm?" asked Zack, taking a step towards her. "Sounds like a nice guy."

"Well, he meant a lot to me," said Aerith, taking a step away from Zack.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Did he? Wish I could've met 'im."

"Well..." Aerith glanced in his direction, smiling at him. "You remind me a lot of him."

"Huh...? I do." He took a step forward so that he was standing directly in front of her, looking down at her. She looked up, folding her arms. The smile faded from his face, his expression growing serious as he stared down at her. Aerith met his eyes with her own, and she took his breath away.

"You know something, Aerith...?" he said quietly. "...You're very beautiful."

"Why...thank you," said Aerith, a slight blush spreading over her cheeks.

"I mean it," he said. "In fact...I think I might actually be falling in love with you."

"I..." Aerith took a deep breath. She lowered her hands, clasping them together in front of herself as she met his eyes. "I...think I'm falling for you too..." she said.

"Would you...like to go out with me?" he asked.

"Yes..." said Aerith. "Yes...I think I'd like that...very much."

Zack smiled at her. "Great," he said, nodding.

"I don't think it happened quite like that, Zack," said Aerith, grinning at him and shaking her head as she moved to take a step back.

Zack leaned down before she could get very far, kissing her. He placed one hand on her waist, resting his other hand against her cheek. Slowly, he pulled away from the kiss, looking in her eyes. She stared at him in surprise, lips slightly parted, and he remained there, their faces inches away from each other. His hand caressed her cheek, his thumb brushing lightly over her lower lip.

"Close enough," he said, leaning down and kissing her again.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	40. Interlude 001: Cloud and co, Kunsel

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Not too happy with this one. I love Cloud, but I freely admit that out of all of the characters so far, he's the one I have the hardest time writing. Probably because poor Cloud himself doesn't know who he is yet, he's been through so much lately so soon after mako poisoning that his character is kind of amorphous (and he doesn't have the whole 'I'm going to go be Zack!' stability that the earlier parts of the game gave him).

So, I decided to go with that! Yay for Uncertain!Cloud?

There are a TON of reviews, so in the interest of time (I have an early morning train to catch tomorrow), I'm only going to be answering the ones that had specific questions. But to **Gohan Roxas, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, JazzQueen, Furionknight, ryuukoshi, **and **ZackAndAerithFair2012, **thanks so much for your reviews and I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**Riku Uzumaki, **she was joking. Zack thought she was serious until she started introducing herself again, but he speaks Aerith and picked up on it pretty easily.

**Anna Crosszeria, **unfortunately there's no English version of Before Crisis, but there are fansubbed versions of all of the scenes and chapters up on YouTube (try Googling it as well if theyv'e been taken down). Hopefully we'll get one soon.

**Erilin-chan, **thanks, glad you liked it! Yes, it was a little cheesy, but given it's Zack, a little bit is to be expected. To answer your previous question, yes Yuffie and Vincent will be making appearances soon, and I already have plans for how they'll integrate into the group.

**CALLING ALL TROPERS: **This fic now has a TVTropes page (FanFic/FinalFantasyVIIAnotherSide). I would really appreciate it if those of you who, like me, have a slight addiction to TVTropes, help flesh it out. Thank you!

XxXxX

**Interlude 001: Cloud and co., Kunsel**

"AARGH!"

Barret screamed in frustration, throwing his hand of cards onto the ground as Cloud revealed his hand. He pointed at Cloud with his human hand. "One more game!" he yelled. "This time, we're bettin' it all!"

"Barret, we're not playing for anything," said Tifa, with a concerned frown, gathering up the fallen cards into a pile and forming a deck again.

"Yeah we are!" declared Barret. "We playing for pride! Manly pride! And I ain't gonna lose to some pasty-faced chocobo head!"

Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair as Tifa reluctantly dealt out another hand. He picked up the cards in front of him, studying them by the light of their campfire. He glanced over at Barret as the gunman grinned triumphantly, throwing his cards down. "Full house!" he said. "Beat that!"

He frowned, shaking his head as he set his own hand down. "I can't," he said. "High card."

Barret grinned. "Ha!" he said. "I win!"

"Um...Barret...?" said Tifa, causing Barret to look up. She set her own hand down between them, her expression slightly apologetic. Barret blinked at her. "...Straight flush."

"Goddammit!" swore Barret. He ran his human hand over his head, jumping to his feet. "Forget you," he said, walking away. "I'm takin' first watch!"

Cloud watched as Tifa sighed, gathering up the discarded cards. He raised an eyebrow, watching as she slid a set of cards out of her glove. Tifa looked up at him, her expression growing sheepish as she offered him a small smile.

"Really, Tifa?" asked Cloud, folding his arms and leaning against the rock behind him.

"Well, if I didn't do something, we'd be playing all night," said Tifa. She smoothly slid the deck of cards back into its box, tucking it into her pack. "Besides..." She frowned, watching as Barret walked away. "...I'm a little worried about him."

"About Barret?" asked Cloud.

"Mm," said Tifa, nodding. She looked up, her eyes landing on the city of Midgar in the distance. "You know it's killing him to leave Marlene behind," she said. "And...after what happened with Biggs and the others..."

Cloud nodded once, slowly lowering his eyes and staring down at his hands. He didn't particularly like thinking about Sector 7. His failure on top of the support pillar still stung. Despite everything he and Tifa and Aerith had done...they'd been unable to stop it. And Biggs, and Wedge, and Jessie...

"Cloud...?" asked Tifa, looking over at him.

Cloud shook his head, meeting her eyes. They were tinged red in the flickering firelight, making them look the color of wine. "I'm fine," he said. "Really. Just thinking..."

"What about?" asked Tifa, frowning at him.

"...A lot of things," he admitted. He thought back to the incident on top of the plate, to the exact moment that the button was pressed and the plate came crashing down. Cloud glanced down at the sword on the ground beside him. It gleamed in the firelight, revealing a pair of scratches beginning to spider web their way down the length of the blade. The blade was a typical Shinra issue SOLDIER sword, the type he had always dreamed of having. It looked like it was getting ready to break any day now, and for what?

He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand, closing his eyes as he felt his head throb slightly.

"Are you alright?" asked Tifa.

"Mm," he said, lowering his hand and slowly opening his eyes. "It's just a headache." He'd felt it come on a few hours ago, shortly after leaving Midgar. "It's not too bad." She watched him with concern, and he got the feeling that she wasn't completely convinced, but she let it go anyway. Cloud looked away from the fire—the flickering light seemed to be making it worse, and instead watched as Barret took up position on a rock, sitting down and staring at the city.

"...Hey, Tifa..." he said, causing her to look up.

"Yes?" she asked.

"...Do you think if we were stronger, we could have stopped them?" he asked.

"Hmm..." Tifa stared at him, her expression darkening as she thought it over seriously. She shook her head. "I don't think we could have gotten much stronger than we already were," she said. "We had Sephiroth and Zack. We had Cissnei—a fully-trained Turk, and Biggs and Wedge and Jessie. I don't think you can blame yourself for what happened there. You tried..."

He had tried. He had been standing right next to her when she pushed that button. He'd tried...and failed. Like everything else he'd tried and failed, except this time, people died. What was he doing anyway? Running around in a borrowed uniform with a borrowed sword...

Like some kid playing SOLDIER in the playground, trying to impress his friends.

"...We've got Zack, Sephiroth, and now Kunsel..." he said. "...Is there even any room in this group for a wannabe SOLDIER?"

"Cloud..."

He shook his head as Tifa looked up at him, turning towards her. "It's nothing," he said. "I was just thinking out loud." He lay back, pillowing his head on his pack and turning over onto his side. "We should get some rest. While Barret broods."

"Mm..." said Tifa, reluctantly. He kept his back turned towards her, listening as she lay down as well. "Good night."

"Night, Tifa..." he said quietly, closing his eyes.

It took him a while to fall asleep.

XxXxX

Kunsel sat by the dying fire he heard Zack start to get up, idly poking at the embers with a stick. The morning sun had spread onto the wasteland, heating it somewhat. In the distance, the city of Midgar had changed, shifting from the faint glowing green structure it had been last night and becoming a more familiar monument of brown and gray. There was no sign of anyone for miles. No helicopters in the sky, no squads of infantrymen moving out onto the ground. It looked like Shinra either couldn't find them, or simply didn't think they were worth trekking through the wasteland to pursue. Not that he could really blame them. He reached into the pack next to him as Zack dropped down by his side, sitting on a rock they had dragged close to the fire pit.

"Morning," said Zack.

"Morning," he replied, looking back at his friend.

"What's for breakfast?" asked Zack.

In response, Kunsel passed him a packet of rations. Zack accepted it, making a face. "Ugh, I was hoping you wouldn't say that," he said.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" asked Kunsel, with a small smile.

"So do mosquitoes," said Zack. He pulled a rectangular shaped energy bar out of the pack and held it gingerly between his fingers, as though it was going to bite. "What is this?"

"Chocolate."

"Yeah right, and I'm a Turk." Kunsel watched, slightly amused, as Zack raised the bar to his nose, sniffing at it.

"It was specially formulated by the Science Department to help keep SOLDIERs in the field running," he commented.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Kunsel," said Zack. "I'm not exactly the Science Department's biggest fan right now."

"Just eat it," said Kunsel. "You didn't complain during the War."

"Because it was _food_," said Zack. "At least I think it was." He took a deep breath, taking a bite out of the bar. Zack chewed, swallowing quickly. Kunsel smiled, shaking his head and looking over at Midgar again.

"Aerith still asleep?" he asked, after a while.

"Yeah," said Zack, brushing the crumbs off the front of his shirt. He glanced back at the small cavern the three of them had appropriated as their shelter for the night. "...Yesterday took a lot out of her."

"We're gonna need to set out in a bit," said Kunsel. He picked up his canteen, taking a quick drink. "If we wanna make Kalm before too late tonight, anyway."

"I'll wake her in a minute," said Zack. He glanced up, noting the sun's position in the sky. "It's still early. Too bad we couldn't have taken the motorcycles."

"I think Sephiroth would have pitched a fit if you asked him to fly them down one at a time," said Kunsel with a grin.

Zack chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, that might not have gone over too well," he said. He turned towards Kunsel, leaning forward and propping his head up in his hand as he rested his elbow on his knee. He tilted his head towards his friend, a slow smile spreading over his face. "So...Kunsel..." he began. "This..._friend_ Aerith said has been helping her get Materia and a staff..."

Kunsel coughed into his hand, looking away from Zack. "What about him?" he asked.

"Oh, come on, don't play dumb," said Zack. "Was it you?"

Kunsel sighed. "I said no three times, but your girlfriend is a force of nature," he finally said.

Zack grinned, shaking his head. "Well, she does have a mind of her own," he said, straightening up.

"Who does?" asked a feminine voice from behind them.

"No one, Aerith," said Zack, automatically, straightening up. Kunsel muffled a laugh, turning his head away and pretending to cough into his sleeve. Aerith tilted her head slightly, giving Zack a smile and a look that told her she hadn't missed anything. She tucked her dress underneath her with an arm, sitting down.

"What are you boys talking about?" she asked.

"Girls," said Zack.

"Oh, really?" asked Aerith. "What about them?"

"Well, Kunsel was just about to tell me how his love life was going," said Zack, shooting Kunsel an evil grin. Kunsel tensed, looking back at Zack.

"I was?" he asked.

"Oh, I like this story," said Aerith. "Wasn't there that nice girl...Melanie, or Melissa, or whatever her name was?"

Kunsel paled, shaking his head as Zack leaned forward with an interested look on his face. "What, really?" he asked. "Spill."

"That was over a year ago," said Kunsel, frowning as he settled back into his seat. He shot Aerith a look "And I _really _don't want to talk about it."

"Crazy psycho?" asked Zack, raising an eyebrow.

"Crazy psycho," confirmed Kunsel with a sigh.

"You know, she came around asking about you, a few months ago," said Aerith. "Showed up at the church and asked me if I had seen you lately."

"Really?" asked Kunsel. He frowned suspiciously. "...And what did you tell her?"

"Hmm..." said Aerith, getting up. She clasped her hands behind her back and began to walk away. "I wonder..."

"...Aerith!" he said.

"Aerith, come on, don't do that to him," said Zack, turning towards her. "He looks like he's about to have a heart attack."

Aerith smiled, looking over her shoulder at them. "I _may _have said that you were on a long and dangerous assignment to parts unknown."

Kunsel sighed in relief. "When we get back to Midgar, I will buy every flower," he promised.

"I'll hold you to that," said Aerith, her smile widening. She turned towards Zack. "Are we ready to go?"

"If you are," said Zack with a shrug, getting up.

"I'm ready," said Aerith, smiling.

"Then, let's go."

Kunsel nodded at Zack's words, getting up as well. He helped Zack shovel dirt over their fire, hiding the fire pit as Aerith walked around and picked up any trash or traces that they had been here. Once they were done, the three of them set off, making their way down the hillside.

Aerith paused as they passed the ledge, looking back at the city of Midgar. He and Zack stopped as well, turning back towards her.

"Aerith?" asked Zack, a concerned frown on his face.

"Do you think we'll ever come back here?" she asked, her eyes on the city.

Zack shrugged.

"No clue," admitted Kunsel, looking back at her. "I'd hope so."

"Let's not worry about it too much," said Zack. "We can't control what's going to happen. But for now..." He placed a hand on Aerith's back, gesturing at the open space in front of her with his free hand. "Come along, my lady," he teased. "Your adventure awaits."

"You're right," said Aerith, walking between the two of them. She clasped Zack's hand, her fingers intertwining with his as she smiled at Kunsel. "There's nothing to worry about at all."

The three of them walked, and behind them, the city of Midgar watched, a silent figure on the horizon that grew smaller and smaller until it faded away.

XxXxX

It was dark again by the time the three of them approached Kalm, the village's lights twinkling in the distance. Sephiroth led the way, Red walking beside him. Cissnei trailed behind. The group had been quiet for most of the last leg of their journey. None of them were particularly talkative. The silence suited her just fine. With Barret and Zack around, it was best to get as much quiet as she could when she could get it.

The unmistakable sound of a sword leaving its scabbard met her ears, and Cissnei froze. A blade whipped through the air behind her, stopping just inches from the small of her back. The tip of the blade nudged her shuriken, giving her just enough pressure to let her know it was there. Ahead of her, Sephiroth and Red turned, the both of them eyeing the man behind her.

Cissnei slowly raised her hands, holding them up beside her face. She turned her head.

Shion stood behind her, dressed in dark clothing. He glared at her from behind his glasses, wearing a stern expression that was just a few ounces of control shy of murderous. He met her eyes, his own narrowing just a little bit farther.

"Young lady," he said. "You have a _lot _of explaining to do."

**END INTERLUDE**

XxXxX

**VERY IMPORTANT POLL ANNOUNCEMENT: **There is a poll up on my profile that is asking which Vincent shipping you would prefer to see in Another Side. Please go click on my username and vote in it. **_If you do not vote, I reserve the right to ship Vincent any way I want without complaint._**Thanks again for all your support!


	41. File 013: 22 Hours pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** The poll will be kept open until Vincent makes his appearance in the story (because it's moot before then either way), so if you haven't yet voted, click on my username and go ahead and vote.

**JazzQueen, **Cloud's really trying to figure out his place in the group right now, but he'll find it eventually I'm sure. He just needs to keep working on it!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **out of the ordinary in a good way, I hope! Glad you liked it!

**Furionknight, **thanks for the review!

**Irish-Brigid,** yeah, Cloud does tend to pick up issues. Hopefully his issues now won't be as severe as the ones he had in the game/Advent Children. And yes, Kunsel's previous relationships apparently did not go very well.

**ryuukoshi, **spoke to you about this over PM, but thanks for the review!

**Riku Uzumaki, ***nod, nod*, poor Kunsel. I know one of those people myself. I wonder what it is about them.

**Erilin-chan, **because I'm aware that not all of my readers like that shipping, and it's come up before. I personally am willing to write either ship, so I decided to put the poll up to see what people wanted. I like Yuffie, I'm not going to shove her to the side if the other ship wins, and I'm not going to stop her from interacting with Vincent (If Vincent and Lucrecia win out, they probably won't be expressed until the very very end of the story, it'll just determine how Vincent interacts with Yuffie during).

**Anna Crosszeria, **I've considered that theory and I'm kind of neutral about it. It won't be making an appearance in this story though, because horrible genetics are part of Sephiroth's struggle, and I'd rather write him overcoming that and realizing that he can be different than just have that taken away because it turns out that Hojo isn't his father.

XxXxX

**File 013: 22 Hours**

The door to Shion's hidden basement was closed and locked, the only sign that it was occupied coming from the red shuriken and white-hilted katana that lay propped up in the corner of the room, one on top of the other. The rest of the house was still mostly dark, the only light coming from the kitchen and from the lamps just outside the windows.

No sound came from downstairs, although that did not stop Zack, Cloud, and Barret from trying to listen in.

Sephiroth looked up from his position in the hallway by the front door as Aerith and Tifa reentered the room. The two women paused, staring at the sight in front of them. Zack, Cloud, and Barret were crouched by the portion of the wall that disguised the door, occasionally shoving each other out of the way for better listening spots with their ears pressed to the wooden panel.

"What are they doing?" asked Aerith.

He kept his arms folded, looking back at the girls. "Assisted suicide, it looks like," he remarked.

"I think the proper term is suicide-by-Turk," commented Kunsel from where he stood against the opposite side of the hallway, hands in his pockets.

"I just don't like this," said Zack, looking up from where he was crouched by the panel. He frowned, inclining his head in the direction of the basement. "How do we know they're not fighting down there?"

"That was the entire point of them leaving their weapons behind, I believe," said Sephiroth, glancing again at the sword and shuriken propped up against the wall. Cissnei hadn't argued when Shion asked her to leave her weapon behind, instead quietly following his lead and dropping her shuriken to the ground. Then again, she hadn't said much of anything since Shion had intercepted them.

Zack scowled, straightening up and slipping his hands into his pockets. "They're Turks," he said. "They'd find a way to kill each other with paperclips."

"They're not," said Red, looking up from where he lay on the carpet. "I can hear them. They're not fighting."

Barret looked around, scowling at Red. "You can hear them?" he asked. "Well, why didn't you say somethin' before?"

Red shook his head. "You misunderstand," he said. "I can hear them _talking_, but I can't make out what they're saying. Their voices are too muffled for that. Rest assured, though, they aren't fighting. I don't hear a struggle."

Cloud looked up, pulling his ear away from the door. He turned towards Red. "You're sure?" he asked.

Red nodded. "As sure as I can be," he said.

"Well, there isn't much we can do now," said Tifa. "Besides wait." She rested her hands on her hips, her eyes trailing over the hidden door as well. Sephiroth glanced at her. He could tell from her posture and the way she continued to eye the door that she wasn't entirely as convinced as she made herself sound. They were in a dangerous position here. Shion had proven to be a friend before, but he had been, and in some ways still was, a Turk. With everything that had happened in Midgar, there was no telling where his loyalties truly lay. And with Kalm still in Midgar's shadow, every moment they spent idle was a moment where they were sitting ducks.

There was a lot he didn't like about this, not least of it all being the fact that their only expert in covert affairs had wandered into unknown territory alone and unarmed. But Tifa was right. Short of breaking into the basement and losing any chance of making an ally out of Shion, there wasn't much to do but wait.

He nodded once to show his agreement, leaning further back against the wall. Gradually, the others began to fall silent, shuffling around the room and muttering against themselves as they waited. Mounted on the wall across from him, a clock continued to tick, dutifully displaying the time. The seconds passed, the room's shadows growing steadily darker. Light gleamed off of Cissnei's shuriken, refracting star-shaped shadows on the wall.

The world continued to turn.

XxXxX

Cissnei listened to the distant thumping and shuffling sounds that told her someone, probably Zack or Barret or both, was trying to listen in on their conversation. She kept her eyes on the ground, pointedly ignoring them. The young ex-Turk stood on the other side of the table in the small room that they had treated Zack and Cloud in, what seemed like so long ago. It was lit by a harsh fluorescent light, reflecting on the papers scattered on the table between her and Shion.

They were files, a lot of them redacted so badly that they were almost completely black. But a lot of things still jumped out at her. Her own name, information on the Reactor bombings, the names of the members of AVALANCHE. There were pictures too—pictures of the aftermath of each Reactor, or from security tapes. There was a picture of the President's body, slumped against his desk, and another picture of the entire group of them leaving on the highway.

Her face stood out to her in those pictures. Multiple times.

She held her arms tightly against herself, holding onto her left arm with her right hand and looking stubbornly to the side. Her stomach churned. She was a grown woman of twenty-two years, but Shion was one of the only people who could still make her feel like a child, and she didn't like it.

"Explain..." said Shion quietly from where he stood, looking over at her.

She took a deep breath. "There were complications..." she began, trying to sound as professional as she could without looking straight at him. "I did what was necessary for the completion of the mission."

"You put Reno in the hospital."

She raised her eyes to meet his, feeling a flash of anger run through her. "Considering he was trying to kill me, I think it was a fair exchange," she quipped.

Shion glared, unamused. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

"I've been positively identified as a member of AVALANCHE. The Turks want me dead. I'm implicated in the assassination of President Shinra—not mine, by the way—the bombings of Mako Reactors 1 and 5, the theft of two registered research specimens, the dropping of the Sector 7 plate, weapons theft, breaking and entering, assault, armed assault on a military vehicle, traveling under false pretenses, and the use of sensitive information for criminal gain. Did I leave anything out?"

"Three counts of grand theft auto," replied Shion.

She nodded once. "And that." Her expression hardened, and she took a step forward, approaching the table. "You can't say you didn't expect something like this. You know what we entered Midgar to do."

"You weren't _supposed _to do this," said Shion. "You were never supposed to be at the forefront of these missions. You went in as a consultant, damn it! Your name was never supposed to be tied to this. _This _is sloppy." His hand landed on one of the stack of pictures in front of her for emphasis. "And you were trained better than that."

She said nothing. He slowly lifted his hand from the stack of papers, looking over at her. "This wasn't the plan we talked about," he said.

"Plans change."

"So do consequences," said Shion. "So do stakes. Those rarely change for the better."

"And you're telling _me _this?" asked Cissnei. "After all the hotheaded things _you've _done?"

"You want to bring that up?" asked Shion, scowling. "Fine! Look where it got me. Thirteen and a half years running detail as a Turk. One and a half years of retirement that aren't worth a damn because you're never free of it. People your age are stupid. You always think you know everything, that you can do anything, that you can take on the world, because you don't know what the world can really do to you."

"Is that what this is about?" asked Cissnei. "Your failure?"

"Not even close." Shion stared at her for a moment. She took a deep breath, drawing herself up to her full height as he studied her. After a while, he sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing at his closed eyes with one hand. He replaced his glasses, looking up at her. "So you've finally decided...now, of all times, that you want to stand for something."

"I've never stood for anything," she said quietly, staring back down at the ground. She inhaled slowly, trying to organize her thoughts. "It's different from you. You never wanted to be a Turk. You rebelled, and you got shot down, and you rebelled, and you got shot down, and you rebelled, and you got shot down for the last time. And you stopped trying to get up. I can see why you're bitter about it. But I..."

She sighed, shaking her head and slowly raising her eyes to meet his. "I've never known anything else, and if I did, I was too young for it to matter. My whole life, I've been Shinra's little darling. I've done whatever I was told to do, believed whatever I was told to believe. If I was told that someone needed to be followed, I followed them. If I was told someone needed to die, they turned up dead. It's not about being young. It's about being tired...and not having anything else left to lose."

"Your family?" asked Shion.

"I don't have one," replied Cissnei.

His brow rose. "Don't you?"

She fell silent, biting her lip and looking down at the ground again. Shion sighed.

"...I'm terrified that the next time I see you, it's going to be in a body bag," he said, his expression softening.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm already dead," she said softly. "My brain just hasn't told my body yet. I just..." She shook her head, folding her arms under her ribcage. "...I want something that's mine," she said. "I want...to fight for something that's mine. I want to end this. That's my mission. And I'm a Turk through and through. I'll see everything done for the sake of the mission."

"There's no changing your mind, is there?" asked Shion.

"Even if there was," replied Cissnei. "I don't think there's any going back now."

She glanced down at the table in front of her. Shion followed her gaze, quietly shaking his head. "No," he said. "No, I suppose not. You really did make a mess."

"In fairness, I had help," said Cissnei. Her mouth quirked in a small smile. "My team contained three SOLDIERs and one in training. What did you expect?"

"I suppose," said Shion. He looked away from the files, turning his gaze to the stairs. "Come on," he said, walking towards them. "Let's see what damage control I can do."

She nodded, following him out of the basement. Cissnei kept her eyes on the ground. Shion's words were still weighing heavily on her mind, and from the way he carried himself as he walked out into the living room, he was still considering the conversation himself. She didn't like that it had to be this way. But in the end, her last words stood. Even if she did change her mind, there was no turning back now. The Shinra Building was the point of no return.

The others were standing there when the two of the arrived, getting up from where they were lounging and waiting and clustering around them. Only Sephiroth didn't move. He continued to stand against the wall, watching them almost idly. She met his eyes, and he held her gaze for a few moments, before smoothly transitioning to Shion.

"Alright," said Shion. "Here's the situation. The Shinra Corporation has issued a statement blaming AVALANCHE for the dropping of the Sector 7 plate." There were no outbursts this time, not even from Barret. Instead, a collection of grim nods met Shion's statement. They had all been expecting this. Shion went on. "The company knows your names, however, the President's assassination bought you some time before their release. Former SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair, Former Infantryman Cloud Strife, and SOLDIER First Class Kunsel Harringer have been declared traitors." He looked back at Cissnei. "_Your _involvement is being kept hushed up, for obvious reasons."

She nodded. Publicly implicating a Turk, even a former one, would mean airing their dirty laundry for everyone to see. The company would prefer to deal with her quietly and secretly.

"That leaves the matter of the assassination itself," said Shion. "The company released a statement yesterday announcing the President's death. They placed the blame solely on Former SOLDIER First Class Sephiroth." He eyed Sephiroth carefully. "...You may be finding yourself a lot less popular very soon."

Sephiroth nodded. "I expected as much," he said. "It does not matter to me."

"So that's it?" asked Zack. "The company's coming after us. Do they know we're here?"

"Oh, they know," said Shion, his frown deepening. He glanced back at Cissnei. "Or at least...the important ones know enough." He reached for the remote on the mantel, picking it up. "Yesterday night, I received a message from Tseng," he said.

Cissnei tensed, looking up at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Zack and Aerith look up as well. "Tseng?" she asked.

Shion nodded. "It was a mass message, sent out to all of the former members of the Turks." He pressed a button, and the screen across from them came to life. Cissnei stared, watching as the static cleared and revealed a picture of herself, standing on top of the support pillar looking defiantly up into the helicopter. Her hand clenched into a fist. "

"The message contained what you would expect," said Shion. "Information on what had happened in Midgar. Instructions that, were we to encounter you, we were to kill you on sight or capture you and report it to Tseng, who would then smooth it over with the company. The usual."

She nodded mutely, feeling her throat go dry as she stared at the picture. All of the former Turks. How many of them would ignore it, and how many of them would scramble to obey? She couldn't trust any of them anymore...couldn't rely on them. Any of them.

"And..." she asked, taking a deep breath. "You...chose to ignore these orders? Or are you planning on killing me in my sleep?"

"Neither," said Shion. "Tseng sent me two copies of this message. You'd think it was a simple administrative mistake, except the second photograph was a little strange."

"Strange?" she asked, looking up. "Strange how?"

"It was encrypted," said Shion. "...Underneath it was a second image."

He pressed a button again, and the picture of her on top of the pillar began to dissolve, several pixels fading into white and leaving only a handful in their place. She stared at the words on the screen in shock. They were very clear, written in large block letters against a background of white.

48 HOURS.

"There you have it," said Shion. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "By my calculations, you have twenty-two left before Tseng 'discovers' you in Kalm. Enough time to eat, sleep, gather supplies, and leave. I suggest you make the most of it."

She nodded mutely, still staring at the screen. She didn't know what else to say. Everything she had ever been taught about the Turks told her that they should be rushing to fulfill the mission, but this...

_...Tseng..._

Shion turned, studying the group. "...Aerith Gainsborough and Barret Wallace?" he asked, his eyes drifting from one to the other.

Aerith and Barret both looked up, trading confused glances with each other.

"Yeah?" grunted Barret.

"What is it?" asked Aerith.

"Come with me," said Shion. He turned around, heading towards the door. "There are people you need to see."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**A/N: **Credit for Kunsel's last name goes to **ryuukoshi. **Thanks!


	42. File 013: 22 Hours pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Some quick review responses here. I don't really have much else to say. Enjoy the chapter!

**JazzQueen, **they_ are _birds of a feather, which is why I wanted to pair them up. And yes, Zack will probably start teasing them, or at least pointing it out, as soon as it becomes more obvious.

**Ryuukoshi, **oh yes, and that question will continue to be asked many times until one of them comes up with something. I'm glad that that chapter was able to cheer you up! Happy to help.

**Riku Uzumaki, **they're very loyal to each other. It's sweet in its own way.

**Irish-Brigid**, yeah, I was considering that, because he _is _quite a bit older than her even discounting his thirty year nap. But I can also see how it would work, so I'm willing to remain neutral until I come to a decision. And yes, Tseng is taking quite a few risks, but then again, he does gamble like this a lot.

**Maskofjack**, I understand. Really sorry about all this confusion. Personally, I do ship Yuffentine, but I'm not _too _partial to any pairing (I have read and will continue to read both). Any Vincent shipping will be mostly hinted at in this story anyway, because Yuffie's too young and Lucrecia can't be freed till the very end, and will probably be explored more in an epilogue. (And I hadn't thought of Kunsel. I _might_ consider that, considering someone else already pointed out that he seems to have a problem with crazy girls XD).

**CupOfTeaForAliceAndHatter, **see PM.

**Erilin-chan, **I'm glad you liked the discussions! Haha, I wish I could, but no, she'll be 16 in this story, since the whole point of it was to only change one thing about the canon (two...thanks to my OC villain) and see what happens after that. Like I said, if it came down to Lucrecia, it wouldn't happen till the _end_, it would just mean no Yuffentine hints over the course of the story. So it wouldn't be shown until maybe an epilogue, which you're more than welcome not to read. I might just up and write a Yuffentine fic for all the fans that were expecting it if it comes down to that! (Or an alternate epilogue...an alternate continuity of an alternate continuity...AUCeption!)

**Furionknight **and **Gohan Roxas, **thanks for the reviews!

XxXxX

**File 013: 22 Hours**

Zack smiled, watching from the back of the group with Kunsel as Barret ran forward and scooped Marlene up in his arms, spinning her around happily. She giggled, throwing her arms around his neck. Behind the two of them, Aerith and Elmyra stood, quietly talking. It was still dark out, and the corner of the village they met in was lit only by a single streetlamp. Shion kept watch from afar, Cissnei standing quietly beside him. The two former Turks weren't talking. In fact, it looked like Cissnei was finding any possible reason to _not _look Shion in the eye.

Barret set Marlene down, the four-year-old running off into the group. She stopped in front of Sephiroth, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels as she said something inaudible at that distance. Sephiroth blinked in surprise, but turned towards her as well. He replied, and she beamed, nodding her head.

"Who's that?" asked Kunsel, staring at in disbelief.

"Seph's littlest fangirl," said Zack, with a grin. He raised his forefinger and thumb to his lips, whistling loudly. Marlene whipped around, her eyes landing on him. He waved her over and she came at a run, her eyes wide.

"Zack!" she said. "You came back!"

"Don't sound so surprised," said Zack, placing one hand on her head. He patted it, ruffling her hair. "I told you I would, didn't I?"

"I was brave, Zack," said Marlene, proudly. "I rode in a car, and there were guards, and I was quiet the whole time! And the man let me play with his kitty!"

Zack frowned, removing his hand. "What man?" he asked. "The one who brought you here?"

Marlene stared up at him. "I'm not supposed to tell you," she said gravely.

Zack managed not to laugh at the sudden serious expression on her face, although he did crack a smile. "Fair enough," he said. "Come meet my friend Kunsel."

Marlene blinked, staring uncertainly up at Kunsel as if noticing him there for the first time. Kunsel raised his hand in an awkward wave, offering the young girl a small smile. "Marlene, this is Kunsel. He was my friend back when I used to work for Shinra. Kunsel, this is Marlene, Barret's daughter." He placed a hand on Kunsel's shoulder. "Kunsel helped me save Aerith," he said.

"Nice to meet you," said Kunsel.

Marlene clasped her hands in front of her, lowering her eyes shyly to the ground. "Hi..." she said. She took a deep breath, then looked up at him. "Thank you for saving Aerith," she said quickly, before running off to go talk to Cloud and Tifa. Zack stared after her, then looked up at Kunsel with an apologetic smile.

"She's not good with new people," he explained.

"Well, lots of kids aren't," replied Kunsel, hesitantly placing his hand on the back of his neck. He tilted his head slightly, watching Aerith and Elmyra. "Aren't you going to join them?" he asked Zack.

Zack glanced over at them, shaking his head. "Nah," he said. "They need this time." He stretched, raising his arms over his head and arching his back slightly. "We should go pick up food for the others," he said, looking over at the group. "That way, no one has to cook for twelve people."

"Ah, good idea," said Kunsel, nodding once. Zack frowned, straightening up and looking around. Despite its proximity to Midgar, Kalm was a sleepy little town.

"Would anywhere even be _open _this time of night?" he asked.

"I know a few places," replied Kunsel, taking a step back. "Come on. Follow me."

Zack nodded, glancing one last time at Aerith and Elmyra before following Kunsel out into the street. He saw Sephiroth turn to watch them go, but the silver-haired First said nothing, turning back to his conversation with Cloud. Zack listened as their conversation started to fade away, studying his surroundings. It was a nice night out in calm, the grass, greenery, and simplicity that surrounded them a far cry from the chaos of Midgar. The quiet gave the place a sense of peace and security.

But it was a false sense of security. With Midgar so close by, Kalm was probably the worst place on the Planet to linger for long.

He turned his attention away from the streets, looking back at Kunsel. His friend walked in silence, a determined air about him. He had a frown on his face, his eyes slightly far off, as though he was in a completely different place.

"...Something on your mind?" asked Zack, breaking the silence between them.

Kunsel shook his head. "Nothing really important," he said. "I was just thinking...of everything that happened this past five years."

"Yeah..." said Zack, his frown deepening. It wasn't exactly his favorite subject of thought. "Hey, man...thanks for looking out for Aerith all these years," he said. "I really appreciate it, you know."

"No problem," said Kunsel, shrugging. "I would've felt bad, leaving her to fend for herself with the Turks breathing down her neck."

Zack nodded. He glanced over at Kunsel, taking in the uniform he was wearing. "So..." he said, "First Class, huh?"

Kunsel nodded grimly. "They offered me the promotion two years after they declared you K.I.A.," he said. "I wasn't going to accept it, but..."

"But...?" asked Zack, looking up at him.

Kunsel shook his head. "I changed my mind," he said. "A lot of those new recruits you spoke to when you were a First...well, they'd all made Second Class by then. And...I figured I could do more good as a First...and that you'd want to make sure they were looked after."

"They all make it?" asked Zack.

"We lost a few," said Kunsel. "A mission here and there. But Shinra's not fighting a war now. Most of them are still around." He hesitated, glancing down at the ground. "Some of them have forgotten everything you said," he said. "About honor and all of that. But there are a few of them that remember. I had to order them to go after you and follow orders when you infiltrated the Shinra Building. They..." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "They...showed up at the door to my quarters and insisted that they were gonna desert. I told them you didn't want a mass desertion, that you wouldn't want to be set up as another Genesis." He smiled ruefully. "Guess I don't take my own advice very well."

Zack stared at Kunsel. After a moment, he reached out, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Well, glad to have you with us either way."

Kunsel smiled slightly, shaking his head. He looked up. "By the way," he said. "The day after I got my promotion, I...went to Icicle Inn...to check in on Sebastian and Essai."

Zack frowned, lowering his hand from Kunsel's shoulder. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "And about time too." He turned away, looking out at the city streets in front of them. "...It's still there?"

Kunsel nodded. "It's still there," he confirmed. "I saw it. Sword point down. Very traditional."

It hadn't been tradition, not before the Wutai War. That was the first time Shinra really saw SOLDIERs getting cut down, losing their lives in number. It didn't happen often, but it did happen more often than ever, and there hadn't always been time to recover the bodies and bury them properly. So it became a tradition for those who were left. Sword point down. A sword in the earth, above its wielder's final resting place. A SOLDIER's grave.

Zack's hand curled into a loose fist.

"...They deserved it," he said quietly. "I don't care if they were being controlled in the end. They still went out fighting."

Kunsel paused, looking up at Zack. "Did you ever make one for Angeal?" he asked.

He shook his head, his hand going up to close around the Buster Sword's hilt. "Never got the chance," he said. A small smile appeared over his face, and his hand fell away. "Besides, knowing Angeal, he wouldn't want to rest. Not until this is over. He's probably watching us from the Lifestream, getting ready to jump out and lecture us as soon as we screw something up."

Kunsel smiled as well, shaking his head. "Somehow, I can see that," he said. "There aren't many of us left, are there?" he asked Zack. "Essai...Sebastian...the others from our class...it's just you and me."

"Mm," said Zack. He frowned, realizing something. Zack looked up, his eyes widening. "Hey, Kunsel. Whatever happened to Luxiere?"

Kunsel frowned, glancing to the side. "He got transferred out," he said. "A few months ago. Haven't seen him since."

"I see," said Zack. He shook his head again. "Well, this is getting depressing. Where's that food place you were talking about?"

"We can take a shortcut," said Kunsel, pointing down a small side street. "It'll be quicker this way." Kunsel turned, making his way down the road. Zack stared at him for a moment, before continuing after him. He walked quickly his first few steps, catching up.

"You sure know your way around Kalm," he commented, looking over at his friend.

"Well, I should," said Kunsel, casually. "I grew up here, after all."

Zack stopped walking. "Wait, _what_?" he asked.

Kunsel paused a few feet ahead of him, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked back. "Kalm," he said. "I'm from here. Didn't you know?"

"No," said Zack. "You never said anything!"

"You never asked," said Kunsel, continuing to walk. He shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"It's a pretty big deal!" said Zack, hurrying to catch up with him. "I mean, if this is your hometown, you shouldn't be here talking to me. You should be off visiting your family, or—." Zack froze, catching Kunsel's sudden change of expression, his friend looking away. "—oh..." said Zack, trailing off.

Kunsel shook his head. "It's nothing," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"What happened?"

"The Kalm Firebombing. 1997," said Kunsel. "...It was a long time ago."

Zack paused. He'd heard about the bombing, of course. Everyone in Shinra at the time knew about it, even new recruits, like he had been. It had been a missile accident. The target was supposed to be 50 miles north of Kalm, but the machines had been calibrated wrongly. Some people survived. Others didn't. "You...were there when it happened?" he asked.

Kunsel shook his head. "I was in Midgar," he said. "In the training program."

"Wait...that's not possible," said Zack, frowning at Kunsel as his friend walked on ahead of him. "_I _joined Shinra in '97. You came into the training program after me. After the bombing."

Kunsel paused, looking back at him. "Maybe you just didn't notice me before," he said. He continued to walk, leaving Zack standing there as he made his way towards a well lit building. "Do you want to get food or not?" he asked.

Zack blinked, staring after Kunsel. He shook his head, hurrying to catch up. "Hey, wait for me!" he said.

XxXxX

It was quiet in Shion's dining room, the only sound coming from the clinking of plates as the group passed them down the line to be stacked. Tifa crouched down from her seat at the end of the table, scooping Red XIII's plate off the floor and setting it neatly on the top of the stack. The nine of them plus Shion were gathered in the room again—Elmyra and Marlene having retired to the safe house they were staying in a while back. The clock on the wall continued to tick. It was already close to midnight.

"Thanks for the food," said Shion, wiping his mouth with a napkin and looking up at the others. He frowned at them, his eyes passing over each individual face. "Now..." he said. "I know it's late, but the question needs to be asked. What are you going to do?"

They paused, exchanging glances down the line. It was Cissnei who spoke first, placing one hand over another on the table in front of her. "...Find Genesis," she said.

"Mm," said Zack, nodding. "Nothing about this makes sense. Why would Genesis ever go back to Shinra?"

"He has his own agenda," said Sephiroth, looking up. "...He's using Rufus as a tool to meet an end."

"Do you think Rufus knows?" asked Cloud.

"Oh, Rufus knows," replied Cissnei. "He's too smart to not have figured that out. But he's using Genesis just as much as Genesis is using him. A tool to meet an end."

"So what's Rufus's end game?" asked Tifa, looking up at the others. "What's he after?"

Barret snorted. "That's easy," he said. "Takin' over the world."

"I don't think it's that simple," said Red, sitting up. "...If it was just that...he wouldn't need Genesis, would he? He already controls the world, in the most important way."

"He had Genesis get his old man killed!" said Barret.

"...But did he really need Genesis to do that?" asked Aerith softly.

Cissnei shook her head. "He didn't," she said. "Anyone could have done it. Genesis nudging Sephiroth in that direction was just...sorry...icing on the cake." She looked up, giving Sephiroth an apologetic glance before looking back at Barret. "He's after something else."

"The Promised Land..." said Cloud. The others paused, looking over at him. Cloud reddened, shaking his head and looking down at the table. "It...It was something he said to me after we fought. He's after the Promised Land."

"And...Genesis?" asked Kunsel.

The group traded glances again.

"No clue," said Cissnei finally, looking back down at the table. She looked up, glancing across from her. "Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Genesis has always been...volatile. And hard to read. I'm not sure what he's planning or how Shinra or the Promised Land ties into that. But..."

"Probably nothing good," finished Zack.

Sephiroth nodded. "Mm," he said.

"So that leaves us with one solid lead," said Cissnei. "...Rufus Shinra."

"If that's the case," said Shion, looking up. "Then I know where you're going next."

He reached into his pocket, unfolding a piece of paper and placing it on the table. Sephiroth picked it up, frowning down at it.

"What is it?" asked Barret.

"It's an announcement," replied Shion. "An official announcement for the Vice-President's inauguration."

Sephiroth set down the page, looking up at the group. "It's in Junon."

The group fell silent again, exchanging looks.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**A/N: **Credit for Kunsel's hometown actually goes to two people who suggested it, **Riku Uzumaki**, and a friend in real life. Thanks to both of you!


	43. File 013: 22 Hours pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** There's a small shout out here to **A Tale Of Two SOLDIERs** for those of you who have read it. Not entirely sure I like how this chapter turned out, but...well, here you go!

**JazzQueen, **I actually already have that scene planned out for when they meet Vincent. But it'll be a while before that happens, since Vincent comes along fairly late in Disc 1. Not too long, though, hopefully.

**Ryuukoshi, **haha, I'll consider it. I'm already considering writing something called _Side Stories_, which would have all the funny scenes I have in mind that happen in different towns and along the way that just don't fit with the plot (For Kalm it would be a mishap with Zack and the supplies, for example). As far as Seph's father potential, I get the feeling that he would be one of those people that talks to kids like they're adults, since he doesn't know any different.

**Irish-Brigid, **thanks! Glad you like it! Yes, Marlene and Cloud are adorable. And as for Kunsel, yeah, I intend on fleshing out his background by expanding on that little mystery~

**Riku Uzumaki, **he might have. We'll see.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**Guest, **you're welcome! Happy to write it and glad that you like it.

**Erilin-chan, **it's actually canon. After Aerith and company leave Midgar, Reeve takes Marlene and Elmyra and hides them in Kalm. The reason you never see them is because they're hidden in a safe house, but Shion would have just enough privilege to be able to take Aerith and Barret there to visit, so...yeah. (And yes, _any _Vincent pairing would just be hinted at up until the epilogue, because Vincent needs some time to get over his angst.)

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **Vincent will be a little longer, but Yuffie is actually coming into the story in the File after next (File 015), and the next file will probably be short, because it's just the Mythril Mines/Fort Condor file. Besides encountering the Turks, not much will be going on. I'm actually considering just combining the two. Anyway, real soon.

**Blinded in a bolthole,** thanks, glad you like it! And you and I are wondering the same thing. I have a plan, in that I have a faint outline, but I'm flexible with things that are far off in this story.

XxXxX

**File 013: 22 Hours**

Sephiroth watched from the second floor window as the group below continued to train. Zack and Aerith stood together, Zack showing her several basic strikes with the Full Metal Staff she had just bought from the weapons shop, and occasionally correcting her posture. His eyes drifted toward Cloud, who was running through the set of exercises Sephiroth had assigned him, his new Mythril Saber glinting in the morning sunlight. He made sure Cloud was following his instructions to his satisfaction, then continued to watch Zack, idly noting the way he corrected her posture and grip. Her hands were too narrowly spaced for a staff of that size, but he wasn't teaching, so it wasn't his responsibility to complain.

"Feel like stepping in?" asked a voice from behind him.

Sephiroth turned his head slightly, glancing to the side, then stepped away from the window to accommodate Shion. The former Turk came to stand next to him, his left hand draped over the hilt of his sword.

"Not particularly," he replied. "Zack's doing well. And I'm not a good teacher."

"You seem to do just fine with Cloud," commented Shion, gesturing at the blond man.

"That's because he's talented," said Sephiroth, glancing at Cloud as well. "...He just isn't aware of it yet."

Shion smiled. "So you...terrify him into performing?"

Sephiroth turned away, but he couldn't fully hide the smirk that appeared on his face. "I prefer the term 'motivate'," he said.

Shion chuckled, shaking his head. His eyes fell on the far corner of the garden, his expression growing serious again. "That girl..." he said. "She doesn't know when to quit."

Sephiroth looked over at them as well, falling silent. "Hm."

Cissnei and Kunsel stood apart from the others, Kunsel holding his sword in front of him in a defensive position. Cissnei wove around him, deftly manipulating her shuriken around her body as she looked for an opening. He blocked her, Rekka's blade clashing against the flat of his sword. It wasn't a serious fight by any means, but it was good training for both of them. She practiced finding openings and breaking through defenses, and he practiced guarding himself and keeping his stance. He had been watching them for a little while now.

Cissnei was relentless. She ducked, wove, and feinted around Kunsel, using her smaller size and sharper reflexes to her advantage. Twice, he saw her half-commit to an attack, pressuring Kunsel in one direction before darting sharply to the other and forcing him to turn quickly to keep up. He could tell that the past few days had tired her, of course. A few weeks ago, he wouldn't have questioned it, simply accepting that it was discipline that made her continue to train.

He saw differently now. He saw a hint of desperation in her movements, in the way she pushed herself. Training to think, or to forget, or to put off thinking of complicated things for a moment more. How many times had he been guilty of the same thing?

He looked up, staring directly ahead. "Shion..." he began.

"Curious about Cissnei?" asked Shion from beside him, the corner of his lip quirking up in a smirk.

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly, and he turned his head sharply to the side. "How did you...?"

"Please," said Shion, waving his hand dismissively in the air. "I've been a Turk for fifteen years. Give me _some _credit." His smirk returned, and he shot Sephiroth a sidelong glance. "I think you're too old for her, by the way."

Sephiroth glared, looking away and back out the window. "I wasn't asking with that in mind," he said.

"Of course not," said Shion, folding his arms. His expression grew serious, and he came to stand next to Sephiroth again, looking out the window as well. "...I still maintain that the best thing I ever did in my career as a Turk was pulling Cissnei out of that orphanage," he said. "...And the worst thing I ever did...was putting her right back in the training program. It changed her. In ways that I don't have the right to speak about."

He reached out thoughtfully, pressing his fingers lightly to the glass.

"After Cissnei became a Turk...I was assigned as her partner. Well...I suppose handler would be a more accurate term..."

_Shion stepped into the office, closing the door behind him. "Here," he said, tossing a small paper bag in Cissnei's direction. She caught it, snatching it out of the air from where she sat on the bench, one leg propped up on the seat next to her and her hand resting across her knee. The girl stared at it, as though she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do with it. Shion sighed. _

"_Eat," he said, walking over to his own desk. "You look like you need it." _

_She said nothing, but he heard a rustling sound as she opened the paper bag, taking out the burger inside and unwrapping it. Honestly, he would have preferred to get her some real food, but it was late enough that the building's cafeteria was closed, and fast food was better than nothing. His eyes moved over the stack of papers on his desk, and the high school uniform draped over the back of hers. _

_A single picture stood out from the files on his desk in stark detail. A young girl, with blond hair tied in a loose ponytail, with bright blue eyes. She had been about fifteen. _

Older than Cissnei_, he reminded himself. It was getting harder and harder to remember that. _

_There was blood on the uniform. A slight spattering, across the white skirt and on the jacket sleeve. He tore his eyes away. _

"_Are you alright?" he asked, looking over at Cissnei. _

"_Fine," was the curt response he got in return. She didn't look up at him, keeping her eyes on the tiled floor of the office. Fourteen, he reminded himself. _

_It wasn't right. A fourteen-year-old shouldn't have such empty eyes. _

"_...Why wouldn't I be?" she asked. _

"_You just got back from an extended undercover mission," he said. "And considering how it ended..." He trailed off, leaning against his desk and folding his arms. She raised her head but didn't turn towards him, wiping her mouth with a napkin. _

_In the corner of the office, a TV continued to drone, displaying the evening news. Shion's eyes moved towards it as a picture of the same high school girl was shown, her blue eyes staring back at him from the other side of the screen. Cissnei looked up, her own eyes landing on the television as well. _

"_...more on the death of Miss Anna Rozen. Anna was found this afternoon in a bathroom stall at a mall in Junon. The cause of death is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. There are no other outside parties implicated. Anna's father, longtime Shinra employee Victor Rozen, admitted to embezzling funds from the company's Junon branch shortly after Anna's death. It is not clear at this point whether or not Anna Rozen was involved in her father's crimes, or whether this had any effect on her decision to commit suicide..." _

_Shion snorted softly to himself, looking away. It hadn't mattered whether or not Anna was involved. The orders had come straight from the top. Once he had extricated a confession from Victor, Heidegger had had the message sent by PHS to Cissnei. No loose ends. _

_It had been very cleanly done. There was no indication that Anna Rozen's death had been anything but a suicide. No one saw Cissnei enter the bathroom with her. No one saw her leave. _

"_...Are you sure you're okay? After something like that?" _

_Cissnei slowly tore her eyes away from the TV, sliding to her feet. She carried the bag of food with her, staring straight ahead. "...It was part of the mission," she said, walking towards the door. "I did what I had to. It didn't mean anything to me at all..." _

"It was a simple mission," said Shion, trailing his hand down the glass as he lowered it to his side. "There wasn't supposed to be any fighting. It was supposed to be a simple, low-key mission for her first undercover assignment. When Heidegger's orders came in, I was ready to pull her out. She pulled the gun out from under her skirt and pulled the trigger without a word."

"Orders," said Sephiroth, as if that explained everything. Back then, he probably would have done the same thing. Shinra's training was very thorough. It could condition an adult—what more a child?

"Mm," said Shion, nodding solemnly.

"What changed?" he asked.

"We did," replied Shion. "You've seen the Turks. We took her under our wing—all of us—and she started lightening up again." He shook his head. "Cissnei's the last person we would have pegged for a deserter. But then again, so are you."

He didn't say anything, mostly because it was true. Six years ago, the idea of deserting would never have occurred to him. If Angeal and Genesis had never left, he probably would still be working for Shinra. Unaware of the truth, and happier for it. But better off? He doubted that.

He stepped away from the window, walking towards the stairs. Shion turned towards him, frowning. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Outside," replied Sephiroth smoothly, walking down the stairs. "You're welcome to join me."

He didn't wait to see if Shion followed, instead stepping out into the cool morning air. The five people in Shion's back yard looked up as he approached, turning to face him. Cloud hesitantly lowered his sword, tilting the point down so that it faced the ground.

"Sephiroth?" asked Zack.

"We're leaving in a few hours," he said, stopping in front of them. "Kunsel, Cloud, go catch up with Tifa and Red. Make sure we're properly supplied, and see if you can purchase Materia."

Cloud nodded. "Mm."

"Sure," said Kunsel, lifting his blade and replacing it on his back. He nodded at Cissnei, following Cloud out of the backyard.

Sephiroth continued to walk. He paused, noticing that Zack and Aerith were watching him expectantly, and glanced back at them. His eyes moved over Zack, landing on Aerith instead. "Don't you have goodbyes you want to say?" he asked.

"Mm," she said, nodding. "Thank you." She grabbed onto Zack's arm. "Zack, come with me!" she said.

"H-Hey!" said Zack in surprise, as Aerith began walking back towards the town. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," said Aerith, smiling. "You should say bye to Mom too."

He glanced to his left as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, frowning at Cissnei. She watched him expectantly, one hand on her shuriken, and the other on her waist.

"And me?" she asked.

"Take a break," he replied, turning away.

Cissnei blinked in surprise. "But—," she began.

"There's a world outside the training room," he said, looking back at her over his shoulder. He turned his head, continuing to walk. He passed Shion, exchanging a glance with the ex-Turk before making his way into the town.

XxXxX

In a few hours, they were ready to leave. The group of nine gathered outside of Shion's house, packs of supplies on their shoulders. Aerith craned her neck, glancing over her left shoulder at her staff. She turned slightly, trying to get a better view, her expression unsure. The staff clung to her back, sticking to the magnetic sheath Cissnei had sewn into her pink jacket.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked. "It feels weird carrying it like this."

"Trust me, you'd rather have your hands free while we travel," replied Cissnei, folding her arms. "You'll get used to it."

The two of them looked up as Sephiroth walked past them, heading to the front of the party where Zack and Cloud stood. He glanced at them as he passed. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Just about," said Cissnei, nodding.

Aerith frowned, looking over the group. Shion stood at a distance, watching them from the open gate in front of his fence. She took a deep breath, making her decision. "Just a minute," she said, shooting Sephiroth a smile before jogging off towards the ex-Turk.

"Aerith!" she heard Cissnei shout behind her.

Aerith ignored her, coming to a stop in front of Shion. He looked up at her quizzically, his brow raising.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Thank you," said Aerith, smiling at him. "For bringing my mother here."

Shion frowned. "That wasn't me," he said.

"I know," said Aerith. "But you helped, didn't you?" Shion said nothing, but the look he gave her was answer enough. Aerith clasped her hands in front of her, tilting her head slightly. "Does Tseng know?"

"That's classified," said Shion quickly, although his eyes betrayed a hint of surprise. Aerith grinned.

"Aerith, come on!" shouted Zack from the head of the party, waving his arm at her. Aerith placed her hands on her waist, turning around and facing him. She gave him a look, although she was still smiling.

"I'm _coming_!" she said. "One second!"

"You should go," said Shion, inclining his head towards the party.

Aerith nodded, looking back at him. "Take care of them?" she asked.

Shion frowned at her, placing one hand over the hilt of his sword. "I can't make any promises," he said. "But..." He raised his eyes to meet hers, his expression serious. "I'll do what I can."

"Aerith!" called Zack again, more insistently.

Aerith rolled her eyes, turning around. _"Alright! _I'm coming!" She glanced back at Shion, raising her hand in a wave, before running off to join the party. Aerith came to a stop in front of Zack, folding her arms and glancing at him. She smiled teasingly. "Someone's pushy today."

In response, Zack inclined his head towards Sephiroth, who had stepped up to the very front of the party, a few feet away from them. "Can you blame me?" he asked. "I've had to put up with _that." _He folded his arms across his chest. "...Honestly, like ten minutes either way is going to make much of a difference. What were you talking about anyway?"

"Oh, nothing," said Aerith, clasping her hands behind her back. She turned her attention to the world around her as they left the city of Kalm, tilting her head back slightly to look at the sky. It was a deep blue this afternoon—stretching on for miles in either direction. The sight should have terrified her, but she realized suddenly that she wasn't afraid at all. If anything, she felt a thrill run through her, a feeling in her blood that she couldn't quite name. There was fear there. Of course there was fear. They were running from an enemy much stronger than they were, towards a destiny none of them were certain of. And there were so many questions left unanswered. But...

"What are you thinking of?" asked Zack, looking over at her.

"I'm excited," she replied, as they passed through the gates of Kalm.

"To see the world?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "To see it with you."

"Well then," said Zack, smiling at her. "Let's make it an adventure to remember." He looked over his shoulder, glancing back at the village of Kalm. "Still..." he said. "I'm a little bummed we didn't get to see Shion fight."

"Was he really that good?" asked Tifa, from just behind Zack.

"Oh, he was really that good," said Zack, looking straight ahead of him. "I remember, they used to tell stories about him, back when I was a kid. The Gongagan swordsman, with the white blade. Hope he hasn't gotten rusty..."

XxXxX

Cissnei lowered her eyes to the ground from the back of the group as she listened in on Zack's conversation. She thought back to her last conversation with Shion, just before she hurried out the door to join Zack and the others.

"_If you're going to Junon, be careful," _he had warned. _"Ivan's up there, and he's not in a position to be sympathetic to your cause..." _

She took a deep breath, catching up with the rest of the group. She would take a leaf out of Zack's book and deal with that as it came.

"He hasn't," she said, drawing up beside Zack. "Gotten rusty, I mean. As far as I know, he still trains constantly. Just where no one can see..."

**END FILE**


	44. File 014: The Road to Fort Condor pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** This should be a shorter File, I hope. But it will have a lot of plot-hints, and hopefully some laughs. Merry Christmas to everyone!

**Blinded in a bolthole, **yeah, poor Cloud. Well, this is that chapter, so I hope you enjoy it!

**JazzQueen, **yeah, it will definitely take him a while to realize what his feelings even are. Their pairing will probably take the whole game to finally come to fruition, thanks to how stubborn they both are about it.

**Gohan Roxas, **I was planning to include it, but it didn't fit with the urgency of the whole 22 Hours thing. However, I have Shion's fighting style worked out in my head, so it will eventually come out.

**Riku Uzumaki, **yup. Thanks to Cissnei's presence, they're going to have some interesting encounters.

**Guest, **he is thirty, because he was 25 in CC.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **Junon eventually. But that's the destination they have in mind right now.

**Irish-Brigid, **yep, Sephiroth is thirty and Cissnei is twenty-two, so an eight year age difference. It's a bit of a big age difference, but it's not unheard of, like you said about your parents.

**Ryuukoshi, **eventually, eventually. Right now, we're going to get the party assembled and get the plot laid out. I'm looking forward to the Gold Saucer myself~

XxXxX

**File 014: The Road To Fort Condor**

_She ran through the city, her eyes wide and her footsteps frantic. Her bare feet beat across the metal streets, her breath coming in hard pants. She was a child again, of seven years old, her braided hair trailing along behind her as her eyes, wide and green, darted from person to person. She pushed people out of the way as they stood in front of her. They did nothing, said nothing, simply watched her go. _

"_Mama!" she shouted frantically, tears streaming down her face. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had no idea why she was so scared, only that she had to keep running. "Mama! Mama, where are you? Mama!" _

_The edges of the city seemed to blur, tendrils of darkness creeping up and tearing it apart. Green light rose up in its wake, entangling with the darkness, beating the darkness back, but it was quickly overpowered. She looked around, realizing that she was standing alone on an island of metal, its edges traced by green light. The light snapped at the darkness, but the darkness rose up against it, and the island continued to crumble, the darkness getting closer and closer. It was whispering, taunting her. She could hear it, although she couldn't understand what was being said. There was a constant noise as it advanced, a metallic scraping sound. _

_It terrified her. _

_She crouched down, squeezing her eyes shut and clamping her hands over her ears. The darkness encroached on her, and she understood its intent. It had destroyed the others. There was only her left. Only her..._

"_Mama!" she screamed again. _

_The light flared up around her, chasing the darkness away for a moment. She felt a sudden warmth blossom up in her chest, and smelled the scent of flowers. Not wildflowers, like she had grown in the slums, but beautiful, cultivated blooms—roses and camellias and vines trailing on trellises. Arms wrapped around her, holding her close. _

"_Aerith..." a voice whispered in her ear. "...My sweet Aerith..." _

_The darkness grew closer. Aerith's eyes widened as the city continued to crumble. The light around her blinked, illuminating the figure of a woman, before fading away. She screamed as the darkness rushed at her. "Mama!" she called again. _

"_...Aerith..." _

_The city shook. The light flared one last time, and then it was still. "Mama!"_

"_Aerith..." _

"_Aerith." _

"Aerith."

Aerith's eyes snapped open. She took a deep breath, staring up at the sky above her. It was dark, and dotted with stars. A few feet away from her, the faint glow from their campfire lit the surrounding area orange. She was lying in the middle of their camp in the grasslands of Kalm, her blanket underneath her. She must have kicked it off in the night.

Tifa crouched beside her, the firelight casting shadows over her face and her dark eyes. Her expression was concerned, and she placed one hand on Aerith's shoulder as the other girl sat up. Aerith looked around, but the others were still asleep. She caught sight of Zack on the other side of the fire, sprawled out on top of his blanket, and Sephiroth on his side, his back to them and his sword within easy reach. Cloud and Kunsel were behind her, she remembered. At Sephiroth's insistence, the four mako-enhanced SOLDIERs formed the perimeter of the camp, so that they could be in position in case a surprise attack occurred.

She exhaled, staring down at her hands. They were shaking.

"What happened?" she asked Tifa, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"You were whimpering and tossing around in your sleep," replied the other woman, sitting down beside Aerith. Her frown deepened. "You were calling for your mother. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." she said, shaking her head. "It was just a nightmare."

Tifa stared at Aerith, the look on her face telling the other girl that she didn't quite believe her. The martial artist said nothing, and Aerith used the moment of silence to catch her breath, looking into the fire. Just a dream, she told herself. That was all it was. Just a dream.

But if it was just a dream, then why was she feeling a constant sense of dread? Why did she feel like something terrible had happened? Why...?

"You should go back to sleep," said Tifa, interrupting her thoughts. The other woman stood up, looking around. "It's not your watch yet."

Sleep. She didn't think _that _would be very forthcoming right now. Aerith put a smile on her face, looking up at Tifa. "Are you done with yours?" she asked.

Tifa checked her watch. "Just about," she said.

"Who's next?" asked Aerith.

Tifa frowned in thought, glancing over at her. "Cissnei, I think," she said. "Why?"

"I'll take it," said Aerith. She stood up, gathering up her staff from where it lay beside her and propping it up on the ground. She smiled at Tifa. "I'm already up. There's no point in waking Cissnei. Besides, I could use a couple of minutes."

Tifa looked uncertain. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm sure," said Aerith, walking off. She carefully picked her way around Red's sleeping form, skirting the edge of the fire. "One hour, right?"

"Mm," said Tifa from behind her. She paused, then turned back towards Aerith. "If you're worried about Elmyra, don't be," she said. "She'll be safe in Kalm. She's probably safer than we are."

Aerith paused, keeping her back to Tifa. When she spoke, she injected some cheerfulness into her voice, although she turned her staff around in her hands. "I know," she said. "I'm not worried. Like I said, it was just a nightmare. Good night."

"...Night," said Tifa, making her way to her own abandoned bedroll.

Aerith carefully picked her way past Barret and Zack, slipping past the outer ring of the camp. Zack didn't even seem to notice her as she walked past—he was sprawled out on his back, a smile on his face. Aerith smiled down at him. It looked like he was having a good dream.

She made her way over to a small raised mound of earth near the camp, gathering up her dress underneath her and sitting down. The wind blew, rustling the tops of the grass. At this time of night, it was almost serene, no sign of monsters in the area aside from the usual distant howls. It was hard to believe that a place like this could exist bordered by the Midgar Wasteland and the Marshes, but it did. She tucked her staff into her arms, laying it diagonally across her chest as she stared out into the distance.

She raised one hand to her heart. She could still feel it fluttering uncertainly beneath her fingertips.

_Just a dream..._she told herself. _It was only a dream._

XxXxX

Sephiroth's frown deepened as he listened to Aerith walk off, his head pillowed on his arm as he kept his back towards the two girls. He could see their shadows in the flickering light of the fire in front of him. The SOLDIER listened as Tifa settled back into her bedroll and Aerith's footsteps faded away, until the only sound left was the group's quiet breathing and the crackling fire.

He considered their exchange for a moment before closing his eyes, going back to sleep.

XxXxX

By noon the next day, the group came within sight of a solitary building, standing alone in the middle of the grasslands. Cloud stared at it from his position at the rear of the group, taking it in. He had never been to the Chocobo Farm before, although he knew that SOLDIERs had sometimes been sent to the area on missions to clear it of monsters. The Farm consisted of a large barn with a yellow chocobo painted on the side of it. A group of three chocobos milled around in a pen outside of the barn, not paying much attention to them. Cloud frowned. He'd honestly been expecting bigger. There were eight of them, not including Red. Were they really supposed to find chocobos for all of them here?

"Why are we stopping here again?" he asked Zack, as the two of them followed the group down the hill.

Zack smiled teasingly, snapping his phone shut. "Not looking forward to seeing your folks?" he asked.

"That's not funny, Zack," said Cloud, giving Zack a flat look. Sephiroth shot them both a glare from his position a few feet ahead of them. Zack glanced at Sephiroth, meeting the other SOLDIER's eyes, before sighing and turning back towards Cloud. "You _know _why we're here," he said.

He did. The marshes between Kalm and Fort Condor were inhabited by a creature known as the Midgar Zolom. The snake was fast, but not as fast as chocobos. On foot, they would easily get drawn into battle with the creature. But on chocobo, they would be able to slip by.

He folded his arms, staring at Sephiroth's back. Cloud was fairly certain that the silver-haired First could take on the snake if he wanted to, but as Cissnei had pointed out earlier, there was no point in jumping into a battle if it could be avoided. And crossing the marsh on chocobo would be vastly more comfortable than crossing it on foot.

"Ugh...chocobos," said Barret as they neared. "Always hated the smell of those things."

"They're cute," commented Aerith. "And Zack, they do not look just like Cloud."

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise, and he turned towards Zack incredulously. Zack ignored him, facing Aerith. "Sure they do!" he said, gesturing at the chocobos. "I mean, look at their hair!"

"Zack!"

"They do, kind of," said Tifa, giggling into her hand.

Cloud stared, then shot Zack a dirty look. Zack shrugged his shoulders in response, following the others towards the building. Cissnei, Red, and Barret reached the door first, slipping inside. Kunsel paused, drawing back to hold the door open for Tifa and Aerith. The two entered the building, and he followed, leaving Sephiroth, Clodu, and Zack for last. Sephiroth stopped in the doorway as Cloud and Zack moved to enter, glancing back at the two of them.

"Stay out here, watch our backs, and don't cause any trouble," he said, stepping into the building. The door closed behind him. Zack sighed, staring at it for a few moments before turning back towards Cloud.

"Well, you heard him," he said, walking back to the fence that bordered the chocobo pen. Zack leaned against the wood, folding his arms and staring at the road that led away from the Chocobo Farm. Cloud frowned at him, coming to stand beside him.

"Zack?" he asked.

"Why do I always get the boring jobs?" asked Zack, glancing over at him. Cloud blinked.

"Sorry...?" he ventured uncertainly.

"Nah, it's no big deal," said Zack, waving a hand dismissively. He turned around, leaning over the fence on his arms and looking out at the chocobos in the pen. He grinned at Cloud. "Friends of yours?" he asked.

"Zack!" said Cloud in protest, turning around as well and looking at the chocobos. Zack grinned, patting Cloud on the head roughly. "I'm just kidding," he said. "You're too easy to mess with."

Cloud shoved Zack's hand off of his head, pushing his friend away from him and resting his arms on the fence. The chocobo nearest him looked up, eyeing him curiously before going back to scratching at the ground. Beside him, Zack dug his phone out of his pocket again, glancing at it. His expression changed as he scrolled down the screen, a frown appearing on his face. Cloud glanced over at him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Zack looked up. "Hmm?" he said. "Nothing's going on."

"That's the fifth time you've looked at your phone in the past twenty minutes," said Cloud. "Either you're cheating on Aerith or something's happening, and I don't think it's the first."

Zack sighed, flipping his phone shut again. He held it loosely in his hand, looking out at the chocobos. "It's not a big deal," he said. "It's just...the fan clubs."

Cloud's brow rose. "Yours?" he asked.

Zack shook his head. "Nah," he said. "Mine went broke. It's Seph's. And Genesis's."

"What about them?"

"Their members," replied Zack. "The Silver Elite keeps losing them. Red Leather's getting more."

"Guess Genesis's negative publicity is working," said Cloud. They'd been a little disconnected from the news, having spent the past couple of days traveling.

"He gets what he always wanted," said Zack, tucking his phone away. "To be the hero while Seph plays the villain."

"Except Sephiroth doesn't care," said Cloud with a frown, looking back out at the chocobos.

"That's the thing," said Zack. "I don't think Genesis ever really got that. But, hey...who am I to talk? I hardly knew the guy."

"Why'd you join the fanclubs anyway?" asked Cloud, turning towards Zack. "I mean...aren't they mostly..."

"Rabid fangirls?" asked Zack, with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Yeah, sort of. It's a stupid reason. You'll probably laugh."

Cloud raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Can't be any worse than the reasons people think of," he said.

"You're right about that," said Zack. He leaned forward, draping his arms over the fence and looking out into the pen, his eyes growing a little far-off. "It's just that...Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth were always larger than life, you know? Before all this stuff started happening, they were...well, they were heroes. When I was a Third, we thought they were legends. Unstoppable. But then Angeal took me under his wing, and I got to know him more. Sephiroth too. That's when I realized that they were just like everyone else. So when I became a First, I was kind of curious about how the rest of the world still saw them. How much of it they got right, and how much was just...stories."

"And?" asked Cloud.

Zack grinned. "Apparently Sephiroth used to be a little obsessive about his hair."

"_What?" _asked Cloud. He looked around to make sure no one was listening, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "_Seriously?" _

"Seriously," said Zack, grinning. "Scented shampoo and all."

Cloud stared at Zack in disbelief, then glanced at the Chocobo Farm to make sure Sephiroth wasn't about to appear out of nowhere. He looked back at Zack. "I don't believe you."

"What? You think hair that long takes care of itself?" asked Zack.

"Well..." said Cloud. "Um...I..." He trailed off, turning away from Zack and looking back at the chocobos. Zack grinned, shaking his head and leaning forward again, propping himself up on the fence.

"Hey, Cloud..." said Zack. "You joined Shinra because you wanted to be like Sephiroth, right?"

Cloud snorted softly, leaning on his arms. "Yeah," he said. "Like that's been working out."

"Ah, don't sell yourself short," said Zack, clapping a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "You did really well in Midgar."

"I lost," said Cloud, bitterly. His loss at the top of the support pillar still stung.

"Everyone loses," said Zack, letting his hand fall away. "It's what you do afterward that counts."

Cloud shook his head. "It was just a stupid dream."

"There's no such thing as a stupid dream."

Cloud fell silent, looking at the chocobos. Zack looked up as well, glancing at the one nearest him. A smile came onto his face. "Hey, Cloud, look. You made a friend."

"Huh?" asked Cloud, looking up as well. The chocobo was standing nearly in front of him, looking him in the eye. "Wark!" it said. "Wark? Warkwark wark?"

Cloud blinked, staring at it in confusion. "Um...wark?" he ventured.

To his surprise, the chocobo stepped back, and then the three of them began to..._dance? _Cloud stared at them, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open as the three chocobos moved in a choreographed routine, stomping their feet, flapping their wings, and moving their heads. Zack stared as well, a look of surprise on his face. The dance finished, and the lead chocobo leaned forward, depositing a shining red orb in Cloud's hand. Cloud stared at it. A Materia?

"What the...?" Cloud said, poking at it. It shimmered with its own inner light. The chocobo in the pen took a step back, and Cloud almost swore he saw it wink.

Zack laughed loudly, throwing an arm around Cloud's neck and ruffling his hair. Cloud immediately started struggling to get out of Zack's grip, pushing his friend away. "Zack!" he shouted in protest.

The door opened. "What is going on out here?" demanded Sephiroth from the doorway. Cloud looked up helplessly, his blue eyes pleading as Zack pulled him into a headlock, turning him to face Sephiroth.

"My buddy Cloud here is the Chocobo Whisperer!" he declared.

Sephiroth stared at the two of them, and then very slowly closed the door again, saying nothing, but not taking his eyes off of either of them.

XxXxX

It wasn't long after that before the rest of the party exited the barn, heading back towards them. Zack looked up to greet them, a smile on his face. The smile faded, his expression growing serious as he noticed the others' thoughtful looks. Some of them, Tifa and Aerith included, looked downright disappointed. "What happened?" he asked, folding his arms.

"The chocobos are reserved," replied Cissnei, looking up. "We're going to have to catch our own."

"What? Seriously?" asked Zack, turning towards them. It was possible to catch a chocobo, and it wasn't even really that hard, but with the nine of them, it would take a little bit of time, and frankly, it was an inconvenience none of them were counting on. He sighed, glancing up at the position of the sun. It was already afternoon. "Guess we'd better get started then," he said.

"We could do that," said Sephiroth. "Or..." He trailed off, his eyes drifting over the group. Kunsel perked up, looking over at him.

"Plan B?" he asked. Sephiroth nodded.

"Plan B?" asked Zack, frowning as he turned towards them. "What's Plan B?"

Sephiroth glanced at him. "We hunt the snake," he replied, walking towards the marsh.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	45. File 014: The Road to Fort Condor pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I tried. I really did. I tried to make it cool. But somehow, I still ended up giggling when Cloud summoned Chocobo (Choco/Mog). Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

**Blinded in a bolthole, **would it be easier? In the long run, yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to do it, lol. Thanks for the review!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **thanks! Glad you liked that scene! I had fun writing it!

**JazzQueen, **I get that same feeling. Seph never really cared about the whole hero title, he was just following orders. But Genesis never understood that, I think.

**Gohan Roxas, **in a sense, as you'll see. ^^

**shadowneko003, **wark wark! (Translation: Yes, I agree)

**gandalf the blue, **thanks! I'm glad you liked it! Nero and Weiss will come out later. I kept trying to find a place to add Azul but somehow kept forgetting...I will remedy this very soon!

**Irish-Brigid, **Seph ironically seems like the only sane person in this whole party, lol. And yes, poor Aerith. Though _hopefully _it was just a dream~

**Riku Uzumaki, **yep. Poor Cloud.

**Ryuukoshi, **now you've got me thinking about all the ways Cloud can attempt to see if the rumors are true, while trying to hide the fact that he's heard them. I think I might just include that now.

**ZackandAerithFair2012, **let's just say I had a reason for the nightmare. Thanks for the review!

**Anonymous,** so glad you enjoyed that scene! Thanks for the review!

**Erilin-chan, **yeah, Seph's plans usually end with hitting something with a sword. And no, it's not Knights of the Round, unfortunately (yet). It's Choco/Mog, which you can get in game by interacting with the chocobos and watching them dance. As soon as I saw that scene, my first thought was "Zack will tease Cloud epically for this".

XxXxX

**File 014: The Road To Fort Condor**

Sephiroth selected a single glowing green orb from the party's pool of Materia, slipping it into one of the Masamume's slots. The weapon shimmered with a faint light as the Materia faded into the blade, the glow fading as the magic settled. He slung the sword over his shoulder and fastened it to his back, watching as Zack and Kunsel selected their own set of Materia and checked their gear. Sephiroth left them to it, walking past them and heading to where the others waited, weapons in hand. The six of them immediately looked up at him as he reached them, watching him expectantly.

"This is the plan," he said. "Zack, Kunsel, and myself will make up the hunting party. Our responsibility will be to engage the Midgar Zolom once it attacks. The rest of you are to retreat. Make for the edge of the marsh as quickly as you can. The Zolom is territorial. It will not attack once you are outside its territory." It was a simple enough plan. He was confident in his own ability to kill the Midgar Zolom. Zack and Kunsel would be able to as well, if pressed. But like all plans, there was always the possibility of error. He studied the other members of the group, gauging their reactions. Each of them nodded, seeming to understand as they continued to adjust their equipment.

Sephiroth turned away, walking over to where Cloud was inspecting his sword. The former infantryman held it up to the light, inspecting its edge. The Mythril Saber gleamed in the sunlight. Cloud straightened up as he saw him watching, turning towards him expectantly. Sephiroth frowned, studying the other man.

"You aren't ready for the Zolom," he said.

Cloud nodded once, his face falling slightly. He lowered his eyes. "I know," he said.

"I want you in charge of the retreating party."

The young man looked up in surprise, his eyes widening. "Me?" he asked.

He felt the hint of an amused smile come to his face. "Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked. The smile faded, his expression growing serious again. "Consider it a field test."

"Uh...s-sir," said Cloud in response, nodding once.

Sephiroth nodded at Cloud, then turned away, heading back towards Kunsel and the others. As he walked back, he could hear Cloud going up to rejoin the rest of the group, asking them if they were ready and what they still needed to prepare. He shook his head, amused in spite of himself at the younger swordsman's eagerness. Perhaps he would have made a good SOLDIER, had they remained in Shinra.

But then again, knowing what they knew now, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Sephiroth frowned, noticing Zack watching him with a smile on his face, his hands on his waist.

"What?" he asked.

"You know you just made Cloud's day, right?" asked Zack, looking over at the other group.

Sephiroth snorted in feigned derision, turning away from Zack. "We don't have time for that," he said, looking over at Kunsel. "Are we ready to move?"

"Just about," said Kunsel, slinging his sword over his shoulder. Sephiroth nodded, stepping forward.

"Oh, come on, Seph. Just admit it. You _do _care," said Zack teasingly, walking quickly to catch up. Sephiroth ignored him, looking back at Cloud and the rest of the party.

"Stay between the three of us," he ordered, walking forward towards the marsh. "When the snake attacks, run."

XxXxX

They had gone about halfway into the marsh when the Zolom first came into view, charging through the mud towards them. As instructed, Cloud and the others took off, leaving Sephiroth, Zack and Kunsel to face the snake, blades outstretched. Cloud glanced back at them as the sounds of battle started, watching as Zack and Kunsel flanked the snake on either side, letting Sephiroth jump in through the center. He turned towards Cissnei, who was running beside him, gesturing for her to take the lead as he fell back, guarding the rear of the party.

"Cloud?" asked Tifa.

"Keep going!" he said, glancing back at the fight. The Zolom looked up at them, appearing briefly interested before Sephiroth jumped into the air, slashing at it. The snake reared, breathing fire. The flames scorched the ground, and Cloud could feel the heat of them from here as Sephiroth jumped backwards, artfully dodging the blast even as Zack and Kunsel moved in to attack.

He looked back at his own party as they ran, quickly reaching out and catching Aerith by the elbow as she stumbled forward. She looked up at him, a grateful expression on her face. Cloud nodded at her and urged her on, looking back at the fight again. He had arranged the group so that Aerith and Barret ran at its center, Tifa and Red protecting its flanks and Cissnei running at the head. The group of six continued to run, the battle falling farther and farther behind as they sprinted across the marsh, breathing heavily. The ground fell away beneath their feet, mud staining their clothes and boots.

They had to keep running, he thought as he looked around at the others. Until they got to the edge of the marsh. They had to keep...

"Cloud!" shouted Barret in alarm.

"Over there!" said Red, glancing over to the left.

The others looked as well. Cloud's eyes widened. A second snake was burrowing its way through the marsh, heading towards them. He stared. There was only supposed to be one snake, wasn't there? Only one.

"What do we do?" asked Tifa.

On impulse, Cloud looked back at the fight, but they were too far away. They wouldn't be able to get here in time. He looked back at the snake as it reared up, studying the rest of the party. Cloud's mind raced, his heart beating fast as he reached up and grabbed hold of his sword. He did the only thing he could think of.

"Behind me!" he shouted, drawing his sword as the snake rushed towards them. He burst out of formation between Red and Barret, running towards the snake.

"_Cloud!" _shouted Tifa in alarm.

The snake reared up, spotting him first. He darted to the side, veering away from the party. As Cloud watched, the Zolom changed directions, rushing towards him.

"Keep going!" he shouted at the rest of the party.

"Cloud!"shouted Aerith.

Cloud jumped out of the way as the snake plunged down towards him, jaws outstretched. He hit the ground, rolling forward and springing back up. Cloud lashed out with his sword, the tip of it drawing a faint line of blood across the snake's side. It hissed, snapping at him, and Cloud jumped back, continuing to run. The snake's eyes flicked towards the party, then it looked back at Cloud, rushing towards him.

_Good, that's it..._Cloud thought, looking back at the snake. His heart thudded in his chest. _Follow me._

The snake hissed, raising its head. It opened its mouth, about to snap at him again. Cloud glanced over his shoulder at it as its mouth neared, his eyes widening.

Gunfire suddenly rang out, bullets peppering the snake's skin as ice crystals followed in its wake. The snake stopped, whipping its head around towards the party. Cloud stared at them, his stomach lurching.

"No!" he shouted. "What are you doing? Run away!"

The snake stared at them for a moment, regarding them calmly, before rushing straight at them. The party stared at it, and Cloud saw them tense, then scatter, running for the edge of the marsh. Cissnei drew back her hand, grabbing her shuriken. As Cloud watched, she held her hand over the weapon's Materia slot, flames engulfing the blade. The flaming star bounced off the snake's face, barely missing its eye. The snake roared in pain, staggering back for a moment as the group fled before pursuing them again.

"No!" shouted Cloud, running forward with his sword in hand. He gripped the sword in both hands, jumping into the air. Cloud landed on the snake's back, stabbing down hard. His sword sank into the snake's flesh past its scales, and the snake tensed, its head swiveling around to turn towards him. It hissed, its hood flaring and tongue flickering as it snapped at him, flicking its powerful tail. The force sent Cloud flying back, his sword sliding out of the snake and slipping from his hands as the snake turned, its jaws scraping his flesh and drawing blood. Cloud flew back, landing in the mud with a squelch and sliding back a few feet.

The snake ignored him as he fell, slithering towards the party.

Cloud thrust one arm out underneath him, pushing himself up and out of the mud. He ignored the pain in his chest as the snake advanced, rushing towards the other five with mouth open and fangs outstretched. Barret and Aerith stood firm, Barret shooting at it relentlessly as Aerith casted spell after spell. The blasts struck the underside of the creature's jaw, and it hissed in pain and anger, rearing back. In front of them, Tifa crouched down, getting into a battle stance as Cissnei held her weapon out in front of her and Red crouched down on his haunches.

The snake roared and loomed over them, powerful and deadly as it charged straight through.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zack start rushing towards them, Sephiroth and Kunsel continuing to battle the first snake. Zack had his Buster Sword in hand, an expression of alarm on his face as he ran through the mud.

But there wasn't enough time. He had to distract the snake.

Cloud's eyes widened, and he immediately scrambled around, looking for his sword. It had fallen in the mud somewhere. He couldn't find it. Without his sword, he had no other weapon, nothing he could use to fight. Nothing, except...

Cloud reached for the red Materia the chocobo had given him, jumping to his feet. He closed his eyes, feeling it pulse inside him, glowing a brilliant red. The light grew warmer and warmer, and he felt the magic in him build up, compounding and growing in strength before finally breaking free. Bright red light flared up around him as he opened his eyes, facing the snake.

"_Chocobo!" _he called.

Light flared, accompanied by a sudden gust of wind. A chocobo appeared out of nowhere, running directly towards the snake with what looked like a Moogle on its back. As Cloud watched, the chocobo reached its destination, jumping into the air and aiming a powerful kick straight at the snake's head. The kick distracted it, throwing it off target and causing it to sway to the side as Tifa and the others scrambled for cover. The snake reared back up as the chocobo disappeared, turning its head sharply towards Cloud. Cloud's eyes widened, and he took a step back, glancing at the group.

"Run!" he shouted.

The group hesitated. Cloud didn't wait to see what they would do, looking around for his sword. He found it lying in the mud a few feet away from him, and made a dash for it as the snake slithered towards him, its great head parting the mud on either side. Cloud picked up his sword, holding it in both hands and pointing it at the snake as he took a step back, getting into a defensive position. The snake reared its head, opening its mouth and exposing his fangs. Cloud grit his teeth and held up his sword, bracing himself for impact.

The Zolom charged at him. He heard Zack shout.

A bright blade cut through the air, scoring a deep gash on the Zolom's side and spraying him with warm, red blood. Cloud's eyes widened as Sephiroth landed neatly on the ground beside the Zolom, swiping his blade off to the side before turning around to face the snake. The snake hissed in pain, whipping its head around and turning to face Sephiroth. The silver-haired First watched him coolly, raising his blade.

He jumped into the air as the snake charged again, using Masamune to shield his body and blocking the snake's strike. Sephiroth swept his blade smoothly to the side, cutting another gash down the side of the snake's head. He jumped to the ground as the snake let out a hiss of pain, pulling his sword close to himself and rolling out of the way. "Zack!" he barked.

"You got it," said Zack, dashing into view. He pulled his Buster Sword from behind his back and raised it over his head, leaping into the air towards the snake. As Cloud watched, he cut down in one smooth motion, stabbing the Buster Sword into the snake's right side. As the snake turned its head to snap at him, Sephiroth moved, jumping into the air and coming down from above.

He landed on the top of the snake's head, Masamune piercing its skull all the way through. The Zolom reared and convulsed, before falling to the ground with a deafening crash.

Cloud stared, watching as Sephiroth braced his foot on the Zolom's skull and withdrew Masamune, swiping it off again to clean it. He didn't replace it on his back, holding it tightly in his left hand as the rest of the party came up to them. Kunsel jogged to meet them, running one hand through his sweaty hair. His skin was streaked with sweat, mud, and blood, but if he had injuries, they had probably been healed. Like Zack and Sephiroth, he was still carrying his sword.

Sephiroth glanced at Kunsel and the rest of the party, then turned towards him. Cloud looked down, realizing that he was still breathing heavily and holding his sword at the ready. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves, straightening up and lowering his sword to his side. He didn't replace it on his back, keeping a tight hold on it. His heart still beat quickly in his chest, and he was sure his face was pale. Sephiroth looked him over, taking in everything—the sweating, shaking hands, pale face, wide-eyes, and wound across his chest. His eyes moved back up to his face, meeting his.

"How bad is it?" he asked, indicating the wound.

Cloud hesitated. "Not...so bad, I think," he said. "Not poisoned. Everyone else?" He looked back at the rest of the party.

"We're fine," said Cissnei. "No injuries."

"Hm," said Sephiroth, looking them over. He looked back at Cloud, staring at him with hard, green eyes. At length, he nodded in approval. "You did well," he said.

Cloud stared at him in surprise, speechless. Sephiroth watched him for a moment, before turning away, glancing at the main party. "Aerith," he said.

Aerith nodded, walking quickly towards Cloud. "I'll take care of it," she said, holding her hands out just a few inches from his chest. A green glow surrounded her hands, and Cloud glanced down at her, watching as his wound closed up. He looked back at Sephiroth, but the silver-haired SOLDIER was already at the head of the group, surveying the road ahead.

"Sephiroth..." he began.

He spoke quietly, but the older First turned anyway, meeting his eyes. "You just might earn the uniform you wear," he said, before turning again and continuing to eye the mountains. "We're almost to the end of the marsh," he said. "Return to your post, Cloud."

"Uh...yeah," said Cloud, nodding once. He turned away, doing his best to hide the sudden triumphant smile that appeared on his face.

XxXxX

The group managed to cross the rest of the marsh without incident, appearing in the foothills of the mountains on the other side. By the time they exited the marshes, they were a ragged mess, the majority of them covered in mud or, in Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, and Kunsel's cases, blood and other unidentifiable snake parts. Cissnei picked at a patch of mud on her arm that had dried, frowning slightly to herself as she looked up at the mountains.

"How much farther was it to Fort Condor again?" asked Zack, grimacing as he looked down at himself.

"About another day, once we get to the other side of these mountains," replied Cissnei, folding her arms. She smiled slightly at Zack's crestfallen face. "Don't worry. We'll find a pond or something to throw you in before we get there."

"For the record," said Zack, glancing at Sephiroth. "_I _wanted to catch chocobos."

"Thought you were a country boy," commented Kunsel, looking over at him.

"Hey, there's mud and then there's...I don't even know what this is," said Zack, scowling as he brushed something off his arm. It landed on the ground, and Aerith took a step back.

"Ew, Zack!" she said.

Zack looked up at her, an evil grin appearing on his face. "Oh, Aerith," he said, opening his arms and taking a step towards her. "Come give your hero a hug!"

Aerith jumped back, holding her staff in both hands. "Don't you come any closer, mister!" she warned, her eyes wide as Zack advanced.

The others laughed. Cissnei smiled at the sight of Cloud and the others forming a loose half-circle around the couple, grins on their faces. She looked up, watching as Sephiroth glanced at them, an amused gleam in his eye. He turned away, his expression growing serious again as he faced the cave that led into the Mythril Mines. She folded her arms, walking over to him. She looked into the cave as well, a frown appearing on her face.

"...The only path through the mountains between Midgar and Junon," she said as she reached him. "...If I were still working for Shinra, this would be the perfect spot for an ambush."

"Agreed," said Sephiroth. He glanced at her. "Stay alert."

She smiled. "You don't need to tell me that," she said, half-joking, half-serious. Sephiroth nodded in response.

"Round up the others," he said, stepping forward. "Let's keep moving."

Cissnei nodded, looking back at the rest of the group. They were laughing openly now as Aerith took a step back, brandishing the end of her staff threateningly in Zack's direction. Zack continued to step towards her, an exaggerated look of disappointment on his face.

"Get 'im, Aerith!" Barret shouted, grinning.

"One good whack!" added Kunsel.

Zack stared at the both of them in disbelief. "Some friends you are!" he said.

Cissnei walked over to them, unable to help the grin that formed on her face.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**ANNOUNCEMENT: **Want to see how Mystwalker writes original fiction? My ebook, _Arbiter_, was published by Vittoriosa Books, and is available on Amazon for Kindle and PC. The book is free until the end of the week, so if you want to get it, get it now! Otherwise it's $2.99! To find it, just input: "Arbiter, Vittoriosa Books" into the Amazon search bar! When you're done reading, don't forget to go back on Amazon to rate and review!


	46. File 014: The Road to Fort Condor pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Okay, so this didn't turn out to be a short file after all...*sigh* I blame chocobos. Anyway, next chapter, there will be a little treat for some of you, and it will be the end of the file for real.

**Irish-Brigid, **ouch, I can imagine...Don't worry, my family and I are really good about leaving hotel rooms in decent condition—we don't like having other people clean up our messes!

**JazzQueen, **he does fit in well with the group, doesn't he? And he's starting to open up, in his own way.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **oh yeah. Cloud was extremely pleased with this turn of events.

**Ryuukoshi, **I'm trying to work in Zack teasing, but for now he seems to be willing to leave them alone and see how it develops (he _has _noticed it, and in my head he's thinking that if he teases them too much, he might end up doing more harm than good. It's a pretty fragile connection the two of them have, and at this point calling their attention to it might just make both of those professionals shy away from each other. But only for now.) About Seph's hair, I'm actually thinking of writing a comic relief series called _Side Stories_, which would be all the little funny scenes I've been wanting to add that would break the flow of the story. Would you be interested in that?

**Io, **hmm...some 'yes'es and some 'no's on the list of characters you want to see, but I won't tell you which ones. Thanks for reading and I'm glad you like it!

**Erilin-chan, **thanks, glad you liked the fight scene! (See my review response for ryuukoshi, I also have a short scene with summons I'll end up including in _Side Stories _if I do end up writing it, but it will have to wait until the other members of the group get their summons, so as not to spoil who's getting what. Let's just say there are enough summons in FFVII for every member of the group to get one...and some to get two.) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!

**Riku Uzumaki, **we used to do that with paint, when we would paint sets in the drama club. Good fun.

**Draconic, **thanks! Hopefully you like the book as well! And yes, Cloud got a good self-esteem boost. It's funny, now that Sephiroth isn't evil, Cloud is fully allowed to be the little Sephiroth fan that he was before his hero turned on him, haha.

**Gandalf the blue **and **Furionknight, **thanks!

XxXxX

**File 014: The Road To Fort Condor**

As the group made their way through the Mythril Mines, Cissnei tried to shake off the feeling that they were being watched. It was a constant thought nagging at the back of her mind, taunting her as she walked near the head of the group, her eyes tracking every shadow. The group itself was a little cleaner now, thanks to a well for the miners that they had found deeper in the mines, but still rather the worse for wear. They would probably be able to handle anything in Shinra's normal arsenal, but she knew the company well enough to know that they had some tricks up their sleeves.

And there was still Deepground.

But the group had made its way this far through the mines with nothing but a handful of monsters in their way. As they neared the exit, sunlight gleaming off the veins of mythril still embedded in the rock, Cissnei wondered if they would be able to leave the mines without incident.

She looked up as they reached the exit, tensing as she noticed who was standing there, waiting for them.

No such luck.

The group drew to a sudden stop. Rude stood in their path, blocking the only passage out of the ruins. Cissnei's grip tightened on her shuriken as Sephiroth and Zack immediately stepped forward, standing at the head of the party. Sephiroth held his sword out to his left side, his eyes narrowing.

"Move," he said. "Now."

Rude glanced to the side, appearing unfazed as he adjusted his sunglasses. "Just a second," he said.

Cissnei exhaled in resignation, stepping forward. She stopped a little bit behind Sephiroth and to his right, staying well out of the way of his sword arm. "Rude..." she began.

He glanced at her, then looked back at Sephiroth. "We're not here to fight," he said. "Just to deliver a message."

"Then talk," said Sephiroth, his tone a warning. He turned his blade to the side, letting it reflect light from the exit. Rude's expression never changed, but Cissnei saw the way his head turned towards the blade, regarding it for a moment before looking back at them. He trailed his eyes past Sephiroth and Zack, fixing them on Cissnei.

"You know what we do," he said.

Cissnei stared at him, nodding solemnly. Rude wasn't much of a talker. She knew by now that with him, you had to wait before you could get the entire story out.

"Kidnapping, right?" asked Cloud from the middle of the group, an edge of anger in his voice.

Rude sighed. "To put it negatively...you could say that," he said. "But, that's not all there is to it, anymore..." He grimaced and shook his head, seeming at a loss for words. Cissnei scowled at him, starting to lose patience. It was hard—Rude had been as much of a fixture of her life as a Turk as Reno and Tseng had been—but she didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Sir!" said a feminine voice, interrupting him.

Cissnei's eyes widened in surprise, and she turned her head in the voice's direction. She _knew _that voice.

A young woman stepped onto the ledge above them, eyeing the group. Like Rude, she was dressed in a dark suit, in the uniform of the Turks. Her long blond hair had been cropped short since the last time Cissnei had seen her, and she looked older, but there was no mistaking that face and that voice.

"_Elena?" _she asked, stunned.

Sephiroth turned towards her. "You know this girl?" he asked.

Cissnei nodded, still shocked. "She's...the sister of one of my former colleagues." Elena. Lydia's sister. Little Elena. What was she doing in a Turk uniform?

Elena shot Cissnei an angered look, then turned back towards Rude. "It's alright, Rude!" she said. "I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

Rude nodded, seeming relieved. "Then Elena, explain," he said.

Elena cleared her throat. "I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena," she said. "Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're shorthanded. Because of that, I got promoted to the Turks. In any case, our job is to try and stop you every step of the way!" She paused, blinking in confusion as she turned and thought it over, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh...no, wait a minute, it's the other way around. You're the ones that are getting in our way...Um..."

"Elena," said a calm voice, cutting through her stream of words. "You talk too much."

Zack scowled as Tseng came into view, immediately coming to stand in front of Aerith. He threw an arm out behind him to defend her, his other hand on his Buster Sword's hilt as he scowled up at the leader of the Turks. Cloud stepped forward as well, standing with Zack in front of Aerith. Cissnei tensed, whipping around and turning to face Tseng.

"_Mr. Tseng?_" asked Elena, surprised. From the sound of it, Tseng was not supposed to be here.

Tseng ignored them, fixing his eyes on the rookie Turk. "No need to tell them about our orders," he said coldly.

Elena lowered her eyes to the ground, her face flushing. "Sorry, Tseng," she said. She shuffled her shoes.

"I thought I gave you other orders," said Tseng. "Go. Don't forget to file your report."

Elena's head snapped back up. "Oh, right!" she said. She straightened up, placing her hands behind her back. "Very well. Rude and I will head for Junon Harbor, to join the President's security detail and give our reports regarding Sephiroth!"

Cissnei cringed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rude sigh, glancing down at the ground. Tseng covered his face with his palm, taking in a slow breath. "Elena," he said. "...You don't seem to understand."

Elena's eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" she said. "I'm...I'm sorry."

Tseng shook his head, lowering his hand. "Just go," he said.

"Yes, sir!" said Rude and Elena together. Elena disappeared back in the direction she had come from as Rude walked away from the party, climbing the ledge to stand next to Tseng. He paused, turning back to look at them.

"Cissnei," he said.

She looked up, meeting his eyes.

"Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you...with a new weapon."

Cissnei stared at Rude. There was a threat there, obviously, but something in the offhand way he said it told her that it wasn't a threat that was entirely serious. With the Turks, it was never personal. A small smile appeared on her face. "Tell Reno he can name the time and place," she said.

Rude snorted softly at that. He nodded at her, turning and walking out the mine exit.

That left them with Tseng.

The smile faded from Cissnei's face as the leader of the Turks stepped forward, and she turned towards him, keeping a tight grip on her shuriken. Tseng stopped at the edge of the ledge, looking down at them. His eyes moved, looking over each member of the party.

"Well then," he said, putting his hands behind his back and standing up straight. He took a deep breath, then looked in Aerith's direction. "Aerith. Zack. Long time no see," he said.

Zack didn't let down his guard, keeping his hand on his sword hilt. "Huh. Can't exactly say this is the best place for a reunion," he said.

"Looks like you managed to escape from Shinra in all this drama," said Tseng.

"...So what are you saying?" asked Aerith, from behind Zack. "That we should be grateful to Genesis?"

Tseng shook his head. "No," he said.

"What's your angle?" demanded Zack. "Are you with us or not?"

"My business is my own," said Tseng coolly. "Regardless...I won't be seeing you for a while, so take care."

"Strange, hearing that from you..." said Aerith.

"Just stay out of the company's way," said Tseng. He looked over at Cissnei. She tensed. "Cissnei. You're playing a dangerous game."

Cissnei stared at him, resting her free hand on her waist. "You're telling me this?" she asked.

Tseng nodded in acknowledgment. "Fair enough." He turned around, heading towards the exit. As he did, he spoke. "If I were you, though, I'd hurry and make for Fort Condor, considering what's patrolling the forest tonight."

The group exchanged glances as Tseng left, his words still hanging in the air behind him.

XxXxX

Zack sat in front of the crackling fire, looking out at Fort Condor in the distance. The large structure was already visible, its titular condor hugging the reactor at its peak. They would make it there before noon the next day. He propped his elbow up on his knee, resting his head in his hands and watching as Cloud dumped his handful of firewood into the flames. He settled down on the other side of the fire, Red curling up beside him after his hunting trip. Zack looked around, studying the rest of the party. They were all there, waiting expectantly. He took a deep breath and lowered his hand, deciding that now was a good a time as any to start the conversation.

"So..." he said, "What do we do?"

"Fort Condor is going to become a battlefield really soon," said Cissnei, poking idly at the flames with a long stick.

"What's their deal anyway?" asked Barret, scowling as he looked up at the Fort.

"The Condor," supplied Kunsel.

Cissnei nodded. "The birds are nesting. Shinra wants to get to the Reactor, and the Fort won't let them. It's a minor issue, but it's not one that Shinra will take lying down. They're probably already preparing to attack."

"So we should go," said Zack. "Help 'em out. Any enemy of Shinra's a friend of ours, right?"

"It's not that simple," said Cissnei. "We have a deadline..."

"Which we'll make," said Zack. "It's not like we weren't planning to head there anyway. Besides, we need supplies. It's a long way to the Harbor."

She nodded. "Good point. But if the Fort's under siege, I'm not sure how much they'll be able to help with supplies."

"What about that other thing Tseng said?" asked Cloud, looking up. "Whatever's out in the forest."

Aerith tensed, pulling her staff closer to her and turning it over in both hands. Zack glanced at her, noticing for the first time how uneasy she looked. She had been fine when they left the cave, but that had been a few hours ago. Now, she was staring into the flames, her expression worried.

"Aerith?" he asked. "You okay?"

Aerith took a deep breath. "I'm fine..." she said, shaking her head. She looked up at Cissnei. "...What do you think he meant by that?"

"Probably a Tsviet," replied Cissnei.

"One of those Deepground SOLDIERs?" asked Tifa.

Cissnei nodded. "Deepground. Shinra's biggest secret. I'm not entirely sure what they were planning to achieve by it myself. But there's something that worries me. Tseng said _what's _out there. Not who."

"If that's the case," said Tifa. "Can we really just leave it alone?"

Red nodded in agreement. "I have a bad feeling," he said. "Something in the air."

"I know what you mean," said Cissnei. "But we can't investigate both and still make it to Junon before the inauguration. And Zack's right. We need supplies, whatever Fort Condor can spare."

"But just...ignoring whatever's out there?" asked Aerith. She shook her head. "I don't like it."

Sephiroth, who had been silent up until this point, looked up. "Very well," he said. "...This is what we'll do. We'll split up. Three of you will go with Zack to Fort Condor. The other four will come with me. We'll keep in contact via PHS and rendezvous on the way to Junon. Does that sound acceptable?"

"Fine by me," grunted Barret.

The others nodded in assent.

"Question is," said Zack. "Who's going with who?"

"I'll take volunteers," said Sephiroth. "My task will be more dangerous than yours. I won't take anyone who isn't willing."

"I'll go," said Cloud, looking up.

Tifa nodded. "Me too," she said.

"Me three," said Cissnei.

Red lifted his head, looking over at Sephiroth. "I'll go as well," he said.

Sephiroth nodded. "So that leaves Aerith, Kunsel, and Barret with Zack," he said. He looked over at the party. "We'll leave in the morning. I'll take first watch tonight. Get some rest." He stood up and turned, walking away from the camp. The group watched him go, then looked back at each other.

"Well, you heard him," said Zack. "Let's get some sleep."

People stood up gradually, making their way towards their bedrolls. Zack stood as well and stretched, raising his arms over his head. He turned, about to go set up his own blankets, but then noticed Aerith. She was still sitting there, staring at the fire, a look of indecision on her face. Zack frowned, looking back at her.

"Aerith?" he asked.

Aerith shook her head, getting to her feet. "I'm sorry, Zack!" she blurted out, running to catch up with Sephiroth. Zack blinked at her in confusion and surprise, one hand resting on the back of his neck as he watched her go.

XxXxX

Sephiroth hadn't gone very far when he heard the sound of frantic footsteps behind him. He stopped walking, taking a breath. The person behind him stopped as well, her footsteps stilling. He had no idea why this particular member of their group was following him, but he waited for her to speak, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"Sephiroth," she said.

He turned to look back at her. "Yes, Aerith?" he asked.

Aerith took a deep breath, gripping her staff tightly in both hands. "I...I want to volunteer for your group."

Sephiroth's eyes widened a fraction in surprise. He turned around to face her fully, his frown deepening. "You realize that my group will be in a lot of danger?" he asked. "This isn't some pleasure stroll. You're safer accompanying Zack to the Fort."

Aerith shook her head vehemently, moving so quickly that her braid snapped from left to right with the motion. "You don't understand," she said. "It's not about that, it's just...I need to be there."

Sephiroth paused. He studied her, taking in her posture and her expression. At length, he moved his eyes back up to her face, meeting hers. He asked a single question. "Why?"

"I can't explain it..." said Aerith. "I just have a really bad feeling about whatever's out there. I...I feel like it's not something I can ignore." She took a deep breath, shaking her head. "It's just something I have to do."

He studied her again. She appeared serious, her green eyes determined. If it had been anyone else, he would have questioned such weak reasoning, but this was Aerith, a girl who claimed to see the dead and speak to the Planet. A girl who admitted to having powers and a responsibility she didn't quite understand. The last Ancient.

He turned away. "Talk it over with Zack," he said. "And see if Tifa will switch places with you. I don't want to leave him too few."

Aerith let out a sigh of relief, nodding once. "I will..." she said. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," said Sephiroth. He turned away, looking back at the fort in the distance.

"You're not the only one with a bad feeling about what we'll find there..."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	47. File 014: The Road to Fort Condor pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: Yuffie's Guide To Everything**, a set of short blurbs written from Yuffie's POV, is up on my profile if you want to read it!

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **yep, poor Elena. She does get better as a Turk though, as implied in Advent Children.

**Anonymous, **thanks, I'm glad you like it! Cloud's character is one of the things I have to work hard on, because I only have his Crisis Core personality to work with, and everything else he's subjected to in the rest of the story. He's definitely a character that can grow and change depending on what happens to him, as evidenced by the major personality changes he goes through in the canon itself. (And yes, now that Sephy isn't evil, Cloud is totally free to be his Seph-idolizing self).

**JazzQueen, **that's part of the reason why I like writing those scenes. In the canon, Aerith and Sephiroth were depicted as polar opposites, as shown by their novella title names (_Case of the Lifestream: White_ and _Case of the Lifestream: Black_ respectively). They make great foils to each other, and I think they both have an opportunity to understand one another now and will have an interesting relationship as the story unfolds, stemming from the fact that both of them understand what it's like to be completely one of a kind.

**Irish-Brigid, **hmm...we'll see~

**Erilin-chan, **I did state in an Author's Note that I would be focusing primarily on those three because unless I drastically change the scene, someone who's played the game usuall knows what Cloud and the others are going through. But I think now that we're outside of Midgar, I'll branch out more. Suffice it to say that everyone is going to have their own little character arcs at one point or another, and it'll match up more or less to their character arcs in the game. :)

**Riku Uzumaki, **Aerith's curse. Ancient Cetra mumbo jumbo follows her everywhere.

**Ryuukoshi, **I'll definitely consider writing it!

**Blinded in a bolthole, **hated that mini-game too, but it deserved a passing mention. (And gave me an excuse to do certain things, as you'll see by the end of next file).

XxXxX

**File 014: The Road To Fort Condor**

It was still early in the morning when the group began preparing to leave. Zack stood with Aerith, watching as Sephiroth and the rest of his group began assembling behind them. Sephiroth watched him, but said nothing, giving them time to say their goodbyes. He sighed, folding his arms and looking back at Aerith, who was watching him expectantly.

"You're sure about this?" he asked.

"Pretty sure," said Aerith, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be," said Zack. "Go do what you have to. Just...be careful, okay?"

"I'll be fine," said Aerith, smiling. "I'll be with Sephiroth, so it should be okay."

Zack looked over at Sephiroth, his frown deepening as he lowered his hands to rest at his sides. "It better be," he said, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. Sephiroth frowned at him, holding Zack's gaze for a moment before looking back at his own team. Aerith smiled slightly, taking a step forward. She leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Don't worry so much," she said. "I'll be okay, and I'll see you soon."

Zack looked back at her. Her green eyes were earnest and determined, and there was a smile on her face. He offered her a smile in return. "Alright," he said. "I'll see you soon."

"Go save the baby birds for me," said Aerith with a smile.

"I will," said Zack. He grinned. "Keep Cloud out of trouble for me?"

"I'll do my best," said Aerith, a small grin appearing on her own face as well. She paused, glancing back at Sephiroth and the others. They were waiting, watching her expectantly. Aerith hesitated, raising a hand and toying with one of her jacket's buttons. "So...um, bye."

Zack stepped forward, leaning down and giving her a quick, chaste kiss. She smelled like flowers, and he realized that if he didn't let her go now, he wasn't going to let her go at all. He took a deep breath, stepping back and putting a reassuring smile on his face. "Bye," he said.

She nodded, turning and walking towards Sephiroth's party. Zack watched her go, then looked back at Sephiroth as the other party leader began to turn away. "Sephiroth!" he called.

Sephiroth paused, looking back at him.

"We'll call to check in at seven tonight," said Zack.

Sephiroth nodded in response. "If we don't respond by nine, we've run into trouble."

"Got it," said Zack. "Take care."

"You too," said Sephiroth, turning away. He moved to the front of the group, leading his party. Zack watched him go, then looked back at Kunsel, Barret, and Tifa.

"Well, you heard the lady," he said. "Let's go save some birds."

XxXxX

"So, we place them here," said Kunsel from the table by the center of the room, moving a set of figurines across the board. "To guard the left passage. And we place this unit here—." Another piece. "-to provide support in case the plan fails. Sound good to everyone?"

"Sounds good to me," said Zack, looking over the plans. "Barret? Tifa?"

Barret scratched his head with his human hand. "Guess it'll do," he grumbled.

"No complaints," said Tifa. The four of them had been talking this over for the better part of thirty minutes, arguing about the best places to position the Fort's resources to better stop the Shinra invasion. Fort Condor had the high ground, which gave them a distinct advantage in this situation, but the Shinra troops had enough resources to scale the mountainside, and from what the leader of the troops stationed here had told them, they were primarily using monsters.

Unsurprisingly, Barret had favored a more direct approach, concentrating the troops in a single area. Zack had wanted to spread them out more, while still maintaining an aggressive strategy, while she had argued that they should go on the defensive. It had been Kunsel in the end that had taken over the planning process, bringing the three of them to a compromise.

"Alright, game on," said Zack, jotting down the plans on a pad of yellow paper. Tifa watched him for a moment, before walking over to the window. The room that they were standing in was at the lowermost point of the Fort, overlooking the rest of the mountain. The one thing that the four of them had agreed on early on was that if all else failed, they would position themselves here, as the last line of defense. The Shinra troops were already there, beginning to cluster around the mountain. Tifa watched them prepare, folding her arms. It obviously wasn't the Shinra army's full capabilities, but it was enough.

That Shinra would do this, just to get to a Reactor it could reach at any other time of the year...It made no sense. But then again, there was no justifying what had happened in Nibelheim either.

And yet...

_Would they be out here..._she thought to herself, _if we hadn't destroyed the two Reactors in Midgar? _

The thought was chilling. Shinra was evil. Any company that could even_ consider _dropping the Sector 7 plate as a reasonable course of action had to be. But were they really that much better? She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had already committed herself to this course of action long ago. Shinra needed to go down. And they had already proven that they wouldn't go down the easy, peaceful way.

Besides—she thought back to Aerith and Sephiroth and Cloud—this was bigger than Shinra.

The sound of footsteps made her lift her head. Zack pulled up next to her, looking out of the window as well. "How's it going?" he asked.

"They're assembling," replied Tifa. "It looks like they're moving around a lot down there, but I can't tell what they're doing."

Zack frowned, leaning forward and watching them closely. "They're preparing for the attack," he said. He looked over his shoulder at Kunsel, who was joining them. "What do you say, Kunsel? We've got what? Twenty...thirty minutes?"

"At least twenty," said Kunsel. "Thirty tops." He held up a folded piece of paper. "Someone needs to take these orders to the men."

"I'll go," said Barret, grabbing the paper out of his hand. "Hate just sittin' around here."

"Tell me about it," said Zack, folding his arms. The three of them watched as Barret left, closing the door behind him. Zack turned back towards Kunsel, watching as his friend walked back to the table and opened up a notebook. "What are you up to?" he asked.

Kunsel sat down, grabbing a pen and opening the notebook to a blank page. "You remember that saying about teaching a man to fish?"

"You're writing down our strategies?" asked Zack.

"Might as well," replied Kunsel, not looking up from his work. "Even if we rebuff them today, they'll be back. And we could be halfway around the world by then. Fort Condor is going to need to fend for themselves."

"Huh," said Zack. "Good call."

Tifa watched them work, lingering by the window. It was easy to forget most of the time that Zack and Kunsel had also fought in the Wutai War, perhaps not at the same level as Sephiroth, but definitely in positions where they would have had to take command once in a while. Neither of them spoke much about it, but the both of them were completely in their element now. Before the Nibelheim Incident, she had supported the war effort. But then again, just about everyone did. Now, she wasn't sure anymore. Everything she heard about the motives behind the Wutai War just sounded like more political maneuvering to her. But that didn't change the fact that there had been heroes in the war, people like Zack.

Shinra might have been a bad company, but at one point, it had employed good people. She wondered if it still did that now, or if those days were a thing of the past.

The men began to assemble, moving towards the base of the mountain. Tifa unfolded her arms, unclipping her gloves from her belt. Zack looked over at her, noticing the movement. "You ready for this?" he asked.

She nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be," she said.

"That's the spirit," said Zack. He rested his hands on his waist, a small smile appearing on his face for a moment before he looked back at the assembling army. "Should be fine. The monsters don't look too tough, and I'm pretty sure you can handle one or two."

Tifa smiled, slipping on her Mythril Claws. "I'll do my best," she said, jokingly.

"You've gotten a lot stronger," said Zack. He folded his arms, his expression growing thoughtful. "You and Aerith both. Cloud and I missed out on a lot."

"You can't blame yourself for it," said Tifa.

"Oh, I know," said Zack. "Hojo's evil and twisted and all that." He shrugged. "What made you decide on martial arts?"

"The only teacher I knew of was a martial artist," she replied. "And after Nibelheim, I just wanted to learn to fight. I didn't care how or what. After a while, I started to really appreciate what I was learning. Besides..." She paused, her smile fading as she looked out at the enemies. "I was angry...And it felt good, at the time, to be doing something with my body. As long as I was moving, I wasn't thinking."

"Hm." Zack nodded, considering that. "Well, you'll have to show me some moves sometime," he said. "I might be able to show you a few tricks in return."

Tifa looked up at him. "You fight hand to hand?" she asked.

Zack smiled. "_My _old mentor used to have a thing about not using this sword," he said. "He taught me how to make do without it."

"When this is over," said Tifa, looking back at the enemy. "We can go a few rounds."

"I'll hold you to it," said Zack, grinning. He looked back at the enemy, his entire expression changing. He looked up.

"Heads up," he warned. "They're coming."

XxXxX

The sounds of battle rang out in the distance, piercing through the calm, afternoon air. The five of them stopped, their heads immediately turning in the direction of the fortress. They had been walking for the better part of the day, traveling deeper into the woods between Fort Condor and Junon with Aerith's intuition and Red's nose as their guide. The red-haired creature had confirmed fairly early on that there _had _been something moving through the forest, a scent that was partly human, but at the same time, partly other.

"That's..." began Cloud.

Red's ears perked up, moving towards that direction. He could just barely hear the shouts of orders from across the field, accompanied by blasts and crashes that he assumed were the fort's defenses. "Fort Condor," he confirmed.

"The battle is joined," said Sephiroth.

Aerith gripped her staff tightly in both hands, her expression worried. "I hope they're okay," she said.

Cissnei folded her arms, looking back down the path. "They'll be fine," she said, looking back at Aerith. "Fort Condor isn't going to fall easily, and Shinra will be underprepared for a full scale defense."

"It's ourselves we should be worried about," said Sephiroth from where he stood, glancing at Aerith out of the corner of his eye.

"An astute observation," said a rich, dark voice from behind them. "Perhaps you have not been overestimated after all, Sephiroth. SOLDIER, First Class."

Sephiroth turned, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. At the sound of the voice, the others turned as well. Cloud immediately stepped forward, standing in front of Aerith. Red tensed, his hackles rising as he lowered himself to his haunches, flexing his claws. Aerith took a surprised step back, her eyes wide as Cissnei moved to stand on Cloud's other side, facing the intruder.

He looked like a man, but not like a kind of man Red had seen before. His hair was dark and unkempt, falling down his back, and his eyes shone a distinctive red. He was dressed in the gray and blue uniform of Deepground, but with his arms bound across his chest and strips of white cloth like bandages covering part of his face. A pair of mechanical appendages were attached to his back, resembling skeletal wings. He wore a gun strapped to each leg, and darkness hung around him like a cloud. Red found himself growling low in his throat, baring his fangs.

Sephiroth said nothing in response, although he did move, stepping forward so that he stood at the front of the group. He made no move to draw his sword, keeping his hands at his sides. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am the darkness," said the man. "Here to erase all light."

"A member of the Tsviets...?" asked Cloud.

Cissnei tensed. "I've...heard of you," she said.

The man's eyes moved towards her. "Have you, little bird?" he asked. Although his mouth couldn't be seen, he could hear the smile in his voice.

Cissnei nodded. "You're Nero..." she said.

"Nero the Sable."

XxXxX

Kunsel lowered his sword as the last of the monsters fell, replacing it at his back and taking a deep breath. To his left, Barret lowered his gun arm, stepping away from the window. The Shinra forces at the foot of the mountain had been routed, for today. Their defense held, the monsters only making it as far as the top a handful of times, and even then, it had only been because their other forces had been too preoccupied to stop them. For the most part, the four of them had made it through with minor injuries, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a Cure Materia. To his right, Tifa kicked the last straggler back out through the window, then lowered her hands to her side and let out a sigh of relief.

The siege had lasted most of the afternoon, and the setting sun had colored the rest of the landscape a bright orange, staining the tops of the forest trees in the distance. Kunsel looked up as Zack walked over to him, his Buster Sword already strapped to his back. His friend had decided to jump out the window and meet the monsters on the slope once it became clear that the battle would reach them.

"Glad that's over with," said Zack, coming to stand next to him.

Kunsel rolled his eyes. "I'd ask you what you were thinking if I wasn't already used to you pulling stuff like this," he said.

"Oh, come on," said Zack, grinning. "It worked out in the end, didn't it?"

"Uh-huh. Just remember. If you get yourself killed, _I'm_ the one that has to answer to Aerith."

Barret leaned out the window, waving his gun arm at the retreating troops. "Yeah, you better run!" he yelled after them.

"Barret..." began Tifa, slipping off her gloves.

"What?" asked Barret, looking back at her. "Just makin' sure they know who's boss."

"They won't be back," said Kunsel. "Not for a while after this."

"Yeah," agreed Zack. "Good job, guys. We showed them."

"But they'll come back eventually, won't they?" asked Tifa, looking back at them with a concerned expression on her face.

"Well...eventually," said Kunsel. "But hopefully the fort will be better prepared. We can't control what happens here..."

"Well for now, let's get some food and some rest," said Zack. "We can worry about that another time. Sounds good?"

"Sounds great to me," said Barret.

Tifa nodded. Kunsel smiled, shaking his head. "Lead the way," he said.

XxXxX

Another creature crept through the forest, studying the Fort in the distance from the branches of one of the higher trees. She stood with her hand pressed lightly against the trunk, her feet spread for balance on the branch as she watched the sun set behind Fort Condor. She'd been tracking this particular group of travelers since she first spotted them heading towards Fort Condor earlier that day. There were four of them, two of them looking like ex-SOLDIERs. By her calculations, they'd be leaving the Fort in the morning, once the Shinra army had cleared out.

And each one of them had Materia.

The ninja grinned, slinking down from her perch and disappearing into the woods.

_This'll be a piece of cake, _she thought.

**END FILE**


	48. File 015: True Darkness pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Originally, this was supposed to be the Yuffie chapter, but then I realized it would make no sense to have them meet Yuffie "tomorrow" while still fighting Nero "today". So I'm going to get the Nero file over with (it will be a two-parter) and then get straight to File 016, where Zack and company encounter Yuffie.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **yep, here comes Yuffie! And as for everything else...you'll have to read and see.

**Riku Uzumaki, **well, two chapters from now. But very soon!

**JazzQueen, **it's always a possibility with Genesis, but I'm not going to confirm or deny anything.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**Gohan Roxas, **thanks, glad you liked it!

**Blinded in a bolthole, **well, in the original game she tried to rob Cloud, who was dressed like a 1st, and in CC at 9 years old she tried to "attack" Zack, so she's not known for her good decisions.

**Irish-Brigid, **it would be more like a spar, not a fight. But yes, it could be construed as flirting. There was a reason for it, though. (Let's just say that if you were playing a game, the words "Tifa has been added to the DMW" might have flashed on your screen~)

**Draconic, **(regarding Nero) mwahahahahahahaha!

**K, **I'm basing it solely on the poll (which you can find on my profile) and you're welcome to vote on that. Thanks for the review, and glad you like it! I'd like to say that this chapter resolves the cliffie, but...um...I think this one might be worse.

XxXxX

**File 015: True Darkness**

The room they were given was in the barracks of Fort Condor, towards the inner part of the Fort. It was obviously one of the better rooms, but considering the condition the Fort was in, that wasn't saying much. Still, the room was clean and comfortable, with several beds lining the wall. It was much better than out in the field, and Zack wasn't in a position to complain.

He looked up as the door opened and Tifa walked in, her hair still damp from the shower. She patted it down with a towel, walking over to the bed she had claimed as her own.

"Zack, shower's free," she said.

"In a bit, Teef," replied Zack, glancing down at his phone. He looked up at the clock on the wall, reading the time. "I've gotta call them in a bit."

"Just want to talk to Aerith?" teased Tifa, smiling at him.

"Hey, come on! Seph and the others are out there too!" said Zack.

"Oh, I see," said Kunsel, grinning. "I had no idea you felt that way about Sephiroth, Zack."

"You shut up," said Zack, scowling at him. He reached out, shoving Kunsel's shoulder. The shove knocked him over, and he fell onto his bed. He and Kunsel had been sitting on their own beds, chatting with each other. Outside, he could still hear the sounds of soldiers moving around, winding down after a well-fought battle. They were familiar sounds, even though he had spent most of his career attacking forts instead of defending them.

"Just be glad you're only talking to her on the phone," said Kunsel, propping himself up on his elbows. He sat up. "She can't smell you then."

"Oh, I don't know," said Tifa. "She saw him this morning, so she probably doesn't mind how he smells."

"You're both terrible," said Zack, getting up. He glanced down at his phone again. Six forty-five. It wasn't quite seven o'clock, but it was close enough. He flipped it open, holding down the number 2 for a long time.

The line connected, and he turned away from Kunsel and Tifa, listening to it ring.

XxXxX

Sephiroth stood at the front of the group, his sword in his hand. He made sure to keep Aerith and the others behind him, keeping his eyes on Nero. The other man watched him, his crimson eyes shining. He looked almost amused as the rest of the party reached for weapons, his eyes drifting towards them for a moment before landing back on Sephiroth.

"Why are you here?" asked Sephiroth.

"Why indeed?" asked Nero. He looked over at the rest of the party. One of the metallic hands on his wings flexed, accompanied by the sound of clanking steel. "There is no purpose to your resistance." The metallic hand lowered, reaching for the gun holstered to his leg.

Sephiroth moved before the first shot was fired. He drew Masamune, lashing out at Nero's chest. Nero jumped back, the gun sailing smoothly into his metallic hand and pointing at Sephiroth. Shots fired. Sephiroth moved his sword quickly through the air, cutting apart the bullets. A series of controlled explosions appeared in the air in front of him as Masamune moved like a flash, bisecting each one. He reached up as he ran towards Nero, drawing the sword back with both hands and thrusting at the other man.

Nero extended his wings as he jumped back and away from the thrust, slowing down his fall and continuing to shoot at Sephiroth. Sephiroth landed smoothly on the ground, jumping to the side just as bullets peppered the ground where his foot had been. He landed again, and was suddenly aware of a flash of red moving out of the corner of his eye. Sephiroth immediately twisted to the side, leaving room for Cissnei's shuriken to sail over his shoulder, heading straight for Nero. Nero swerved to avoid it, but the shuriken clipped one of his wings, the sound of metal scraping against metal ringing out in the clearing. The distraction was enough to allow Sephiroth to move forward, slashing at Nero twice. He jumped back again, dodging the first, but the second strike scraped across the outside of a metal wing, drawn back hastily across his chest to shield himself.

Sephiroth looked back as Nero raised his other gun, and found himself staring down the barrel as the other man fired. He jerked his head back and to the side, the bullet whizzing past the left side of his head and narrowly missing his eye.

The rest of the party converged on the two of them, drawing weapons and preparing to strike. Nero looked up from behind his metal wing, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. "Unfortunately, I'll have to make this fight short," he said. "My brother will be expecting me."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. He sidestepped around Nero's wing, thrusting forward. Masamune moved, its tip sailing straight for Nero's heart. Nero looked back at him, his crimson eyes completely calm.

The blade froze in the air directly above Nero's heart, blocked by a sliver of darkness.

The shadows around him flared, rushing over Sephiroth in an instant. In a second, he was standing in the center of a dark void, his sword pointing at nothing but black. Sephiroth looked around, but he couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything, but people screaming in the darkness. There was no sense of space, no sense of time. He swiped out at the air a few times, but his sword connected with nothing. In spite of himself, his eyes widened, and he could feel his heart beginning to race.

"Are you afraid of the dark, Sephiroth?" asked Nero's voice, ringing in the void. It sounded like it was coming from behind him. Sephiroth whipped around, slashing with his sword, but the blade met no resistance. The screams continued. Some of the voices sounded familiar now.

His grip tightened on his sword. "What have you done?" he asked coldly.

"I have simply introduced them to true darkness," said Nero, this time sounding like he was coming from his right. Sephiroth turned, slashing in that direction. When Nero spoke again, his voice sounded like it was coming from behind him. "This is the thing that all men fear." Another slash. This time, the voice came from his left. "What do you fear, Sephiroth? What darkness lurks in the recesses of your mind?"

He spun, thrusting forward. Something in the dark grabbed his sword, yanking it out of his hands. It disappeared into the dark.

"Let them go, Nero," he warned.

"I think not." This time, Nero's voice sounded like it was in the air, this time dangerously close to his ear. "I think I shall keep them here. They...amuse me."

Sephiroth reached out with his hand, driving it up into the air. He touched nothing, his hand sailing straight through the dark.

A light suddenly blossomed in the darkness—a faint light at first, but growing suddenly in momentum and intensity. The light spread outwards, engulfing him, driving the darkness away and filling the air with the scent of flowers.

Suddenly, he could see again. The world came into focus around him, the dark fading away. He was crouched in the grass, Masamune lying on the ground a few feet from his right. He looked to the left, where the rest of the party lay, everyone except Aerith lying on the ground. Aerith was down on one knee, her staff propped up in front of her. The light swirled around them, converging on Aerith before disappearing.

Nero stood apart, a look of surprise in his eyes. Aerith raised her head, looking up at him defiantly.

"Ah, I see," he said calmly, his eyes landing on Aerith. "A child of purest light. No matter." He flexed one of his mechanical wings, the hand attached to it grasping a gun. Aerith's eyes widened as the slide pulled back, letting out a very audible click. Nero looked up at her, his red eyes boring into her own. "Easily remedied."

He pulled the trigger. Sephiroth immediately moved, rushing towards him. There wasn't any time to go for his sword, so he threw his shoulder into Nero, knocking his aim off course. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cissnei move, tackling Aerith to the ground and covering her head. The bullet struck the ground a few feet away from her, and Cloud and Red immediately sprang into action, Cloud raising his sword and Red baring his fangs as the two of them came to stand in front of her.

The blow knocked Nero back, causing him to stumble and giving Sephiroth enough time to grab his sword. He picked it up off the ground and turned, slashing out in a sweeping motion. Nero jumped back, firing at him. Sephiroth deflected each of the bullets, charging forward through the blasts and slashing at Nero again. He kept up the pressure, driving Nero back as the battle continued.

Nero smirked, and a wave of darkness moved forward, crashing towards him. Sephiroth jumped back, raising his sword to block it. The wave parted in front of him, sweeping out to either side of him. Nero jumped back and shot twice, the bullets impacting against the side of his sword.

"Sephiroth!" said a voice from behind him.

Sephiroth immediately moved to the side, letting Cissnei dash out from behind him. She moved before Nero could react, bringing Rekka up in her hand and slashing twice at his chest.

Nero sidestepped the blow, lashing out with his wing. The metallic wing caught her in the chest, and she grunted as she was thrown back. Sephiroth glanced at her. She flipped over backwards in the air, landing on the ground in a crouched position and sliding back. The second she landed, he moved forward again, slashing at Nero twice. As Nero defended, he saw Cloud and Red move out of the corner of his eye, coming to flank Nero from behind. He moved out of the way, giving the two of them room to strike. Nero stumbled forward slightly as both Cloud and Red slammed into his back, turning so that the both of them ended up striking his wings. He flexed them, throwing them back and spinning around in time to shoot at Sephiroth.

Ice rose up from the ground, freezing the bullets in the air. Sephiroth cut straight through the ice structure, barely sparing Aerith a glance as she snatched her hovering staff out of the air and pointed it at him. Thunder crackled over his shoulder as he moved forward, attacking Nero.

Nero blocked the bolt of lightning with one wing, catching Sephiroth's sword with another. Sephiroth moved as Nero shot out at him, dodging the blast.

That was when he heard it—the sound of a phone. He looked around, realizing that his phone had fallen to the ground in the confusion. It lay in the grass, ringing.

Ringing.

Zack's seven o'clock call.

Aerith apparently noticed it too. He saw her look between him and the phone, conflicted, before she ran towards it, scooping it into her hand. She flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.

Nero jumped back, leveling his gun at her. He took aim and fired.

Aerith squealed as the bullet clipped the phone, throwing her back and knocking it straight out of her hand. It landed a few feet away, smoke rising from it as Nero immediately turned, facing Sephiroth again. Another blast tore through the air, a line of pain exploding along the side of his arm. He ignored it, stepping forward and stabbing several times at Nero's chest. Nero wrapped his wings around himself, the metal deflecting the blade. He jumped back again and unfurled them quickly, shooting at the ground. Sephiroth jumped back to avoid the shots.

He landed on the ground, assessing the wound on his arm. It wasn't bad. The bullet had merely grazed it. But he had seen the look on Nero's eyes as he fired. That had been his intent. It was always meant to be a warning shot.

Nero looked up, as the party took positions around him. He seemed bemused as his eyes passed over the others, before turning towards Sephiroth. He lowered his guns. Sephiroth wasn't fooled. He kept up his sword.

"You asked me why I was here," he said. "Like the Turks, I also come bearing a message. Your mother..." He paused, giving Sephiroth a knowing look as Sephiroth immediately went rigid. "...wishes for you to reconsider your side. Our brother asked me to pass on the message, in the most memorable way. After fighting you..." He raised one of his wings, and although Sephiroth couldn't see it, he could hear him smirk. "I've decided."

One of his guns moved, training on Aerith. In an instant, the rest of the party moved, rushing towards her. Sephiroth immediately darted off in her direction. Cloud reached her first, putting her behind him and raising his sword. Cissnei had been standing on the other side of Nero from Aerith. It would take her a while to get here. He bent his knees, preparing to shove Aerith to the ground and out of the line of fire when he saw Nero move. Time seemed to slow down as Sephiroth looked up, turning towards the Tsviet.

Nero's eyes met his as the rest of the party converged on Aerith. In that moment, Sephiroth could have sworn that he smiled. He raised his second wing—his second _gun—_and pulled the trigger.

Cissnei went rigid, then dropped like a stone.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	49. File 015: True Darkness pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thank you all for your patience in helping me get this chapter over with. Now that that's done, next chapter, I promise, **YUFFIE KISARAGI! **

Short review responses today becase it's late and I need to get to bed, but thank you so much to **ryuukoshi, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, SapphireMyst, Blinded in a bolthole, HeartofFyrwinde, Furionknight, **and for reviewing and yes, you'll see soon how things go with Cissnei, Seph, and Zack with this new turn of events. I'm happy to keep writing this, so thank you all very much for continuing to read.

XxXxX

**File 015: True Darkness**

She heard the blast first before she realized anything else had happened. For a moment, she was only aware of the fact that she was falling to the ground, all the strength having left her limbs. She landed in a confused heap, the sounds of battle still ringing around her. She stared up at the sky, her eyes wide. Dimly, she was aware of a streak of silver moving across her vision, followed by the sounds of steel clashing against steel. Sephiroth had engaged Nero again. But why?

_I'm hit._

The realization seemed to come from an entirely different part of her mind, a detached, logical portion of her mind that was now in full force. Cissnei sucked in a ragged breath, one that sounded entirely too wet to her—had the bullet pierced lung?—and raised a trembling hand to her chest. Her hand didn't move the way she wanted it to—it was sluggish and felt as though it were made of lead, but she managed to clamp it down over the wound and press hard, sucking in a pained breath through her teeth as blood seeped through the gaps in her fingers.

The detached part of her mind took note of just how much blood there was, as her vision began to blur. Her vest had been bulletproof, but Nero's bullets seemed to be designed above and beyond what a normal infantryman would carry. She was losing too much blood. She needed to stop the bleeding, any way she knew how, until someone could come. Cissnei tilted her head slightly to the side to see the battle better, but the motion made her head spin and her stomach lurch, the battle between Sephiroth and Nero seeming as though it was world's away. Even the sounds of the fighting seemed muted, as though they were coming from an entirely different dimension. She could feel her heartrate beneath her fingertips. It was rapid and thready, like a rabbit's heart. Her skin was starting to grow cold, her breath coming in short pants.

_I'm going into shock. _

She made a choked noise in the back of her throat at the realization, arching her back and attempting to call out to the rest of the group, but her mouth didn't seem to work, instead ending in a cut-off groan that sounded like she was gagging. She tried to quell the sudden panic that rose up in her, forcing herself to take deep, slow breaths. She needed to calm down. Panic would only aggravate her situation.

A flash of pink appeared in her vision, and Aerith knelt down beside her just as the world seemed to lurch. Cissnei's head rolled—the only part of Aerith that she could see was the lower part of her face and her torso. She registered vaguely that the other woman seemed horribly concerned. She was biting her lip, her face and dress smudged with dirt and blood. Cissnei wouldn't have asked whose even if she could—she had the sudden terrifying feeling that it was her own. The Turk in her raged silently at Aerith for running out from under cover during battle, even as Aerith's hands hovered in the air above her wound and began to glow. Didn't she know to stay hidden in a firefight? Nero had already confirmed her to be some sort of a target. Who was watching her? Where was Cloud?

Cloud—

She turned her head, and was treated to the sudden vision of Cloud and Sephiroth fighting in tandem, Cloud taking up her place at filling the gaps in Sephiroth's offense. There were very few this time. Sephiroth moved like the warrior of Wutai War fame, transitioning from attack to attack so quickly that it seemed like one connected motion. She had never seen him fight like this before. Never...

It was like watching art.

The delirious thought filled her with a sudden wave of giddiness and calm, accompanied by the inner Turk's grim acknowledgement that _that _could not mean anything good. She could feel her eyelids beginning to droop, her eyes beginning to roll back into her head, and she was brought back to consciousness by Aerith's cool but firm hand on her face.

"Stay with me," she was saying. "Cissnei, come on. Stay with me."

Cissnei grunted in response, pressing harder against her own wound as she drew on the discipline she had been trained with. She brought herself back to the brink of consciousness, her vision wavering in and out of focus as she forced herself to stare at Aerith's face. Sephiroth was by her side in an instant, his manner brisk and commanding. He didn't push Aerith aside—what had happened to Nero?—but took up his place on her other side. It didn't take him long to reach the same conclusion she had come to. All he needed to do was glance at her once, before his eyes snapped back to the rest of the group, and she heard him give out orders.

"Red, start a fire. Cloud, fetch me water." She heard the sound of leather rustling, followed by Sephiroth crouching down by her head. Something heavy and warm landed on her body, something that smelled faintly of him. He wasn't wearing his coat, she realized, and she felt his hands move, drawing the material tight around her lower body.

Of course. Warmth. That would have been her first thought.

She tilted her face up towards him, and managed to croak out one word. "...Nero..."

His eyes met hers. They were intense, emerald green, his face schooled in the stern expression of a commanding officer. "You don't talk," he said, before turning towards Aerith. "Why isn't it healing?" His other hand was already reaching for something in their supply pack.

Aerith's brow furrowed, and when she spoke, she sounded almost desperate. "I can't—," she said. "Something—that darkness of his—it's blocking me. It's all I can do to keep it at bay—I can barely keep up with it."

"Then continue to do so," said Sephiroth.

Something thumped down not far from her, accompanied by a sloshing sound. She heard booted feet somewhere to her right, over Sephiroth's shoulder.

"Got the water," said Cloud. "What else?"

Sephiroth wordlessly passed Cloud something in his hand. Cissnei tilted her head slightly to get a better look, and noticed that it was their folded utility knife. Cloud's expression grew grim, but he nodded and walked away, heading towards where Red had started the fire. Her mind raced and her breath hitched, going through what she knew about field medicine with their supplies. This far out from civilization, she had a good chance of dying from infection, if the bullet wound didn't kill her first. Sephiroth's hands were firm on her shoulders as she began to move, pushing her back onto the ground.

"Hush," he said. "Breathe. Try and focus on something else."

She did, partly because her brain was practically wired to follow orders given in that tone of voice, and partly because there was always a lot of other things on the forefront of her mind. Zack would need to be updated. Nero had destroyed Sephiroth's phone probably. There wasn't much else...

She lifted her eyes towards his, sucking in a breath. "Zack..." she said.

"We will make contact with him," said Sephiroth smoothly. "No talking."

She shook her head weakly. She needed to make sure this was settled, in case she never had the chance. Cloud had returned, and she vaguely registered Sephiroth's hands shifting to her vest, unzipping it efficiently and tugging at her shirt.

"My phone..." she managed. "...Speed dial 8..."

Sephiroth paused long enough to draw her phone out of her pocket, nodding at her. The action finally allowed her to relax, and she sighed in relief, resting her head back against the grass. She heard the sound of ripping fabric. The last thing she saw was Sephiroth accepting the knife back from Cloud, before the darkness gathering at the edges of her vision finally spread, pulling her in.

XxXxX

Cloud had barely finished handing the knife to Sephiroth when the silver-haired First picked up the phone beside him in his other hand, practically chucking it at his head. He caught it with both hands, flipping it open.

"Speed dial 8," repeated Sephiroth, barely sparing him another glance. Cloud nodded, turning away from them as he pressed the number. He held the phone to his ear, walking a few steps away from where Sephiroth and Aerith were huddled over Cissnei. The phone rang. It seemed to take a lot longer than it actually did. His hands were still shaking, his heart beating so quickly in his chest that he thought it was going to jump out. He had stabbed his sword point down into the ground as soon as Nero left, rushing to fulfill Sephiroth's orders.

Cissnei was unconscious. She had to be—she wasn't moving at all, besides the occasional twitch. Cloud didn't know whether that had been because Sephiroth had cast Sleep on her as an attempt at anaesthesia or because she had just given up. The thought that she might actually _die _was so unreal, and yet...

He swallowed, forcing himself to look away from the blood on the grass, and focus on something else, like the fading light that was coming through the trees. There was a lot of blood on the grass, and Cissnei wasn't very big.

"_Cissnei?" _demanded Zack on the other end of the line, picking up. "_Cissnei, what the hell? What was that—." _

"Zack," said Cloud, surprised at how calm his voice actually sounded. "It's me."

"_Cloud?" _asked Zack, his voice calming slightly. _"What happened? I heard a shot, and the call died—." _

Cloud glanced at the area of the forest floor where Sephiroth's phone lay, still smoking. Nero's bullet had detached the screen from the rest of the phone, and had all but obliterated the top half.

"We were attacked," he said. "A Tsviet calling himself Nero the Sable."

"_What happened?" _asked Zack again, this time sounding concerned. _"Is anyone hurt? How's Aerith? I heard her scream—." _

"Aerith's fine," said Cloud. His eyes moved over the huddle of three again. "Cissnei's hit. Everyone else is fine."

Silence on the other end of the line. When Zack spoke again, his tone was grim. _"How bad is it?" _he asked.

Cloud said nothing. That was answer enough. He heard Zack take a deep breath. _"Cloud? Talk to me, buddy." _

"_..._They're working on it," said Cloud. He took a deep breath. "It's...pretty bad," he added, looking over at them again.

"_Alright...tell me the truth, Cloud," _said Zack, his tone solemn. _"Do you think she's gonna make it?" _

He spared them a third glance, taking a deep breath. His hand tightened around the phone. It had been a chest wound. He'd been in the infantry—he'd _seen _men go down from chest wounds before. "I don't know," he admitted.

Zack was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, it came with a heavy sigh. _"Okay. Can I talk to Sephiroth?" _

He didn't even need to look this time to know the answer. "He's busy."

"_I'm sure," _said Zack. _"Have him call me, when he's done." _

Cloud nodded, even though he knew Zack couldn't see. "I will," he said.

The line went dead. Cloud lowered the hand that held the phone, looking back at the path through the woods, where Nero had left.

XxXxX

It was well into the night by the time Sephiroth finally decided he was finished.

He'd done the best he could, given the circumstances. He let out a tired sigh, lowering his hands to his sides and staring down at her. She was dressed in a dark long-sleeved shirt—one of her spares, and her pants and boots. White bandages peeked out from under the shirt's neckline, the result of what felt like hours of frantic treatment. He had managed to extract the bullet—the bloodied piece of metal rested in a small sealed plastic bag in their first aid kit, in case a medical professional wanted to get a better look at it later on—and had cauterized the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Cissnei had gotten lucky on three circumstances—her vest had slowed the bullet enough to stop it from causing more damage than it should have, the wound showed some minor responsivity to potions if not to Materia or Aerith's healing, and it had barely missed her heart. Even then, it had been touch and go. He was almost certain that if she had not been wearing the vest, she would have died then and there. This wasn't a purposeful attempt to wound her but not kill her. Nero had truly attempted to kill her.

He still might succeed.

Sephiroth was realistic. He had done what he could, but that was no substitute for proper medical care, and they were still days away from Junon. Everything from here on out was out of his hands. The only thing he could do was attempt to get them to Junon as quickly and efficiently as possible, while trusting that Cissnei had enough fight left in her to hold on until then. The potion he had given her had stabilized her, but if things took a turn for the worst, he would leave the party under Zack's guidance and fly the remaining distance to the city. It wasn't his preferred course of action—their chances of slipping into the city undetected by ground was already slim, they had next to no chance by air, especially with Shinra already watching for him—but it was a risk he was prepared to take if it became necessary.

He mulled that thought over in his mind as he washed his hands in the water that Cloud had brought. He shook his hands out—the water was already a rosy color—and looked over at the campsite the group had hurriedly set up. Aerith was draping a blanket over Cissnei, who was still unconscious. Sephiroth hadn't retrieved his coat, tugging on a spare shirt instead, but the temperature was rapidly dropping, and the important thing now would be keeping her warm.

Aerith looked up at him as she approached, and Sephiroth noted how pale her face was, and how tired she looked. He couldn't blame her. Aerith had been there, throughout the entire treatment process. She hadn't cringed from the sight of blood as he had been forced to get the bullet out, hadn't turned away even though he knew that she must have wanted to. And she had been healing all the while. It reminded him again that she was stronger than most people gave her credit for. But there was no need for that now.

"Go to sleep," he said. "You did well."

She nodded at him. "In a minute," she promised.

Sephiroth didn't argue. He nodded once at her, then turned back towards Cloud. Red had left to find food, but Cloud was still standing at the perimeter of the camp, his sword in his hands as he stared out at the forest. He had taken it upon himself to stand guard, and hadn't moved from that spot.

"It's over," said Sephiroth, approaching him. "You can stand down now."

Cloud looked over at him. "Is she...?" he began. The look in Sephiroth's eyes stopped him, and Cloud trailed off, shaking his head.

Sephiroth extended his hand for the phone. Cloud handed it over silently, and he stared down at it, pressing the number 8. Cissnei had meticulously organized her speed dial settings, so that the people she most wanted to get in contact with were in the center column of the phone, within easiest reach. Cloud was 2—Zack 8.

His own phone was 5. Not that it mattered now.

He raised the phone to his ear, walking away from Cloud and preparing to discuss a rendesvouz point with Zack.

**END FILE**


	50. File 016: The White Rose of Wutai pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **For the Zerith shippers out there, _Inheritance_ is up on my profile page. It's a oneshot that examines a little aspect of Zack and Aerith's life after this story ends. I might write some companion pieces for it in the future.

**JazzQueen, **I did try to make it not too much whiplash, but Yuffie kind of is an instrument for those sort of scenes, so it couldn't be helped. ^^

**Riku Uzumaki, **good! That means I'm doing my job right!

**Ryuukoshi, **well, yes he did (at least from the waist up considering it was a chest wound), but he probably wasn't focusing on that at the time, considering he was too busy making sure she didn't bleed out of the hole in her chest. Seph's the type who would just think of something like that as just another part of the line of duty...the biggest challenge with him in this pairing is to actually make him see her as a girl, and not just as a confidant/friend/partner. (In other words, getting him to differentiate Cissy and Zack in his head XD). (And the updates will be a little slower than usual, but I'm going to stick to a bare minimum of two Files a month).

**IzumiYukimura, **thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

**RozaAnne, **here you go! Enjoy!

**Irish-Brigid, **agreed. And Aerith didn't much like feeling helpless, although she _did _manage to get them out of Nero's darkness trap.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero**, thanks, glad you liked it! And yes, Cissnei will be out of commission pretty much until Junon, giving Sephy plenty of time to feel the loss.

**Furionknight, **thanks, glad you liked it!

**Draconic, **ah, you have to watch your Materia for the rest of this story. Yuffie is officially on the case!

XxXxX

**File 016: The White Rose of Wutai**

It was still early in the morning when Sephiroth gave the order to begin moving out. He let the others take to the tasks of packing up camp, walking ahead to survey the area. He found no signs of Nero, not that he had really been expecting to. The memory of Nero's retreat, his final parting taunt and his words to Aerith were still fresh in his mind. He had looked at him as he said it, his meaning clear.

Be wary of snakes in the grass.

He lowered his hand from the tree trunk beside him, his hand curling into a fist. Whatever they were planning, he would not allow it to come to fruition. His mind was his own. He turned around, striding back into camp.

Cloud and Red had finished packing up their belongings and putting out the fire, and they were currently busy searching the campsite to make sure nothing was left. The camp breakdown was more disorganized than it should have been, and it took him a moment to realize why. There was no one pacing around the camp, relaying instructions to Cloud, Aerith and Red—no one keeping the operation moving like clockwork while his back was turned.

But of course there wouldn't be. He shook his head, putting the thought out of his mind. He was a SOLDIER. He knew how to adapt. It was his responsibility to get the four of them safely reuinted with the rest of their company, and to get them all to Junon from there. He didn't have time for such frivolous...

He paused, staring down at Cissnei.

...Frivolous thoughts.

The young Turk's face was pale, the change in color making her hair's reddish tint seeming to stand out even brighter. Her lips were slightly parted and chapped, and occasionally she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, mumbling under her breath. He had been up a few times in the night to check on her, but so far nothing had changed. She still slept.

He wondered at it sometimes. A single bullet. He had been hit by so many in his time and had continued fighting, that the constructs seemed to have lost most of their power. Sometimes, it seemed, he was guilty of forgetting. The rest of the world only needed to get hit once.

_How fragile these people are. _

He could feel their eyes on him as he stood there. He ignored them, turning towards Aerith. The young healer was crouched on the ground beside Cissnei, the other girl's wrist clasped between her hands.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's...not awake," replied Aerith, her eyes downcast.

"Fever?"

At this, she shook her head. "Nothing that I can tell."

That was good at least. It meant that the wound wasn't getting infected...for now. He checked and changed the bandages as Cloud and Red worked, applying more antiseptic salve. As he worked, Cissnei occasionally mumbled or moved her head slightly in her sleep, but didn't wake.

"We need to get to Junon as soon as possible," said Sephiroth when he was done, looking up at the others.

Cloud nodded solemnly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aerith stand up. "Cissnei won't be able to walk," she said. "Someone has to carry her."

"I'll do it," volunteered Cloud.

"No." Sephiroth reached up, unhooking Masamune from his back and holding it in his hand. "I will." He turned towards Cloud, handing the sword to him hilt first. Cloud blinked in surprise, but nodded and took it, fastening it to his back on the opposite side as his own blade.

"Are you sure?" asked Red, as Sephiroth bent down to pick her up. He slung her arms across his shoulders carefully, propping her up against his back and holding onto her legs as he straightened up. Her head rolled forward onto his shoulder. She was surprisingly light. He barely noticed the extra weight.

"I can fight while carrying her if I absolutely must. Cloud cannot. This is the most efficient way."

Red nodded in assent. Sephiroth walked off, ignoring the voice at the back of his mind that told him that if Cloud carried her while he fought, Cloud would never need to fight.

XxXxX

It was a solemn group that set out from Fort Condor early that morning. By then, everyone had heard about what happened to Cissnei, and Zack spent the first part of their walk on high alert, just in case Nero or another Tsviet decided to launch another attack. He walked at the head of the group, letting Barret and Tifa trail behind him as Kunsel brought up the rear. He had called earlier that morning to ask how Cissnei was doing, and Cloud had informed him that her condition hadn't really changed, for better or worse.

The attack bothered him. He was relieved that Aerith hadn't been hurt, of course, but Cissnei was one of his best friends, and he had lost too many people to ever want to go through that again. Still, he knew enough to know that there wasn't anything he could do for her at the moment, besides lead the group to the rendezvous point, so he led the group through the woods, attempting to keep things as normal as they usually were.

"Not much farther now," he said as the woods began to open up, the path leading into a large clearing. He looked back at the others. "We should be there in a couple of hours, tops."

They nodded. Kunsel, Tifa, and Barret hadn't been pleased to hear the news either, but they were all old hands at this. They knew to keep moving on. He turned his attention to the road ahead of him, raising his arms over his head and stretching.

"Hey, what's that?" remarked Tifa from behind him. She pointed at something in the distance.

Zack frowned, resting his hands on his waist. "What's what?" he asked, looking in the direction she was pointing.

"That," said Tifa, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand.

Zack squinted. It was a box, a small open crate containing what looked like packets of food, as well as small white boxes that might have been medicine kits. The box lay just beneath one of the larger trees, at the border of the clearing. A sign had been taped to it, the words FREE SUPPLIES written on it in hastily scrawled ink.

"Huh..." said Zack. "Well, that's something." Making his decision, he looked back at the rest of the group. "I'm gonna go check it out," he said, jogging up to it.

"Uh...Zack...?" asked Kunsel as he neared. "I'm pretty sure this has _trap _written all over it."

"Oh, don't worry so much!" said Zack, grinning as he gestured at the box. "Look, they're free!"

"I don't like this..." grumbled Barret, placing a hand on his head.

"Me neither," said Tifa with a frown, drawing to a stop and folding her arms.

Zack waved them off, turning around and facing the crate in front of him. It looked fairly well-stocked, nothing special, but if it was free, he wasn't going to complain. Maybe there would be something in here that would help Cissnei—even supplies for the first aid kit would be useful at this point. He crouched down in front of the box, reaching inside and beginning to shuffle things around.

A rush of wind suddenly sounded from behind him, and Zack tensed, turning his head. A slender figure was already running, heading towards the opposite end of the clearing. She had short black hair and was dressed in a green shirt and a pair of shorts, a white strip of cloth tied around her head. Zack's eyes widened in recognition, and he quickly checked his pockets. His wallet was missing, he realized, and along with it, one of his Materia.

"Hey!" he shouted, running after her. "Get back here!"

She turned around and raised her hand to her face, blowing a raspberry at him before attempting to run off into the woods. "Catch me if you can!" she teased.

"Dammit," growled Zack. He didn't have anything he could use to stop her, and he didn't want to draw his sword against a teenaged girl if he could help it. He bent his knees, preparing to launch himself forward, when Tifa suddenly crossed his field of vision, leaping through the air and kicking at the would be thief.

"H-Hey!" said the thief in alarm. She jumped to the side, sidestepping the blow, but the attack had clearly unsettled her. She stumbled back, giving Tifa enough time to twist around and maneuver her knee straight into the girl's gut. The blow threw her back, sending her sprawling across the ground as Zack finally reached them, drawing up beside Tifa.

"Owwwww..." moaned the girl, wrapping an arm around her stomach. She curled up on her side, shooting Tifa an injured look. "What did you do that for?"

"Stealing isn't nice," replied Tifa, folding her arms. "Give back what you took."

"Fiiiine," said the girl, rolling her eyes. She slid her arms underneath her, preparing to push herself up. As Zack watched, she got halfway, before letting out a hiss of pain and pitching forward. His eyes widened in alarm, and he stepped towards her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, crouching down and reaching out to steady her.

An evil grin spread over her face. "Psych!"

Zack stumbled back, dodging a slash with a shuriken as the girl sprang back, landing neatly on her feet. She held the shuriken out in front of her as Zack stood up, glaring angrily at her.

"Hey, cut that out!" he said.

"You wanna fight?" asked the girl, brandishing her shuriken at him. "Is that it? Come on! I'll take you on!"

Zack blinked at her. She couldn't be serious. Even without mako enhancements, he was still about twice her size. She reminded him of that little shrimp from Wutai that had followed him around after the war, sending mail...

Comprehension dawned on him, and he blinked at her. No way.

Well, it was possible. That had been about six years ago, after all. That kid _would _be a teenager now...

"Hey, you're that kid from Wutai!" he shouted, pointing at her.

"Huh?" asked the girl. She blinked at him in surprise, then squinted, leaning forward and examining him closely. Her eyes widened in recognition. "You're that stupid spiky-haired SOLDIER!"

"You two know each other?" asked Barret, coming towards them.

"Know is a strong word..." began Zack.

"He was the one always getting in my way!" accused the girl.

"Getting in your _way_? I was _saving your life_!"

"Show's what you know," she said, sticking her tongue out at him and leaning forward.

"Just give me my money back," said Zack, holding his hand out towards her.

She rolled her eyes, reaching into the pocket of her shorts and pulling out his wallet. "Fine, whatever," she said, putting it in his hand. "By the way, that girl in there? Totally out of your league."

"Yeah, thanks," said Zack, opening it up and counting out the gil inside. "I'll tell my girlfriend you said that next time I see her."

"You're kidding me, right?" asked the girl, her eyes wide in genuine surprise. "Who would wanna date _you_?"

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," said Zack, tucking his wallet back into his back pocket. He held out his hand towards Yuffie. "Materia."

"Nuh-uh, I won this one fair and square," said the girl.

"Fine," said Zack, glancing at Tifa, Kunsel and Barret. "I guess we can do this the hard way."

She looked around at the four of them, and Zack could see the wheels turning in her head. At length, she sighed, reaching into her pocket and tossing an orb at him. "Fine," she said. "But only 'cause you asked. For the record, I could totally take all of you on."

Barret snorted. "What, you?" he asked.

"I could so!" said the girl indignantly, turning towards him.

"Sure you can, kid," said Zack. He tucked the Materia away, replacing it into his weapon slot.

"You bet I can," said the girl. "Bet you're scared of me now, aren't ya!"

"Yeah, petrified," replied Zack flatly, folding his arms. The sarcasm seemed to go right over the girl's head.

"You should be! You're in the presence of a legend! The single White Rose of Wutai! The one—the only—."

"—Yuffie Kisaragi," finished Kunsel, his eyes widening in recognition.

Yuffie turned towards him, an annoyed look on her face. "Hey, you ruined it!" she shouted, pointing at him.

Zack frowned. Yuffie Kisaragi. He was sure he had heard the name before, but he couldn't remember where. He glanced at Kunsel, taking in the surprised expression on his friend's face. "That supposed to mean something?" he asked.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," repeated Kunsel, glancing at him. "You know, as in Godo Kisaragi's daughter? The princess of Wutai."

"You're a princess?" asked Zack incredulously, turning back towards Yuffie.

She straightened up, shooting him an injured look as she raised her head. "Why do you sound so surprised?" she asked. "I don't have to wear dresses all day and go to fancy parties to be a princess!"

"Well, you know, I just thought..." began Zack.

"You pretty far from home," grumbled Barret, scowling at her.

"He does have a point," said Tifa. "What are you doing this far from Wutai?"

"What are _you _doing out in the woods in the middle of nowhere, huh?" asked Yuffie, folding her arms. "You tell me."

"Alright, fair enough," said Zack, folding his arms. He glanced at Kunsel. "What should we do?" he asked.

"We need to hurry if we're going to meet the rest of the party at the meeting time," replied Kunsel, frowning.

"That's true," said Zack. "But..." He turned away, his eyse falling on Yuffie. "Well, we can't leave her out here by herself."

"Hey, mako for brains, I'm standing right here!" said Yuffie. "And what do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm not strong enough to make it out here? Because I totally am!"

An idea struck him.

"Oh, really?" asked Zack. "Well, you know, it's probably for the best. You're not cut out for the stuff we're doing."

"Why, you..." grumbled Yuffie. She took a step forward, glaring at him. "You're just jealous. I bet you're just wishing that I, the Great Yuffie Kisaragi, would join your little group."

"What would you do if I was?" he asked.

"Oh..." said Yuffie, blinking. "Um...well, then...I...I guess I'd be happy to accept. Probably! But only because you asked!"

Zack gave an exaggerated sigh, shrugging his shoulders and turning away from her. "C'mon guys, let's move on," he said, walking off. He caught Kunsel's eye on the way out, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile. Kunsel caught on immediately and nodded once, turning away from Yuffie and following him out.

"You're right," he said. "We can't afford to waste anymore time. Tifa? Barret?"

"Mm," said Tifa, nodding and walking away from Yuffie as well. Barret grumbled something under his breath, following them as they made for the other end of the clearing. They hadn't gotten very far when Yuffie suddenly turned towards them, his eyes wide.

"Um, w-wait!" she shouted, running after him. "I'm coming too!"

"Changed your mind, Princess?" asked Zack with a grin, looking over his shoulder at her as she jogged to catch up.

"You wish!" said Yuffie, folding her arms. "I'm only going to protect _you._ After all, you'd all be helpless without me."

"Sure thing," said Zack, looking back at her.

"But...um...while we're in the business of protecting," said Yuffie, worming her way into the center of the group. "I guess we can fight together for a while. So...uh...what are your names?"

XxXxX

The spot they'd agreed to meet in was a fork in the road, easily recognizable thanks to the coordinates Zack and Sephiroth had exchanged. Sephiroth's group arrived first, slipping into the clearing by mid-afternoon. He let Cloud and the others sit and rest as he remained standing, adjusting Cissnei's weight on his back as he looked around and waited for Zack to arrive. It didn't take long before he heard the sound of booted feet along the pathway, a familiar voice calling out towards him.

"Hey, Sephiroth!" shouted Zack, sounding a lot more cheerful than he had last night. "You'll never guess what I found in the forest!"

Sephiroth looked up, turning towards him. He paused, his eyes landing on the girl next to him. She was young, in her mid-to-late teens, with short dark hair and features that were undoubtedly Wutaiin. The girl carried a shuriken with her and was dressed in white shorts and a green shirt that seemed almost too small for her, but dsepite this, she was still recognizable.

She was staring at him too, her eyes wide with shock. There was no mistaking her.

Yuffie Kisaragi. Heir to the throne of Wutai.

The country he had all but destroyed.

He barely had time to react when Yuffie suddenly shot forward, her face contorted in anger as she twisted around and raised her weapon, swinging the shuriken down towards him.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	51. File 016: The White Rose of Wutai pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **A little bit of trivia about how I decide which characters do what. In certain cases, when I don't care either way who accomplishes a certain task (like the dividing up of Zack and Seph's groups or the next two scenes in this chapter where one plot-important party member is approached by another), I actually type everyone's name into a list and use a list randomizer. So the people who approach Sephiroth and Yuffie in this chapter were actually decided at random, as were the group divisions (Zack with Tifa, Barret, and Kunsel...etc.). That's why I had Aerith 'sense' Nero, I needed to come up with a way to keep to the result so that she wasn't with Zack. It also gave me a loophole to work with to get out of Nero's darkness. Aerith being a Cetra means she's connected to the Lifestream and the Planet, so tainted mako wouldn't be very effective. (Fun fact: I also use this for POV characters in non-major scenes).

I think this is a really refreshing way to go about doing things, because it allows the story to take unexpected turns that I then run with. So I don't get bored writing it, because even I don't know how it's gonna end. (Them meeting Nero and Cissy getting shot was also a split-second decision, I needed the party to break up so Yuffie would join them _before _encountering Mr. Villain of Wutai).

**Gohan Roxas, **thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Comedy is kind of hit or miss with me, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

**JazzQueen, **oh, you can bet on that.

**Ryuukoshi, **you misunderstand me. I meant two _Files _a month, not two chapters. Each File is typically around 2-4 chapters, so that's 4-8 updates at _bare minimum. _I'll do more if I can, like this month, but that's the minimum goal I'm going to shoot for. ^^

**Irish-Brigid**, yep, not Zack's brightest idea. (And yeah, it's totally up to interpretation. I just chose this one because it's fun.)

**Luthor,** the vote will continue until Vincent is introduced. That way, if anyone comes into the fic before he's introduced and still wants a say, they'll get the chance (and to prevent me from closing the poll arbitrarily when I like the result, as it's been kind of back and forth lately).

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero**, yes, next stop Junon! And trouble for the group? Well, always a possibility!

**RozaAnne, **here you go~

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**SapphyreMyst, **yeah, it's going to take a while for Yuffie to warm up to him. It doesn't help that Seph isn't exactly world's friendliest man.

**Riku Uzumaki, **that should have been your first clue, lol.

**Blinded in a bolthole, **yep, unfortunately. Heroes always get more angst over the course of the story than villains. It's how they earn the happy ending.

**ZackAndAerithFair2012**, well get ready for more whiplash, lol. The next few Files will be full of it. (Blame the source material for stacking Junon and Costa del Sol right next to each other).

**ReplicaRiku'sgirl**, thanks for the review! I'm glad you're getting into the story, and yeah, if my only mistake so far is some slight issues with Tseng and Genesis, I'll take that as a good sign XD. TOO MANY CHARACTERS. As for Weiss, he'll be in real soon. Remember that as far as the plot of the game goes, we're still in Disc One.

XxXxX

**File 016: The White Rose of Wutai**

Several people shouted in alarm as Yuffie suddenly rushed forward, breaking away from Zack's group and charging at him. He moved on instinct, stepping forward and turning so that he put himself between Cissnei and Yuffie's weapon. The shuriken struck a glancing blow across his arm, barely managing to break skin. He ignored the cut and moved back, smoothly dodging another blow. Yuffie continued to advance, swinging her shuriken at him left and right. Her slashes were wild and erratic, her expression contorted with rage. He wished he could say it had been the first time he had received such a reaction.

People shouted at her to calm down. She ignored them, and he ignored them as well, focusing entirely on her. Her breathing was ragged from the speed at which she was attacking. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He saw only hatred in them.

"Miss Kisaragi—," he began.

"Shut up!" shouted Yuffie, attacking him again. "I hate you! Shinra scum!" She let out a shot of rage, swinging her shuriken down over his head. He jumped back, tightening his grip on Cissnei as he landed on the ground hard. Her head moved forward, and he heard her suck in a sharp breath.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and he stared down the enraged ninja.

"Calm down," he said, in the tone of voice he usually reserved for an angry order.

Yuffie charged forward the moment he started speaking, and Sephiroth leaned back slightly, avoiding another blow.

"I won't!" she shouted. "I won't calm down! I won't forgive you! You bastard! You destroyed my home!"

His mind raced. It was clear she wasn't going to listen to reason, which meant he had to find a way to end this fight soon. Cloud had his sword, but—his eyes darted over towards the ex-infantryman—Cloud was also on the opposite side of the field. He could defeat Yuffie easily without it, but he needed to hold Cissnei with at least one hand, and if he moved too much...

Yuffie was advancing again. He took a step back, giving himself an extra split second to prepare his next move. He had to...he had to...

"That's enough!"

A flash of pink crossed his field of vision. He blinked in surprise. Aerith stood between him and Yuffie, her arms outstretched. Yuffie stared at her in shock, her shuriken frozen in the air. He was sure her expression must have been mirrored on his face, but Aerith was determined. She didn't back down, nor did she lower her arms.

"Can't you see he's carrying an injured person?" she demanded.

Yuffie blinked, then slowly rose her eyes over to Sephiroth, looking over Aerith's shoulder. She stared at Cissnei as if only just noticing her there. As Sephiroth watched, Yuffie shook her head, taking a step back. She tightened her grip on her shuriken, her expression torn somewhere between anger and indecision before she finally grit her teeth, turning away.

Yuffie suddenly took off, pushing past Zack and the others and running towards the forest. Zack blinked as she passed him, turning around and holding a hand out towards her. "Yuffie—," he began. "H-Hey!"

She ignored him, continuing to run.

XxXxX

Zack raised his arms over his head and stretched, watching as Cloud and Tifa set about gathering firewood. He looked up at the sky, glad to see that it didn't look like rain that night. They really needed to think about getting tents. It would mean more to carry, sure, but the extra weight was probably worth not having to sleep out in the rain.

_What I'd give for a car right about now..._he thought, looking out at the long road that stretched before them. They were setting up camp far enough away from the road that they were concealed, but close enough that they could get to it if they had to.

It wasn't just about personal comfort, he realized with a frown as he folded his arms. There were other reasons why he wanted to get to Junon fast. He turned away from the road, passing Cloud and Tifa as he made his way back towards the campsite.

Sephiroth was there as expected, standing guard near the pit they had cleared for their fire. There was no sign of the others—they had probably been sent off on their own chores. The ex-First looked up as Zack approached, then looked back down at his work. He had Masamune spread out across his lap, and was cleaning the blade off with a cloth soaked in polish. He was sitting down on a log they had dragged closer to the fire, for later that night. Beside him, on a roll of blankets already laid out, lay a familiar figure. Zack glanced down at Cissnei, but she didn't seem to even notice him there. Her eyes were closed, the slow rise and fall of her chest being the only thing that told him she was still alive.

"Aerith?" asked Sephiroth.

The other SOLDIER's voice shook him out of his thoughts—he hadn't even realized he'd become distracted. He tore his eyes away from Cissnei reluctantly, looking back at Sephiroth. "She went into the woods after Yuffie," he said. "Cloud lent her his phone. She should be back soon."

He grunted in response, nodding once. Aerith was technically supposed to be in charge of getting water that night, but Zack was willing to bet Kunsel had quietly picked up the task while no one was looking. He had a habit of doing that sort of thing and not calling attention to it, it was one of the reasons why he had always done great work but it took him so long to get promoted. Zack's frown deepened, and he glanced down at Cissnei again.

"Yuffie didn't hurt her, did she?" he asked.

"She didn't manage," replied Sephiroth.

"Sorry about that, by the way," said Zack, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I didn't think..."

"You didn't," said Sephiroth, interrupting him. He looked down at his sword, inspecting the edge as Zack fell silent, lowering his hands to his side. "...I do not blame Yuffie Kisaragi for her reaction. I am willing to let it go if she is."

"Good for you," said Zack. He glanced back at the woods. "Just give Aerith a little bit of time with her. I think it'll be alright. She's not a bad kid..."

Sephiroth nodded, and Zack turned his attention back towards Cissnei. Now that he was looking at her, he noticed that there was something off. Her cheeks were pale and flushed with a light pink. He already knew what that would mean.

"She doesn't look too good," he commented.

"Fever. It started to set in about two hours ago."

"That's not good..." said Zack, sitting down.

"It's not," was the curt response.

"Any idea why Nero was gunning for her?" He crossed his legs, turning slightly so that he was facing Sephiroth. Sephiroth's frown deepened, and he tore himself away from his work, setting Masamune down beside him and looking up at Zack.

"It was meant to be a message to me," he said. "Although I can't understand what he was trying to achieve."

"You sure about that?" asked Zack, frowning.

"I can't imagine what he would gain by this," replied Sephiroth. "If he was attempting to anger me, then he has succeeded. I would not have considered that a wise choice."

The vehemence in Sephiroth's tone surprised him. Zack stared at his friend, momentarily taken aback. He hadn't expected that from him. But Sephiroth had made a good point. He definitely wasn't someone you would want as an enemy. President Shinra had proven that.

"Unless they think they can win," said Zack. "Or they don't have anything left to lose."

"Hm," replied Sephiroth. He sat back, glancing at Cissnei. His eyes, as usual, were hard as ice, glowing a bright mako green. "Genesis...thinks this is a contest he has won. But this is not a game he can play. I have been willing to give him a chance to redeem himself. I am not any longer. This will end." He looked away from her, getting to his feet and picking up his sword. As Zack watched, he raised it, replacing it across his back.

"You really care, don't you?" asked Zack, staring as Sephiroth continued to walk away.

"He hurt one of my men," replied Sephiroth. "It was a personal affront, regardless of the actual target. I will not take that lightly."

Zack frowned, watching as Sephiroth walked away. One of his men, huh? He shook his head.

_...You're gonna keep lying to yourself, aren't you? _he thought.

He looked back at Cissnei. Zack wondered if she had even heard the conversation, if she was at all aware of what was happening right now. If she was, Zack didn't doubt that she probably believed him, for all her ability to pick apart a lie. _You picked a real piece of work, _he thought. _You know that, right? _

Zack got up, grabbing a blanket from the pack next to him and draping it over her as Cloud and Tifa returned with the firewood. _But then again..._he thought as he spread the cloth out, glancing down at her face. _You're just as bad as he is..._

XxXxX

Yuffie ran into the woods, crashing through the underbrush. Brambles scratched at her bare legs. She ignored them, running out of pure desperation. Sephiroth was here. Sephiroth, the so-called Hero of Wutai, the Demon General, the Destroyer. She felt like she couldn't run far enough. She just wanted to—she just wanted...

Her foot caught on a root, and Yuffie screamed, throwing her arms out in front of herself as she pitched forward. She struck the ground hard, her shuriken bouncing out of her hand and scattering across the ground. It skittered a few feet away from her, landing on the grass. Yuffie groaned in pain, pushing herself up onto her arms. Her knees felt skinned. A quick cursory glance down told her that they were bleeding.

She took a deep breath, staring down at her hands. They were shaking. She didn't even know why that was. Hesitantly, she raised her hand to her face, rubbing sharply at her eyes.

What was wrong with her? Some great ninja she was. Wasn't this all part of the plan?

But she hadn't counted on him being there.

"...Are you alright?" asked a soft, concerned voice from behind her.

She looked up. The same girl in pink that had thrown herself in front of that monster was standing there, one hand on the trunk of a tree and the other holding her staff close to her. Yuffie recognized her as the girl from Zack's wallet. She sniffed, wiping at her eyes and putting a grin on her face as she sat back on her heels.

"Y-Yeah, 'course I'm alright," she said. "The Great Ninja Yuffie doesn't fall for anyone!"

She stared at Yuffie for a second, then shook her head and smiled, obviously not believing her. The girl walked forward, coming to stand in front of her. As Yuffie watched, slightly distrustful, she knelt down in the grass in front of her, taking Yuffie's wrist in hers. A cool light spread from her fingertips over the ninja's body, and Yuffie stared, watching as glowing green light spread over her limbs before healing the scrapes. It was obviously a Cure Materia, but the magic took faster than she would have expected.

"Uh...hey, you're pretty good at that," said Yuffie, not sure what else to say.

"I'm Aerith," said the girl, sitting back. "Are you feeling better now?" She offered Yuffie a soft smile. Yuffie stared at her. She didn't look at all like the girl that shouted at her to back down earlier. Then, she'd seemed almost angry. Now, she just looked more concerned than anything else. Yuffie didn't know what to make of her.

"Uh, yeah," said Yuffie, pushing off of her legs and sitting back in a more comfortable position. She rested her newly-healed legs across the ground between them. "See, good as new. Thanks for the healing."

Ordinarily, she might have taken the Materia and run with it, but the girl had just healed her out of the goodness of her heart for no good reason. I mean, come on, she was a _thief_, but she wasn't _that _bad.

"Um...so..."

"Sephiroth," said Aerith with a nod, sitting back as well.

Just the sound of the name made her angry. Yuffie clenched her fist, looking away. She still remembered all the stories she had ever heard about him, all the aftermaths she had seen. She hated Shinra. All of them. But she could stomach idiots like Zack who were just faceless cogs in the machine.

_Sephiroth_, well, he was something else.

"What the hell is he doing here anyway?" she asked, surprised at how angry she sounded. It wasn't as if she had a great capacity for personal restraint, but she didn't expect that she would sound _this _angry. "There's no one out here to murder."

"He's not a bad person—," began Aerith.

"Easy for you to say," said Yuffie, drawing her knees up close to her chest. "Wasn't your country he cut open and left for dead."

"No," said Aerith, smoothing out the skirt of her pink dress and tucking her legs underneath her. "But...he did help save my life. Kind of."

Yuffie blinked, looking up at the girl. She hesitated for a moment. "Really?" she asked.

"Mm," said Aerith, nodding once.

"What happened?"

"I was captured by Shinra," said Aerith. "They wanted to use me for...a science experiment. Sephiroth, Zack and the others broke into the building and got me out."

Yuffie stared. That didn't sound like the descriptions of Sephiroth she had heard before. But then again, Aerith wasn't Wutaiain. And even if he did do all that, she still couldn't forgive him.

"He saved Zack too," offered Aerith. "From what I understand, Shinra was really trying to kill him."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Yuffie. "That just 'cause he saved a couple of people, that automatically makes up for everything he's done?"

Aerith pursed her lips, shaking her head. "Not at all," she said. "I'm just saying you shouldn't be so quick to judge."

Yuffie opened her mouth, about to launch into another tirade, but something on Aerith's expression stopped her. The other girl was smiling. A soft, knowing smile, as if she already anticipated what Yuffie was about to do. She stared at Aerith for a moment, then snapped her mouth shut, looking away. What was _up _with this girl?

Not judge Sephiroth so quickly? What was there not to judge?

Well, whatever. It wasn't like she'd decided to do this so she could be all buddy buddy with this crew. Would she be able to put up with him for at least a little while, until she got her chance? She shivered at the thought. He'd probably run her through in her sleep.

But earlier...

She thought back to the scene from earlier. He'd been carrying someone—Yuffie had been so focused on her attack that she hadn't even noticed. A girl.

"Who's that chick anyway?" she asked, sullenly pulling up blades of grass with one hand as she looked away from Aerith. "His girlfriend?"

Aerith giggled, muffling the sound with her wrist. "Oh, believe me," she said, as Yuffie looked up. "We're _all _wondering. She's Cissnei. An ex-Turk."

Yuffie made a face. "Ugh," she said. "Turkeys. Hate those."

"You use the same weapon as her," commented Aerith lightly. "She uses a shuriken too."

"Hey, you mean _she _uses the same weapon as _me!_" corrected Yuffie, patting herself on the chest. "I'm the original."

"You know...I think she's a _little _bit older than you."

"Don't care. I'm Wutaian. I get automatic dibs. " said Yuffie, falling back so that she was lying on the grass. She placed one hand behind her head, looking up at the sky. It shone through the gaps in the trees, a bright blue.

The sound of clothes rustling made her glance to the left. Aerith was getting up, walking over to her. "I should head back," she said, brushing the grass off her dress. "It's getting late and we still have things to do before it gets dark." She stopped in front of Yuffie, holding a hand out towards her. "You're still welcome to come with us, if you want."

If she wanted. Yuffie frowned, staring at Aerith's hand. She considered the situation. Two ex-SOLDIERs were bad enough—well, three, there'd been the blond spiky-headed one too—but factor in Sephiroth and a Turk...

Well, so much the better, right? If she could get her hands on that Materia, it'd be really fitting. Poetic justice—or something like that.

Alright, she decided. She would do it. For the glory of her country. But that didn't mean she had to _like _it.

"Fine," she said, sitting up and clasping Aerith's hand. She scowled at the other girl. "But I still don't trust him."

"Fair enough," said Aerith with a smile, helping Yuffie to her feet. "It's a good start."

The two of them walked back through the woods, Yuffie allowing herself to be led back into camp.

**END FILE**


	52. File 017: A New Age pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I'm going to say a few words some of you were probably dying to hear. Ahem. "Alright, we've got emotional closeness. Let's turn up the heat on this ship."

Short review responses in the interest of time. Thank you **Riku Uzumaki, ZackandAerithFair2012, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Blinded in a bolthole, Erilin-chan, Draconic, **and **SubZeroChimera** for your reviews. I really appreciate all the support.

XxXxX

**File 017: A New Age**

It was a warm day in Junon Harbor, almost unseasonably warm, signalling the coming of spring. Across the water, in Costa del Sol, they were probably already starting their tourism season. Tifa slung her hair over one shoulder, attempting to cool off the back of her neck. She sat perched on a stack of boxes on a Harbor street corner, a frown on her face as she scanned the streets for any sign of Cloud, Aerith, or Barret. Beside her, Yuffie leaned against the wall with a bored expression on her face and her hands in her pockets. Red lay on the ground at her feet, his tail occasionally flicking as if to stir the air. She perked up at the sight of a spot of pink moving through the streets, followed by a familiar head of spiky blond hair.

"Fina-lly," said Yuffie, impatiently. "I was starting to think they got eaten on the way back or something!" She raised her hand in the air, waving it enthusiastically. "Hey, Spike! We're over here!"

Cloud looked up at the sound of her voice, spotting them. He turned, saying something to Aerith and Barret, and in a moment all three of them were heading towards the group, looking tired, but none the worse for wear. Tifa shot Yuffie a small smile, pushing herself up off the boxes to meet Cloud.

"Tifa," said Cloud, as he reached her.

"What happened?" asked Tifa. "How did it go? Is the little girl okay?"

"She's fine," said Cloud. "We got her back safely. The old woman we met said we could use her house if we wanted. It's...well, it's bigger than that room, at least..."

"She's alright?" asked Tifa, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I'm glad."

It had been Cloud, Tifa, and Barret that had come across Priscilla on the beach and had defeated the monster that had attacked her. Unfortunately, she had been knocked unconscious and Cloud had had to perform CPR. Aerith, Yuffie, and Red caught up just as the three of them were leaving the beach with Priscilla in tow, and Aerith had volunteered to go with Cloud to see the little girl safe at home, in case something else happened along the way.

"She's sleeping well," said Aerith, stepping forward. "I think she'll be alright." Her eyes moved over the assembled group. "Zack and Kunsel aren't back yet?"

"They should be back any minute now," said Tifa, frowning as she checked her watch. "They're a little late."

"Dammit, that Zack," grumbled Barret. "Three o'clock means three o'clock."

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," said Tifa.

"Um...can I say something?" asked Yuffie, walking up to the group. She wedged her way in between Tifa and Aerith.

"Yes, Yuffie, what is it?" asked Tifa, glancing at her.

"I vote that we split up and take the old lady's house. Anything so that I don't have to rub elbows with _that _guy for another night."

Tifa caught the uncomfortable glances Cloud, Aerith, and Barret shot each other. Yuffie's opinion of Sephiroth hadn't really improved on the trip over, although at least she wasn't jumping at his throat anymore. Cloud placed a hand on the back of his neck, looking down at the ground. "Well, in fairness, we_ are _kind of cramped..." he said.

"Splitting up _would_ probably be for the best," agreed Tifa. "We wouldn't want to crowd Cissnei too much..."

"Hello, what about me?" asked Yuffie. "I'm being crowded too!"

Cloud ignored her, turning towards Tifa. "Anyway..." he began.

Red nudged his nose between them, stepping into the ring they had formed. His ears twitched. "Incoming," he warned.

The five of them looked up, falling silent. A man was walking towards them, looking somewhat lost. He was dressed in a deep brown suit, adding to the out of place effect. His hair was a pale blond, curling slightly at the edges, and his eyes were a bright blue. He looked young, probably a young businessman or an employee of Shinra. Nowadays, in Junon, the two more or less meant the same thing.

"Pardon," he said. "I seem to have lost my way. Can you tell me where the nearest entrance to Junon proper is?"

The group exchanged glances. It was Tifa who spoke up first, pointing in the general direction. "It's over there," she said.

"Thank you," said the man, smiling gratefully. He turned away. "Sorry to take up your time."

Barret folded his arms, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "What's a suit like you doin' down here anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, that?" asked the man, looking back at Barret. He gave an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his head. His face flushed. "That's really embarrassing, actually. You see, I was supposed to...um...meet a girl. But I think it was a prank. My friend told me she'd be here."

"You need better friends," commented Yuffie, resting her hands on her waist and frowning.

"Oh, it's not their fault," said the man, laughing slightly. "They do this sort of thing all the time. It's all in good fun."

"Hm," said Cloud, frowning as he eyed the man.

"Well anyway, thank you again," he said, nodding at them. "Sorry to interrupt. I really should be going now."

The man turned, walking in the direction that Tifa had pointed out. Tifa frowned, staring after him. "What a strange guy..." she commented.

Someone else might have said something, but at that moment, a shout rang out in the other direction, and all of them turned.

"Hey!" said Zack, running up to them.

"And _there's _Zack," said Yuffie.

"You're late," grumbled Barret as Zack reached them.

"Yeah, sorry," said Zack, coming to a stop. "Stuff happened." He looked in the direction the man had left in. "Who was that?"

"Some lost rich kid," replied Yuffie with a shrug.

"Huh..." Zack frowned, looking in that direction.

"Where's Kunsel?" asked Aerith. Tifa blinked, turning back to Zack as she realized that he was alone.

"He'll catch up," said Zack. "He said he had something he needed to check out."

Barret grumbled something under his breath about SOLDIERs, but turned away, making to head back to the house they were staying in. Tifa frowned, looking back at Zack. She didn't like the thought of leaving any of them out there alone. "Will he really be alright?" she asked.

"Oh, he'll be fine," said Zack, folding his arms and falling into step with the rest of the group. "Kunsel's good at sniffing things out. When we were in SOLDIER, we would always look at him for information. He knew a lot of things the rest of us didn't..."

XxXxX

"_Between you and me, Ciss...he's worried as hell." _

_Someone was talking. A voice. It took her a moment to realize she recognized that voice, although she couldn't quite tell why or from where. An image flashed into her mind, that of a dark-haired man sitting half in shadow, one arm draped across his knee. It was dark—why was it so dark?-and he wasn't looking directly at her, his eyes instead fixed on something she couldn't see. The image faded away as soon as it came into view, leaving only the smallest sliver of it left, the sight of a gloved hand, his, pressed against the ground between them. She wanted to do something, to cry or call out or move to get him to notice her, but her body wouldn't obey. She couldn't even open her eyes. _

"_I mean, in fairness, we all are," he continued. "I just...I can't imagine you gone, you know?" A pause. She saw the hand lift, heard scraping sounds as though he were settling against...whatever it was he was sitting on. He sighed heavily. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now. After Essai and Sebastian...and then Angeal, and then Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. But you know...you never get used to it. They stay with you. They never leave..."_

_She did know. She knew. She wanted to tell him so—would have, if she could just get her mouth to work. _

"_...I guess what I'm trying to say is, get up...okay? We all miss you. And I'd hate to see Seph if you died. I think you'd hate that most of all." _

_Sephiroth..._

_Yes, she would. She would hate that. In this portion of her mind, where she could be honest with herself. She fought again to regain consciousness. This time, she thought she felt her finger twitch, scraping against the grass, but it wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough. _

"_Come on, Ciss." The hand that had left her field of vision landed on hers, squeezing it insistently and shaking it slightly. "Come on. I know you're in there. We've got a world to fix, remember? Quit sleeping on the job. You've got to wake up..." _

_But I am awake, Zack, she wanted to say. _

"_You've got to wake up..." _

_I am awake..._

Her eyes slowly drifted open, and she drew in a long, slow breath of air, laced with the smell of fish and the sea. She was lying on something—a bed, although not a soft one. Her body felt like it was made of lead, but she could feel sensation slowly returning, and she traield her eyes upward, fixing them on the ceiling. It was low and wooden, looking like it had probably seen better days.

She took in another breath, this time through her mouth, and tried her voice again. This time, she was surprised, both at the fact that she had managed to get something out and how hoarse her voice sounded. "...Junon Harbor..." she croaked.

"Impressive," commented a familiar voice from beside her. "You've only seen the ceiling."

Cissnei flexed her fingers and curled her hands into fists, loosely gripping the sheets beneath her as she turned her head to the side. The world spun for a moment before coming back into focus. Sephiroth sat on a chair beside the bed, Masamune propped up on the wall beside him within easy reach of his left hand and a book facedown on his lap. He was watching her, his expression impassive. The Turk in her immediately started surveying her surroundings, her eyes trailing from his face to the empty mug of coffee on the end table and the plate, cleaned of food but neatly stacked.

Wherever they were, he had been here for a while.

"...I recognized the smell," she replied, feeling a tired smile come onto her face. The memories of what had happened before she was knocked unconscious returned to her, and she braced herself with her arms, trying to get herself to sit up. She grunted with the effort, her back clearing the mattress by a few inches. Her upper body felt the most unresponsive, she couldn't get it to obey her.

He was by her side at an instant, pulling her up with a single steadying hand. She saw, perhaps imagined, the briefest look of concern flicker across his expression as she faltered, felt his fingers lingering across her shoulder a second longer than necessary before he pulled away. He took a step back once she was leaning against the headboard, reestablishing the distance between them as though the moment had never been. She could see it in his eyes that it had bothered him, that he had noticed, and refrained from pointing it out.

"I'm guessing you'll want water," he said, turning away from her and walking over to a corner of the room. She heard the sound of water being poured into a glass, and only then did she realize how dry her throat was. "You should also eat. The doctor said..."

"To make me eat, but nothing too rich. Something light, like soup at first, to make sure it doesn't shock my system," she finished. He looked over his shoulder at her, a questioning frown on his face, and she shrugged slightly. Her shoulder screamed in pain, and she instantly regretted the gesture.

His expression never changed, but he noticed her wince.

"You were awake?" he asked.

"No," she replied, gratefully accepting the glass from him. She held it in both hands, afraid that if she didn't, she would spill. "...But it's not the first time I've heard advice like that."

"You've been shot at before?"

"At? Yes. Actually hit? Rarely, and never as bad as this," she said. She raised the cup to her lips, taking a small sip. Her body wanted more, but she knew better than to gulp it down. She didn't particularly like the idea of Sephiroth having to drag her to the bathroom so that she could be sick. She lowered the cup to her lap, waiting to see how it settled before she drank again. "...I've been knocked unconscious before, though. And I've had colleagues who were badly hurt. One of my fellow Turks was in the hospital for three years..." She shook her head, her fingers trailing along the edge of the cup. "...So, is there soup?"

"Downstairs," he replied.

Downstairs. So they _were _at an inn, or at least renting a room in someone's house. Whatever it was, it was a fairly low-budget one, from the looks of it, although she could think of a host of reasons why they weren't in the city proper. "How long?" she asked.

"We arrived in the city yesterday," said Sephiroth. "You'd been unconscious for about three days before that. You were running a fever by the time we got here. Zack and Kunsel found the doctor and brought him here." His frown deepened. "He doesn't care much for Shinra. He won't tell."

"I wasn't worried about that," she replied, smiling slightly. "They'll find us eventually anyway. The others?"

"Out. They're searching for information."

"And you chose to stay?" asked Cissnei. She took another slow sip of water.

"Apparently, I'm too conspicuous," he replied, picking up the empty plate and mug. "...And someone had to."

She frowned, her fingers lightly tapping on the edge of her cup as she searched through her thoughts. There was a faint taste of potion lingering in her mouth, as though someone had been forcing her to drink it while she was unconscious. Her eyes moved, drifting away from Sephiroth and out the window as images flashed before her mind, seeming to waver before her in the bright sunlight. Besides the memory of Zack, there were other things she could remember, brief flashes of sight, and sound and memory.

Sephiroth, standing over her as she lay on the ground, checking her bandages. A cool hand against her forehead, accompanied by a a voice, speaking in a low murmur to someone else she couldn't feel. The sight of the world from over his shoulder, lurching with every step. A strong arm against her back, forcing her to sit up and drink from a vial of bitter liquid. Her eyes squeezed shut against the memories, and she opened them again to find herself back in the real world, sitting in front of him.

Her eyes moved over towards him. "You...took care of me," she said, slowly.

His hands stilled, stopping in their work. She could hear the faint clink of silverware on ceramic. He turned towards her slowly, his eyes meeting hers. "I was...," he said slowly, "...just repaying a debt. It was...overdue."

She remembered now, in a rush, how she had felt in the days after the Nibelheim Incident, days spent traveling under the radar, from contact to contact, the long drive up the mountain with a semi-conscious Sephiroth strapped into the front seat, murmuring over and over again how he didn't need help, how he would be alright. She had been stubborn, then, more of a nuisance than a caretaker, insisting all the while that his injuries be seen to, that he stay in bed until he was recovered, that he eat this much and no more but certainly no less. He had never thanked her. As a Turk, she had learned not to expect thanks, as a SOLDIER he had always been cautious in giving it. A warmth bloomed and blossomed in her chest, the weight of it forcing her eyes away from his. When she spoke, it was through a knot in her throat.

"...Thank you."

"Mm."

"You can go now that I'm awake," she said. A sly smile crossed onto her face, and she looked up at him. "...I'll even promise to stay in bed."

The diversion worked. A glimmer of amusement appeared in his eye. "...And I'm to believe that?" he asked, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face.

"Fair enough," she said, taking another sip of water before setting the glass aside. He turned away from her, carrying the empty plate and cup in his hands.

"I'll come back with soup," he said. "And I suppose you'll want to be briefed. I should warn you, our group's gained a new member, and she's...a handful..."

XxXxX

The streets of Junon were busy that day, except for those that offered a clear view of the sea. In Junon, the ocean wasn't a bright blue, instead taking on a murky hue with an oily sheen over the surface of the water, but it still stretched on endlessly, the waves lapping against the shore. Kunsel stood on one of those outlooks, feeling the sea breeze blow across his face. People for the most part, ignored him. He was dressed in civilian clothes instead of his uniform, and his appearance wasn't one that would draw attention. Zack had teased him before about not having much of a presence, but he'd found that that usually worked to his advantage.

He let the crowds pass him by, waiting.

That was one of the main differences between Kunsel and Zack. He knew how to wait. Unlike his friend, he had never really wanted the spotlight. He had actually _preferred _the background, letting the other members of his class succeed. Becoming a Second had been enough for him—not a low enough rank to be ashamed of, not a high enough rank that he would need to be seen. He had missed that, as a First, thrust into the role of commander. But now that he had left Shinra, he was starting to get that back. His fingers drummed idly against the railing, and he watched the boats come into the harbor. Listening. Waiting.

Waiting until the sound of footsteps broke the little pocket of silence around him, a small figure approaching him. A voice spoke, soft and feminine, with a cold flat tone that belied the lightness of the voice.

"So..." she said. "You are here after all."

He straightened up briefly and turned, his eyes landing on her.

Shelke the Transparent.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	53. File 017: A New Age pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Hmm, I can't think of a way to respond to any of your reviews without somehow spoiling my plans, so...thank you very much to **JazzQueen, Gohan Roxas, Riku Uzumaki, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, Roza Anne, Erilin-chan, **and **Blinded in a bolthole** for reviewing!

XxXxX

**File 017: A New Age**

The wind blew in from the ocean, brushing over the two of them. Kunsel stared at the girl in front of him. No matter which way he looked at it, she really did look like a child, no older than ten years old. But the eyes that stared back at him from that face were older, much older than her appearance could suggest. She was watching him too, her eyes blank, her face impassive. Shelke was dressed in her Deepground uniform, her hands within easy reach of her sabers. They remained where they were, though, attached to her back. He wondered what had happened to her, to turn a child like this into a SOLDIER.

He turned towards her fully, resting the small of his back against the railing.

"I should be the one saying that to you," he said.

He hadn't been sure about it when he had first caught a glimpse of her in the city, but now he was certain. Deepground was here. But of course, with security swarming the city in preparation for Rufus Shinra's parade, that wasn't unexpected. The real question was, if Deepground was here, where was Genesis? Shelke stared at him for a moment, considering his words. He wondered what was going on in that head of hers.

"Hm," she finally said. What that meant, he couldn't guess.

"You aren't going to attack me?" he asked. "I'm unarmed."

Her eyes passed over him, as though she had already considered it. "I have received no orders to do so," she said. "Besides, as you are dressed as a civilian, the attack would cause a scene. I have been instructed to maintain control of this sector, and to preserve order."

"In preparation for the march?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss such things with you."

The way she spoke, it was almost as though she were a machine instead of a human being. The Deepground SOLDIERs all had their quirks, probably born from whatever experiments had shaped them in the facility underneath Shinra. It still made him shudder some times, to think about how narrowly he and Zack might have escaped getting sent to Deepground instead of going through the regular program.

Although in fairness, he had never been in any particular danger of that.

"You said that this sector is under your jurisdiction," he said, deciding to try a new tack. "Does that mean that there are others of you out here?"

Shelke said nothing, continuing to watch him. He was unnerved by how little emotion passed over her face. He knew how to read people, he had always considered himself somewhat good at it. But with Shelke, there didn't seem to be anything there at all. It was as though she were an empty shell. As though...

As though she were transparent.

A flicker of recognition passed in front of her eyes, and she stepped forward, towards him. "I have been warned about you," she said. "That you would try to gain information from me. Kunsel Harringer. You are not like the others."

He tracked her with his eyes as she came to stand beside him, facing outward towards the sea. Kunsel turned just slightly to the left, keeping her within his field of vision. "I don't understand what you mean," he said, keeping his voice cool.

"The Kalm firebombing. 1997. Your home was within the blast radius. Of all the people inside of it, none survived." Kunsel fell silent, stony-faced. "Exactly two weeks from the firebombing, at age thirteen, you entered the infantry. You were assigned to the same training cohort as then Infantryman Zack Fair. Less than one year later, you, Zack Fair, and three others from your unit were recommended to the SOLDIER program for acts of valor on the battlefield. The recommender was Angeal Hewley."

His mind went back to those days in the war, to the defense of the Hong Guo Bridge that had won them all admittance into SOLDIER. It had been Zack's foolhardy plan. To this day, he had no idea how Zack had managed to get all of them to go along with it. But he had, and it had worked, and a move that should have cost them all their careers had instead caught the eye of the Shinra company, and had made Angeal take notice of Zack for the first time. He still remembered that day, Zack standing triumphant on the bridge after the cannon blast, brown eyes shining as Essai and Sebastian rallied behind him, soot in their hair and on their face and everywhere. They'd been boys before then, fresh-faced new recruits with the oldest of them not more than fourteen. After that day, everything changed. Even though he still felt like he had done nothing that day, nothing but provide cover fire from a distance as Zack and the other three charged the troops, he still recalled it as one of his proudest moments.

"...I'm not sure how that's relevant," he said.

Shelke turned her head towards him, meeting his eyes. "And yet...before that day occurred, before you joined the infantry, you were already in Midgar."

Kunsel stared at her, the silence growing more pronounced. Shelke didn't seem bothered by it. She kept her eyes on the sea. At length, he relented.

"You've read my file," he said.

"I am obliged to consider all possibilities when facing unknown opponents of great strength."

"What happened before the bombing isn't important," said Kunsel. "It isn't relevant to anything I'm doing now."

"Does it pain you to remember it?" asked Shelke, cutting him short. She took a step forward, her eyes remaining fixed on the ocean. He said nothing, waiting for her to speak. She didn't for a time, keeping her eyes on the water. When she finally did speak, it sounded as though she had been considering her words for a very long time. "...I do not understand the concept of pain. You were not physically harmed by the events of the bombing, therefore it should not have affected you. It is, as you say, irrelevant. However, Nero has said that employing it against an opponent unsettles them, and that it is a good strategy. I do not understand."

"Nero is a monster," he said vehemently, surprised at how angry his voice actually sounded.

"Yes," Shelke's eyes flickered towards him, reading something in his expression that he couldn't see. "He spoke of hatred as well."

He fell silent, clenching his fists and taking a slow breath to calm himself. From what he had already heard of Nero, it would probably not be in his best interests to give him an emotional foothold of any sort. Shelke watched him, her expression showing only a slight amount of confusion at his reaction.

"You are an irrational creature," she said, quietly, turning away from him. "You are all irrational."

"Who did this to you, Shelke?" he asked.

"I am as I have always been," she replied calmly. "I do not see why I would need to be otherwise."

Kunsel stared at her, but she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her attention was past him. Elsewhere. Seeing that any future conversation would be pointless, he turned away. "If you ever want to leave Shinra," he said as he turned. "We can help you with that. You know where you can find me."

She didn't respond. He didn't wait for one, turning around and walking back down the street. He half-expected her to attack him while his back was turned, but she stuck to her earlier reasoning, giving him no acknowledgment at all as he slipped back into the crowd.

XxXxX

Sephiroth set the clean dishes aside, drying his hands off on a moderately clean towel. The cottage's sole occupant hadn't yet returned from the day's work, and there was no sign of any of their number. The house was still as the grave, with the only sound coming from outside in the streets. There was nothing from upstairs. If Cissnei was moving around, she was doing so quietly.

He set the dish rag aside, picking up Masamune from where it lay against the wall and carrying it in his hand as he made his way back upstairs. It made Yuffie suspicious when he carried it around with him, but he didn't like being without the sword in sight. He reached the top of the stairs, pushing open the door to the small bedroom with his free hand and stepping inside.

There, he paused. Cissnei had gotten up from bed, and was standing with his back to him, facing a small, cracked mirror. She was shirtless, dressed in the black pants that she had been wearing when Nero had shot her and a bra, although enough that anything indecent was appropriately covered. The fingers of one of her hands lay just at the edge of the patch of bandages over her chest, on the left side. His eyes immediately snapped up to her face, and he took a step away from the door as she turned her head towards him, making to close it.

"...Should I turn around?" he asked uncertainly, propping Masamune up against the bed's end table.

She quirked an eyebrow. "That depends," she said, folding her arms. "Were you blindfolded when you dressed this?" She gestured at the wound. His eyes moved over it for the briefest moment, before he returned them back to her face.

"The situation is hardly the same..." he said.

"Maybe not," she said, looking back at the mirror. "But honestly, I've worn less on some missions. We're both professionals. I trust you."

"You give me a lot of undue trust."

She looked over her shoulder at him, a sly smirk spreading over her face. "Why, Sephiroth," she remarked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me."

He didn't know what to say to that. Mostly because he didn't know what he _should _say. Instead, he focused on keeping his eyes somewhere else. She smiled at him, then turned her eyes back towards the mirror, tracing the edge of the bandages with one finger. The smile on her face faded, her expression growing pensive as she studied the wound. He looked away from the mirror, instead studying the corner of the room. He could still see her out of the corner of his eye, but not fully.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed," he commented, changing the subject.

"I felt a lot better," she said softly. He saw her shift, pulling away from the mirror, and drew his eyes back to her face. Her own eyes were serious, her mouth turned down in a thoughtful frown. "...This was a kill shot, Sephiroth. I shouldn't be alive."

"Yes." He saw no reason to lie.

"What saved me?" she asked.

"Your vest absorbed some of the impact. And the bullet just barely missed your heart. By a fraction of an inch."

She took the information in stride—he heard nothing but a deep breath come from her direction. Cissnei turned away from him, looking back at the mirror. "So...what you're saying is, I got lucky."

"Yes."

He heard her sigh, shaking her head. When he looked over at her again, she was smiling faintly, one hand on the mirror. The smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Something amuses you?" he asked.

"The other Turks used to joke that I was born under a lucky star," she said, trailing her fingers down the glass. "I never really believed them until now. I guess my vest is destroyed?"

"Mm," he said with a nod. "You'll have to get a new one."

"That won't be a problem," she said. "I know the Junon black market. What happened to Nero?"

"He left," said Sephiroth. "After you were shot. He announced that he had delivered his message."

"I see..." She gave the mirror one last look, then turned towards him, her eyes hard. "I want in, Sephiroth."

"In what?"

"Don't play dumb," she said. "Rufus Shinra's parade is tomorrow. I want in."

He frowned at her, his expression growing serious. "You're still injured," he said. "You're not field ready."

"I know my limits," replied Cissnei. "And I want to see this through to the end. You're not going back out there without me."

He hesitated briefly. The sound of the door opening downstairs put a halt to the conversation, and he quickly stepped forward, the current issue forgotten as he scooped up her shirt from the bed with one hand, tossing it to her. She caught it, quickly shrugging into it.

"We're back!" came Zack's voice from downstairs. He heard the sound of booted feet coming up the steps. "Seph! You in here?"

He spared a glance at Cissnei as the door burst open, but she was already fully-dressed, standing in front of the mirror and taking on a relaxed stance. Zack's eyes moved from Sephiroth to her, and he stared at her in surprise for a moment.

"Hey, Ciss, you're up!" he said. "Uh...should you be out of bed?"

"No," replied Sephiroth flatly.

"_Yes," _countered Cissnei, smiling at Zack. He shot her a look, and she responded by feigning innocence, tilting her head in the other direction.

"Cissnei's awake?" asked a voice from the stairwell. Aerith appeared behind Zack, looking over his shoulder.

"Hi, Aerith," said Cissnei, greeting her with a smile as well. "Sorry to make you worry."

Sephiroth listened, but he couldn't make out the sounds of anyone else entering the house. "Is it just the two of you?" he asked.

"For tonight, it is," replied Zack, looking back at him. He raised his arms over his head, locking his fingers together behind his neck. "Cloud and the others found another place to stay for the night. They said it was so we wouldn't be so crowded. Kunsel'll be joining us, but he's still on his way back, so we asked him to get dinner too. He should be here in about ten."

"Dinner sounds great," said Cissnei. "I'll help set up downstairs."

Zack seemed obviously uncomfortable with the prospect. He glanced at Sephiroth, his expression questioning. Sephiroth stared back at him, not saying a word. He folded his arms. Zack's brow rose, and he turned back towards Cissnei. "Um...I'm not sure that's a good idea. Why don't you wait up here and we'll bring you something?"

"I'm not helpless, Zack," said Cissnei, frowning at him. "I can do small things."

"Well, alright, if you're sure," said Zack, turning away. "Come on, Aerith."

Aerith nodded, following him down the steps. Sephiroth watched them go, then looked up as Cissnei began walking towards the door as well, passing him.

"If you were one of my soldiers, I wouldn't let you back in the field," he said in a low voice, glancing at her.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, pausing directly in front of him. "Well, lucky for you, I'm not," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I'm an independent agent." She didn't wait for a response, continuing to walk.

XxXxX

The streets of Junon glittered below the Shinra building, shining with light from the many street lamps and signs that dotted the vicinity. He stood in front of a pair of large glass windows, looking down at the sight. From up here, he could see the people of the city scurrying around like ants below them. They continued with their daily lives, working, always working, and always moving, blissfully unaware of the events about to take place. They would learn. Soon enough, they would learn.

"Are you enjoying the view, Weiss?"

Weiss looked up at the sight of a reflection in the glass, that of a figure standing against the wall behind him. In the faint reflection from the window, he could see the barest hint of crimson, of a leather coat that fell almost all the way to the floor.

"It's a shame," continued Genesis. "So much preparation for a simple parade. And one that I won't be able to see."

He turned his head slightly, facing the man. "You're leaving." It wasn't, quite, a question.

Genesis met his eyes. "It's about time we ended this game, don't you think, brother? The lady may be content to chase after her wayward stray, but I would like to begin."

"How long?"

"Not much longer now," was the reply.

He heard the sound of Genesis straightening up, turning towards the door. Weiss turned away, facing the window again. He felt an undercurrent of excitement run through him. Things were starting soon. He could continue to play lapdog to Shinra until then.

"Send word, when we're ready to begin," he said.

Genesis smirked. "Hm," he said as he walked away, his footfalls sounding down the corridor.. "Even if the morrow is barren of promises...nothing shall forestall my return."

XxXxX

Cissnei sat at the foot of her bed, one eye squeezed shut as she peered down the inside of her gun. She drew her face away and raised the wire brush in her hand, scrubbing the inside of the barrel. "I see," she said as she worked. "So that's what happened with Yuffie Kisaragi."

"Mm," said Aerith from where she was sitting on her bedroll on the floor. Zack, Kunsel and Sephiroth had taken the downstairs, leaving the two of them up here. She hadn't heard much out of them since dinner. "I was a little worried about that at first, but things seem to have calmed down."

"Glad to hear that," said Cissnei, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled ruefully. "Although I can already guess that she won't like me much, if she's as temperamental as they say."

"She's not that bad," said Aerith, smiling slightly. "Um...although, there was something else..."

Something in Aerith's tone made Cissnei look up. She frowned. "Go on?" she prompted.

"Well...it's probably nothing," said Aerith. "But today on the street, while we were waiting for Zack, we ran into this man..."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	54. File 017: A New Age pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Man, this chapter took a while to come out. I think my brain's a little fried, but I hope you like the effect. It took turns while I was writing it that _I _didn't expect.

**JazzQueen, **yep, poor Seph doesn't really get a break. But she doesn't mean to push his buttons. They're just dysfunctional like that.

**Blinded in a bolthole, **oh, that's true. I forgot about that—she's only a year older than Yuffie. And as for Jenova...it probably happened when he finally lost his grip on sanity.

**Roza Anne, **here you go! ^^ Happy to oblige!

**Irish-Brigid**, well, the conversation would have just been her recounting the day's events. I just needed Cissnei to know about them. Regarding the lady, you'll find out. ^_^ And Shelke doesn't quite remember much yet—that or she isn't at the point where she cares.

**Ryuukoshi, **yeah, poor Seph. He's so competent everywhere else, but in this, he has no idea what's going on.

**Gohan Roxas, **thank you! Glad you like it. I worked hard to give Kunsel a distinct but plausible personality based on what we know of him (he's not ambitious but he's loyal and knows more than he should).

**Riku Uzumaki, **oh you bet. I'm starting to match up the Tsviets to their final opponents. ^^

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **thank you! Really glad you liked it!

**Furionknight, **thanks!

XxXxX

**File 017: A New Age**

Junon had prepared for the President's inaugural parade in style. The main street had been completely cleared, with the sidewalks cordoned off to keep the crowd at bay. They assembled on the sidewalks en masse, a sea of bodies in the city below. From the way they talked and chatted amongst themselves, one would think that some hero was coming to town. But of course, why wouldn't they act that way? This was Rufus Shinra, the president of the company that was, in some way or another, keeping them alive, if only to remind them how easy it would be to let them all go. Red banners streamed from every available surface, of different shapes and sizes, but all proclaiming the same thing.

_Rufus_

_President of Shinra_

_A New Age_

A new age. She had heard the President's speech on top of the Shinra Building. She knew what sort of new age Rufus was planning. Cissnei folded her arms, feeling a shudder run through her. Rufus Shinra. There was a time when even the Turks had worried what would happen if he were ever to come to power.

Well, it was too late for that now. Cissnei scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of their companions. She thought she caught sight of Aerith, lingering by a street corner, which meant that Zack couldn't be far. Barret and Red she already knew to be further up the road. She didn't see any sign of Kunsel, Yuffie, Tifa, or Cloud. But then, that much was out of her hands as well. They had all found different ways to sneak into Junon this morning. She could only hope that no one managed to get themselves caught.

There were figures in black in the street as well, interspersed here and there. She caught sight of Rude further up, coolly watching the street from a corner, and Elena back down along the parade route, adjusting her earpiece. She had no doubt that Tseng was out there somewhere, probably taking the high ground in this case, to observe the operation.

Much like she had done.

"Security's too tight," she muttered, giving up scanning the buildings across from her for Tseng. "We won't be able to do anything from here."

"Mm," said Sephiroth from beside her. She turned her head slightly, facing him. Sephiroth was leaning against the wall beside the window with his arms folded, looking obviously uncomfortable with the entire situation. He was dressed more casually than Cissnei had ever seen him, his trademark silver hair hidden underneath a dark-colored hoodie. Sephiroth had been surprisingly amenable to the clothing change, after all, no one could deny that he stood out in a crowd. His only stipulation? It had to be black. She snorted softly in memory. Go figure.

"Well, you've got the teenage rebel stance down," she joked, gesturing at his posture. "We just need to get you a pair of headphones, and you're all set."

He gave her a pained look, one that clearly read 'I am a thirty-year-old man, and this is demeaning'. It was such a...human expression coming from him. Seeing it made her have to stifle a laugh. She couldn't quite suppress the smile. "Don't start," he said.

"You've never been on an undercover mission before, have you?" she asked, turning away and looking back at the crowd.

Sephiroth sighed, lowering his hands to his sides. "It was never required," he said. "Usually, by the time I was sent in, the time had passed for such subtlety. I will admit to being...somewhat at a loss as to the protocol required."

"What? Urban warfare not your style?" asked Cissnei, giving him a knowing look.

"Hn." He tilted his head slightly to the opposite side, away from her, his eyes fixing on the wall. It was answer enough.

"And you wanted to leave me behind," she teased. "What would you do without me?"

"I still think you shouldn't have come," said Sephiroth. "You're not fit for active duty."

"And you're probably right about that," admitted Cissnei, glancing away from him and down at the street. "But right now, you can't deny that you guys need me. Besides," she added with a smile, as Sephiroth looked away. "It probably worked out for the best. It's starting to look like we might not be returning to the Harbor tonight."

He looked up at her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"We're going to need to get in close to Rufus if we want to get any useful information out of him at all," replied Cissnei, frowning as she looked down at the street. The first wave of infantrymen were beginning to filter through, marching in tight formation. "But we don't have an opportunity to get it here. Which means we're going to need to follow him if we want another chance. Onto his ship."

"And how do you propose we do that?" asked Sephiroth, his brows raising.

"I don't," replied Cissnei. "Just yet, anyway. I'm still working that part out."

"Hm." Sephiroth's eyes passed over the rows of infantrymen marching below them. He said nothing for a moment, his expression impassive. Cissnei wondered what he saw there. A memory of his own time as a SOLDIER? No, that couldn't be it. Sephiroth had never had to be subjected to that sort of work. Even at the start of his career, he had always been set apart. He looked up, just as Rufus's white car came into view, the president himself standing inside it, his expression stoic. "You believe the ship will have the answers we need?"

"I can't be certain of that," replied Cissnei. "But...I'd say it was a pretty good guess."

"What makes you say that?" asked Sephiroth.

"Look at the crowd," said Cissnei. "Notice anything odd?"

He looked. She waited. Sephiroth hadn't been trained for this, but he knew how to read a battlefield. As soon as he had his attention directed, he caught on. "No Tsviets."

"Mm," said Cissnei, nodding. "We know they're in this city, thanks to Kunsel. And they're not exactly the type to stay hidden in a crowd. If Rufus doesn't have them out here, I wonder where they all are."

Sephiroth looked away from the parade, staring at the opposite wall. He was silent for what felt like hours, although she was sure it couldn't have been that much time, considering the procession below them hadn't even moved out of her field of vision by the time he spoke again.

"Genesis...is working with the Tsviets," he said.

She nodded. "As far as we know," she said.

"When we fought him, Nero mentioned._..her,"_ said Sephiroth. "It makes me wonder, are the Tsviets really under Rufus Shinra's control?"

He watched her closely, with a look she recognized, one that told her he thought she had information she hadn't yet shared. Cissnei took in a deep breath, her hands curling into fists at her side. "The Tsviets..." she began. "...no, all of Deepground was Hollander's answer to Hojo's SOLDIER program."

His eyes widened slightly in surprise. She glanced at him. From the look in his eye, he had come to the same realization that she herself had just come to.

"Which would mean..." he began.

"It's highly likely that just as Hojo used Project S...you...as the model for the rest of the SOLDIER program, the Deepground SOLDIERs were enhanced based on Project G." She looked away, looking back down at the street. "I'm sorry, I don't know much more than that."

"But you know who would," said Sephiroth. It wasn't an accusation, just a statement of fact. Others wouldn't have been as kind. She nodded.

"Hollander," she said. "But from what I know, he's most likely dead. Hojo. Rufus, of course. Tseng, as the Director of General Affairs. Heidegger. And Genesis himself."

"You don't think the Tsviets know?" asked Sephiroth.

"I'm not sure what they know," replied Cissnei. "It's entirely possible that they know no more than Zack and Kunsel did. But whoever's leading them at least has to know what's happening. What I can't figure out is who they answer to. Genesis seems like the most likely candidate, but..."

"It's one of their own," concluded Sephiroth.

Cissnei blinked, looking up at him. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

"Rosso," replied Sephiroth, "And Nero. Two highly unstable personalities. And yet, they've both been fairly tame. They come when they're called, and leave when they're told. That sort of control doesn't happen overnight. It's the product of years of conditioning. They wouldn't answer to someone whom they didn't respect. He would have to be more powerful, charismatic, and above all, he would have had to have shared in their experience somehow. I've spent all of my life at Shinra, and I'd never heard of Deepground. That tells me that Deepground existed as a separate entity, outside of the chain of command I knew. None of the regular SOLDIERs would have ever had contact with them, Genesis included. He wouldn't have had time to form the necessary bonds. So the only other option..."

"They have an internal leader," finished Cissnei. "Someone who acts as the middle man, between Genesis and Rufus. The individual Tsviets aren't following Shinra or Genesis. They're following _him_."

"And what he decides will determine the allegiances of the others," added Sephiroth.

She exhaled slowly. "This...complicates things," she said.

"Indeed."

Cissnei frowned, thinking it over. There was no helping it. There wasn't much she could do from up here. She took a step back, away from the window. "I need to check on something," she said. "I'll be back."

She saw his expression change, as though he were about to protest. Cissnei quickly slipped out of his line of sight, leaving the room before he could start.

XxXxX

"Man," muttered Zack as a cheer rose up from the crowd around them. "You'd think if they knew what they were getting into, they'd be less enthusiastic."

"They're celebrating, Zack," said Aerith, placing a hand on his arm. "At least for now, that's not really a bad thing..."

"Mm,I guess," said Zack, staring at the crowd. He rested his hands on his waist. "Still...it just feels wrong. And what gets me is if I hadn't gotten involved in all of this, if I hadn't found out what was really going on, I'd be cheering along with them. Heck, I'd be _marching_."

Aerith sighed, taking a step forward and threading the fingers of her hand through his. "Oh, Zack..." she said. "You can't blame yourself for what you didn't know."

He didn't turn towards her, but he did let her pull his hand away. His eyes were still fixed on the parade, although she could tell that he wasn't really seeing it. His mind was somewhere else. "You know, it's not how much I didn't know that gets me, Aerith," he said. "It's how much I did. If they hadn't gone after me and Cloud personally, I'd probably still be with them." He sighed. "A sane person would have left the minute they saw the monsters in the tubes."

"Zack..."

He took a deep breath, then shook his head, finally squeezing her hand back. He turned towards her, a grin forming on his face. "But enough about that, right?" he asked. "You're right. You're totally right. It's a party. If Shinra's footing the bill, all the better."

Just like that, all the old pain in his eyes was gone, and he looked just as cheerful as he always was. The sight of all of that old guilt disappearing at once made her heart sink, because she _knew_. She had been there before when he had broken, that day in her church shortly after Angeal's death. She knew when it wasn't real, and what was probably worst of all was that she knew why. She'd seen him, time and again, how he'd change the subject when someone in the group got too depressed, how he kept trying to lead Sephiroth into conversation when Cissnei was still out, how he was always ready to step in with words of encouragement when anyone remembered Sector 7. She'd seen it all, and she could see how the group was coming to rely on that—on Zack being there to support them, to keep them together.

_But if you keep taking care of everyone..._

_...Who's going to take care of you? _

She took a deep breath, her thumb brushing over his knuckles.

"You don't have to do that, Zack," she said.

"Do what?"

She bit her lip, meeting his eyes. "Hide from me. You're allowed to be sad. You're allowed to be angry. You're allowed to be hurt. I'm not going to run away."

He stared at her then, the smile melting away from his face. He met her eyes, his own an intense mako blue. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a glimpse of what lay there. It was so easy to forget, so _so _easy, that Zack had been hurt too. But she could never forget it. Because she was the only person that Zack let see.

She smiled warmly at him. "There you go," she said. "My hero."

"Aerith, I..." began Zack.

Aerith froze, her eyes moving past Zack as she caught a glimpse of something in the crowd. It had only been for a moment—just a barest glimpse, but she thought she had seen someone. A woman, standing on the street corner watching Rufus's car go by. A woman in a dark pink dress, a violet cloth tied around her waist. Her hair had been long and brown, falling down her back in silken waves, her eyes, a bright brilliant green.

But it had only been for a moment. And now she was gone, if she had ever been there in the first place.

"Aerith?" asked Zack, suddenly concerned. "Aerith, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, turning her attention back towards him. "Nothing," she said, with a nervous laugh. "It's nothing. I just thought I saw..."

She paused. What _did _she think she saw. Zack stared at her, waiting for an answer.

"Yes?" he asked. "You think you saw...?"

"...My mother," replied Aerith. "But it was just someone who looked a lot like her. It scared me for a moment, that's all."

"Huh..." said Zack. He looked around as well, then turned back towards her. "Well, she did follow us out to Kalm, so I wouldn't put it past her," he joked.

She gave him a slightly nervous smile, looking back at the crowd. The apparition, if that was what it was, was gone. "Right," she said. "But I was just seeing things. Don't worry about it. It was nothing at all..."

XxXxX

The amount of spectacle Junon was putting on to welcome President Shinra was amazing. It was easy to forget that this was the man that had spoken to them on the roof of the Shinra Building, the one that wanted to rule the world by fear. But seeing him, standing there amidst a sea of marching soldiers, dressed in his trademark white suit and staring at the road ahead with a haughty smile on his face, she remembered.

She remembered Nibelheim. She remembered Sector 7. And she remembered loss.

Tifa took a step back into the crowd, one hand still closed around the red Materia Priscilla had gifted her with before they left the Harbor. Shiva. The destroyer. A part of her wondered where Priscilla had gotten something like this in the first place, but she thought it was probably best not to question it. If she didn't know, she couldn't get the little girl in trouble. And she wasn't about to reject a gift.

She wouldn't forget, she decided, keeping her eyes fixed on Rufus. She wouldn't allow herself to.

She would remember, even if no one else did, who this man was and what he was capable of.

Her eyes moved over the crowd, staring at the lines of infantrymen that followed him, all in perfect formation. Her eyes moved over each individual one, finally pausing on the last line of soldiers. There was one infantryman there, one walking a little bit out of formation, as though he hadn't practiced nearly enough. She frowned. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it.

Her eyes widened as she saw the infantryman take a step forward out of line and scowl, muttering something to himself. Everything clicked, just as it had back then, in Don Corneo's mansion.

—_Cloud?_

XxXxX

Yuffie let out a groan as Rufus's car continued to creep down the street, agonizingly slow. She kicked the crate she was sitting on in annoyance, bored out of her skull. Why would they even call it a presidential march if it wasn't going to be something at least a little exciting. In Wutai they would have had fireworks or...or something. It was just another reason Wutai was better than Shinra. If she had to stare at the side of Rufus's head any longer, she was going to scream.

"Alright, I'm outta here," she said to herself, bracing her hands on the crate on either side of her and pushing herself off. She landed nimbly on the sidewalk, drawing some angry looks from members of the crowd she had just jostled. Yuffie ignored them, walking up the road. You didn't get to be a Great Ninja by being nice, after all. She looked around, scanning the street for their companions. "Now where did Barret say he was gonna be again...?" she muttered to herself.

Someone bumped into her shoulder, causing her to stumble back. Yuffie let out an 'oof', immediately looking up. "Hey, watch where you're going!" she said.

The man who had bumped into her blinked, looking back at her. She stared at him. He was wearing a different suit today, but there was no mistaking it. She'd met him before. "Oh, sorry about that," he said. "I was thinking about something else."

"Hey, you're that rich kid from the Harbor," she said.

He blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?" he asked, before his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! Yes, I remember. You're one of the ones that helped me out. Thank you for that, by the way."

"Yeah, no problem," said Yuffie. "You ever find your girlfriend?"

He laughed nervously, glancing to the side. "It...uh, turned out to be a false lead," he admitted. "Although my friends insist she was really there."

"She has to be really something to make you go through all that trouble," commented Yuffie, grinning. "Let me guess. She's hot."

"Well..." admitted the businessman, placing a hand on the back of his head. "She _is _a redhead..."

"Oh, _I see_," said Yuffie. "That explains it. Man, what is the deal with redheads anyway? I never saw the appeal. Lemme guess. She's got green eyes too. Freckles?"

"No, actually..." began the man.

"Yuffie!" called someone from the crowd.

Yuffie looked up, turning towards the sound of the voice. She frowned. Cissnei was walking towards her, a slightly worried look on her face. "What's up, Turkey?" asked Yuffie.

Cissnei drew up to them and stopped, her eyes fixing on the man in front of her. The man turned towards Cissnei as well, their eyes meeting. Yuffie's frown deepened as the air between them suddenly became tense.

"Uh, hey—Cissnei..." she said. "This is the guy we met yesterday...but I don't know his name."

"We've met," said Cissnei, coolly.

"Yes," said the businessman, smiling warmly at her with one hand behind his back. "We have."

His hand suddenly whipped around, the end of a nunchuck whirling towards her head. Cissnei ducked out of the way immediately, her eyes narrowed. The nunchuck struck a support beam of the wooden stall behind her. It splintered, spraying sawdust over the street.

Yuffie stared.

**END FILE**


	55. File 018: Whispers of Rebirth pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Somehow Nunchuck became British. Don't ask me why, I just ended up writing him that way. Blame Cloud Atlas. Anyway, here's the chapter! And the review responses. :)

**Roza Anne, **my pleasure. A lot of my motivation for starting this in the first place was to keep Zack and Aerith alive, so I'm glad you enjoy them!

**Jazz Queen, **hmm...we'll see about that. Still, yeah, Cissnei can never really escape from them.

**Riku Uzumaki, **yet! In all seriousness, though, Sephy would make a horrible girl XD.

**Guest, **thanks!

**Furionknight, **thanks for the review!

**Gohan Roxas, **yep. :) Nunchaku (Male).

**Irish-Brigid**, yeah. Well, Cloud gets to relive being an infantryman for this sequence. Poor guy.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **oh, you'll see! Mwahahahaha!

**Blinded in a bolthole, **could be, and nope, she's definitely NOT amused.

**Draconic, **he _is _a nice guy, but he's still a Turk. And remember, this is set years after Before Crisis, so he's a little bitter over some story things that have happened to him. I've always kind of wanted to use Nunchaku as a character because his background makes things interesting, plus he's in a picture with Cissnei.

**K, **well, we'll see what happens. I might end up closing the poll early, so I can plan in advance, but I'll give a week's notice before I do so.

XxXxX

**File 018: Whispers of Rebirth**

Cissnei sucked in a breath as the nunchuck whistled over her head, raising her arms up to protect herself from the splinters that followed in its wake. She jumped back, wincing as her landing sent a shock of pain racing through her left shoulder. Her opponent didn't even give her time to catch her breath, stepping forward. He lifted his hand, twirling the nunchuck end over his head and bringing one of the ends down in a powerful sweep. She cursed herself for her lack of weapon—Rekka had been too cumbersome without a magnetic sheath and too noticeable for her to bring into the city—and twisted around, ducking under his blow and stepping in. Cissnei swept out with her hand, pushing his weapon arm away from herself.

She glared at him, looking up and meeting her opponent's eyes. They looked back at her, completely flat and devoid of emotion, the expression of a Turk that had committed himself to a job, regardless of how he actually felt about it.

"Hello, Ivan," she said. With her free hand, she fished a knife out of her boot, gripping its hilt tightly in her hand as she spun around, slashing at his face. "Good to see you."

He took a step back and to the side, lashing out with his nunchuck and swatting the knife aside. His eyes met hers, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face. "Good to see you too, Cissnei," he said. The smile faded. "No hard feelings."

He reached out with his right hand, his palm landing just over her left shoulder. He shoved, hard, and she gasped as her shoulder exploded in pain. Cissnei jumped back just as Ivan's nunchuck came sweeping through, slamming into the ground at her feet. She looked up as she landed, grimacing in pain as she clamped one hand over her heart, but no one in the crowd was watching. They were standing in an alley far enough away from the festivities, and with the noise the crowd was making, it was unlikely that they would be heard. Ivan took a step forward, bearing his nunchuck down again.

"Turkey, heads up!"

Cissnei grit her teeth at the shout, ducking her head to the side as a shuriken whizzed over her shoulder. Yuffie's weapon clipped the nunchuck in the side, driving it off-course. Cissnei didn't wait, running forward and raising her own knife. His eyes narrowed as she approached, and he twisted around, sweeping his arm in front of her to protect his torso. The knife cut a long gash down the outside of his arm, blood seeping through the fabric of his suit, but he managed to knock it out of her hand, protecting his torso. At the same time, he raised his nunchuck, swinging it down. Cissnei felt the breath leave her lungs as the weapon clipped her in the side of the head, the force of it sending her stumbling back before she even felt the pain. Yuffie immediatelly ran forward, throwing his shoulder into his.

"Hey!" she shouted, as Ivan stumbled back. "You back off!"

Ivan looked up, his eyes landing on Yuffie. He took a step forward, swinging his nunchuck at her skillfully. "Oh crap," Cissnei heard Yuffie swear, the ninja jumping back to avoid the blow.

Cissnei saw stars, her head throbbing painfully in time to her shoulder. She felt around, but didn't feel any blood. There wasn't any time to worry about it beyond then. Yuffie and Ivan were fighting, and Ivan had her on the ropes. She had to do something. The ex-Turk looked around quickly, searching for something she could use as a weapon. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon.

Her eyes landed on Yuffie's discarded shuriken, and she ran for it, picking it up underhandedly and flinging it at him. The shuriken spun end over end in the air, and she saw Ivan's eyes widen as he spotted it. He ducked, the shuriken point embedding itself in the opposite wall as he sprang away from Yuffie. Cissnei ran towards Yuffie—she was clutching her arm where she had been struck, but from the looks of it, it was only a glancing blow.

She reached the ninja and looked up, but Ivan had taken advantage of the confusion to retreat. They were alone.

XxXxX

The march drew to a close, the infantrymen forming two lines in front of the new company President. Cloud remained in the back row, his back straight and his rifle propped up neatly on one shoulder. The Shinra army helmet hid his face from the president, and he kept a smooth expression, but inside his mind was racing. What would he do if Rufus recognized him? There were no SOLDIERs in the immediate vicinity, and he had managed to fool the other infantrymen easily enough, but he didn't have his sword either. All he had was a rifle. Thankfully, Rufus's eyes passed coolly over him, seeing him as though he was just another recruit.

Rufus turned away from them to face Heidegger, and Cloud strained to hear their conversation.

"How's the airship?" asked the company President.

Heidegger grumbled something under his breath that Cloud couldn't hear, folding his arms. Cloud frowned, trying to edge closer to hear the rest of the conversation. A loud 'hey!' from the captain behind him made him freeze out of reflex, shrinking back into line. Rufus and Heidegger looked up out of mild curiosity, but quickly turned back towards their conversation.

Cloud paused where he stood, his heart racing. The superior's voice brought back memories of his own infantry training. He took a deep breath, relaxing his grip on his rifle as he tried to regain his composure, watching the two men. _I need to stop worrying about things like that..._he reminded himself.

"The long range airship is still being prepared," answered Heidegger. "It should be ready in about three days." He let out one of his trademark 'gya ha ha' laughs, something Rufus seemed less than amused by. Something about their conversation struck Cloud. Airship? He remembered the large ship he had seen anchored at the top of the voltage tower he had climbed to get into Junon. Could that be what Rufus was asking about?

"Even the airship's Gelnika?" asked Rufus.

Heidegger laughed again. Cloud missed the change in Rufus's expression as the captain issued another reprimand, this time to the young recruit standing next to Cloud. Cloud spared the boy a sympathetic glance, he couldn't be any older than thirteen, and looked like he was both sweltering in the heat and struggling to raise his rifle. The heat _was _a little uncomfortable—they were standing in between two of Junon's biggest metal buildings, and even this early in the year, the sun turned the city into a glorified oven, but he barely noticed the rifle's weight now. Had it really been that heavy once?

He spared the boy a quick glance of pity—he'd been that kid once—and looked back at Rufus, his nerves calmed by the momentary interlude. The company president was now standing directly in front of Heidegger, his arms folded and a frown on his face.

"Stop that stupid horse laugh," he said. "Things are different from when Father was in charge."

Heidegger didn't stop laughing. Cloud grimaced, finding himself wishing that someone would follow Rufus's orders for once. He remained still even as the fidgety recruit next to him endured another scolding from the captain, his own experience in the infantry forcing him to remain in formation.

"Is the ship ready?" asked Rufus.

This, Heidegger had an answer for. He straightened up immediately. "Yes, sir!" he said. "We'll get it ready right away." Heidegger's posture was sloppy. When Cloud had been in the infantry, he would never have noticed, so awed was he by the board of directors, but now he could be more critical. The man had obviously never been in active duty in his life. At that thought, he snorted softly to himself, feeling the corner of his mouth turn up slightly. _Starting to sound like Sephiroth..._

The president left, and Heidegger turned around to face them. Cloud had a moment to recognize the look of rage on Heidegger's face, and quickly scattered with the rest of the infantry as he plowed through the group, rushing towards the back. At the sound of shouting, he looked back, a frown on his face. Heidegger had cornered the boy, and was yelling at him about his formation and calling him an embarrassment to the military. All the while, the captain hovered in his orange uniform, looking awkwardly for a way to jump into the conversation, and although Cloud couldn't see the boy's face from underneath his helmet, he looked like he might be on the verge of tears, his lip quivering.

Cloud looked around, but the rest of the infantrymen looked on with mixtures of pity, anger, shock, and amusement on what he could see of their faces. They'd all looked at him like that, when he was a new recruit. They'd laughed when he told them about his dreams of being in SOLDIER. Now they barely spared him a second glance. He looked back at the boy as Heidegger continued to berate him. Cloud stared at him, torn.

_It's none of your business_, he reminded himself. _You don't owe them anything anyway. Keep your head down. _

And yet, on the other hand...

_...But you **were **this kid. _

Heidegger raised his hand as the boy cowered, as if to strike him. The fist came down, towards the boy's face. The boy shrank back.

The fist never reached him. Before Cloud could process what he had done, he was standing next to Heidegger, the board member's wrist in his hand. He felt himself gripping it a little too tight and quickly relaxed his grip, hoping Heidegger wouldn't notice he was stronger than he was supposed to be. The boy looked up at him in disbelief. Cloud looked back, seeing himself in the boy's face. The other infantrymen stared at him openly, and the captain looked taken aback for a moment.

Heidegger wouldn't be so quiet. Cloud quickly released the board member's wrist, turning to face him.

"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Heidegger.

Cloud squared his shoulders, raising his hand in a salute. "Sir, I claim responsibility for this recruit, sir," he said. "It was my recommendation that he join the President's march. Clearly he wasn't ready. Please accept my apology, sir."

He was half-afraid someone would contradict him, but no one in the crowd did, they just continued to stare. Especially the boy. Heidegger squinted at him for a moment, and Cloud did his best not to shift underneath the director's beady gaze. He snorted, looking from the boy to Cloud.

"_You _brought him out here?" demanded Heidegger.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Heidegger looked like he might say something more, but from the way he looked at his watch, Cloud guessed that had somewhere else to be. He scowled, giving Cloud and the new recruit one last piercing glare. "Well, don't let it happen again," he said, storming off angrily.

Cloud waited until the door had closed behind him, then let out a sigh of relief. The other recruits swarmed around them, all talking among themselves.

"What a disaster," one of them said to him.

"Heidegger was really irritated."

"It's bad enough about those murders," grumbled one of the infantrymen, folding his arms.

Cloud looked up, frowning. "Murders?" he asked.

Another infantrymen nodded. "Two or three days ago," he said. "Someone killed a few of our soldiers in their bunks. High security, no entrance or exit. We think it might be those terrorists, but we've got no clue how they got in there."

"Terrorists?" repeated Cloud. He frowned, shaking his head. "Nah, it can't be. They've been in Junon Harbor this whole time."

"And how do you know that, hmm?" asked the captain, squinting at him.

Cloud's heart jumped into his throat, but he managed to keep his composure as he looked back at the man. "Overheard some of the higher-ups talking about it when I was coming in," he said, surprised at how calm his voice sounded. The captain glared at him for a moment, before nodding.

"That's enough of that!" he said. "Dismissed!"

Cloud saluted crisply, nudging the recruit next to him to do the same. He walked away, following the rest of the infantrymen into the building. As he walked, he paused, looking behind him.

The recruit was following him, an awed expression on his face. "Um..." he began. "Um...I...well...I..."

Cloud took in his expression, and the slump of his shoulders, the way his helmet almost seemed too big for his head. He took a deep breath, wondering what he was getting into as he walked back to the recruit, patting him on the back. "Come on," he said, leading him away. "Let's get some water."

XxXxX

"Here you go," said Yuffie, handing her a bag of ice wrapped in cloth. Cissnei nodded her thanks from the bench she was sitting on, reaching up and placing it on her head. She winced as the coolness of the ice came into contact with the bump Ivan had left there. A wry smile came onto her face. Just another injury to walk back with. She could already picture Sephiroth's expression.

"Thanks, Yuffie," she said.

"Hey, don't mention it," said Yuffie, grinning. "That's what I'm for—all helpful and stuff!" Cissnei returned the small smile, adjusting her grip on the bag of ice and looking up and down the streets. The celebration had already faded, most of the people either returning to their homes or to work. It would still be about two hours before President Shinra's ship was ready to leave, but already Junon looked like a completely different place. Her companion watched her for a moment, before clasping her hands behind her back, plopping down into the seat next to her.

"So, that guy," she said, looking curious. "What was his deal? Spill."

"He was a colleague of mine," replied Cissnei, looking back at Yuffie. "A Turk. He joined about the same time as I did."

"You guys were close?" asked Yuffie, folding her arms.

Cissnei smiled in response, setting down the ice pack long enough to unscrew the bottle of water in her hand. She took a small sip. "We're all close, Yuffie," she said. "It's kind of a Turk thing."

"You guys didn't _seem _all that close," said Yuffie in disbelief. She looked over at Cissnei, wide-eyed. "He looked like he was really trying to kill you or something."

"He probably was," agreed Cissnei, taking another sip. "That's also kind of a Turk thing."

Yuffie frowned at her, confusion evident on her face. "I don't get it," she said.

"You wouldn't," said Cissnei. "It's one of those weird situations you just have to experience to understand. Ivan's probably under orders to kill me if he finds me. I have a pretty good idea who those orders are from. It's nothing personal." She shrugged, then winced as pain lanced out from her abused shoulder. "I have to stop doing that," she added with a grimace.

She could tell Yuffie wasn't completely convinced, but after a while, the ninja simply sighed, stretching her arms out before clasping her fingers together behind her head and leaning back in her seat. "Well, if that rich kid thing was an act, it was a pretty good one," she commented. "He had me fooled, and I've _met _rich kids. Of course, I'd've seen through it eventually, you know."

Cissnei lowered her eyes to the pavement, hiding her amused smile. She studied the bottle of water in her hand. "It wasn't an act," she said. "Ivan's family is from Bone Village. They were probably the richest ones there. Mansion, servants, the whole nine yards. His father owned a smaller company that eventually folded and sold out to the old President Shinra. As a trade-off, the President took him on as a manager. It's possible that that whole businessman front wasn't an act either, although Ivan never had any interest in entering the business world."

"What makes a kid like that decide to be a Turk?" asked Yuffie, looking up at the sky.

"What makes a princess decide to be a ninja?" asked Cissnei, looking over at her.

"Ha. Good point," admitted Yuffie. She sprang up in her seat, leaning forward. "So, like, this Ivan guy. You said he _used _to be a Turk."

"He retired," said Cissnei. "It's complicated."

"But he's working for Shinra now."

"Well, you can't ever really retire," added Cissnei. "That's another thing that's complicated."

"You're retired," commented Yuffie.

Cissnei snorted, a rueful smile appearing on her face. "Yeah," she said. "It's been working out great for me so far."

Yuffie let out an exaggerated sigh, leaning back again. "I don't get it at all," she said.

Cissnei smiled slightly, leaning back in her seat and capping the bottle of water. "We're meant to be complicated. Otherwise it wouldn't work."

"Yeah, sure," said Yuffie, rolling her eyes. She perked up, looking down the road as a figure ran towards them. "Hey, it's Tifa!" she said.

Cissnei looked up as well. Sure enough, it _was _Tifa. The martial artist was running full tilt in their direction, looking breathless. She drew herself up in front of them. "You'll never guess what I saw," she said. Tifa froze, glancing at Cissnei. Her eyes traveled to her injury, becoming significantly rounder. "What happened to you?"

Cissnei waved a hand dismissively. "Ran into an old friend," she said.

Tifa frowned. "Sephiroth isn't going to be happy."

"_I'll _handle Sephiroth," promised Cissnei, folding her arms. "You were saying?"

"Oh, yeah," said Tifa, looking back at them. "I saw Cloud. He was dressed as an infantryman, and following Rufus's entourage."

"_Cloud_?" repeated Yuffie, incredulously.

Cissnei's eyes widened. "Tifa, are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive," said Tifa, nodding. "It was definitely him."

"What's he doing there?" asked Yuffie. "We need to get him out!"

"No..." Cissnei trailed off, looking down at the ground as she imagined the possibilities. She shook her head, getting to her feet. "No, this is brilliant. I've got an idea."

The other two turned towards her, looking suddenly concerned.

XxXxX

His condo in Junon was in one of the most upscale buildings. The only way it could get any better would have been if he were living in the same building as President Shinra himself. Ivan snorted at the thought, stepping into his entryway. He'd rather be run a night mission—three nights, _without sleep _in the Gongagan jungle_..._with _Reno _as a partner than sleep in the same building as Rufus Shinra. He cradled his injured arm with one hand, his nunchucks dangling by their chain from around his wrist as he kicked the door closed behind him. The sound echoed in the cavernous living room, announcing his arrival.

He looked around the room for a place to deposit his weapon, and finally decided on the kitchen sink. Easy to wash away any evidence before he finished cleaning up. Not that there _was _much evidence to wash away—Cissnei had definitely walked away from that fight, but he had hit her once, so at the very least, he might have to worry about a trace hair or some other such thing lying around his apartment. With as much white furniture as he had, a wavy strand of red hair would stick out like a sore thumb. Ivan stripped himself of his suit jacket, leaving that on the counter as well, and winced, peeling off his shirt. The cut on his arm was a good one and it stung. He wouldn't expect less from Cissnei. With a groan, he peeled the cloth off of his skin. He crumpled up his bloodied shirt and left it in the sink. He'd have to burn that later. Too bad, it was silk too.

_I should torch the whole place..._he thought to himself, walking away from the sink and grabbing his first aid kit from its hiding place. He looked around the condo with a frown, setting the kit on the kitchen counter and opening it. _Start a fire in that corner, there, the wind'll carry it, burn down the whole bloody affair. _

And then what? Join Cissnei and her band of rebels? Plead to Nico for a place in his glorified mafia? Rejoin the Turks—like that was possible? _Run off into the wild, or was all your disguise training a waste of time? Reappear in Corel as a chocobo farmer. _Well, that would firmly cement his status as a persona non grata in high society. _Serves the old man right, _he thought angrily, hissing in pain as he pressed a disenfectant sheet to his wound.

His eyes trailed up to the picture fastened to his wall, that showing all of the old Turks, Cissnei included, posing for a shot at the office. His father had asked him multiple times to take it down, or at least to not display it so prominently. His stint as a Turk was considered something of a social embarrassment. But he couldn't quite take it down. They were happier then, all of them together under Veld. Even Tseng was smiling, however slight. He sighed, wrapping the bandages around his arm tightly and turning away.

Well, those days were over. Now it was the age of Tseng and the department in disgrace, and of the perpetual shorthandedness. Now it was the age, apparently, of turning against each other to fulfill one's loyalties to the highest bidder. And unfortunately, he was to blame for that. He ran a hand through his hair, not caring about the fact that he was trailing blood, and looked away from the picture. Ivan's eyes drifted to the kitchen counter. On it were two things, his phone, and an invitation he had picked up earlier that day. The invitation looked as official as could be, with the Shinra Company's seal on the front. He knew what it was—an invitation to Rufus's inauguration party whenever the newly appointed chief thought would be best to return. Every socialite in Junon would get one.

For a moment, he was tempted to pick it up and write back what he really wanted to say. But what he would end up saying at the end, would be something like this, edited, of course. _Why Rufus, thank you very much for your invitation. Why, yes, I forget how much of an arse you were in grade school, and I don't believe at all that the only reason you're inviting me is so that you can show me off to the public as your friend so no one will bat an eye to your presence the next time one of your high-born enemies has his brains bashed in by a blunt-force weapon during your next little soiree. Would you like me to wear a suit and tie? Not black, of course, we can't out me as a Turk, now can we?_

He ignored the invitation for now. He didn't have the time or energy to deal with Rufus. Instead, he scooped up the phone, scrolling down the list before finding a number he was pleased with. He turned around, leaning against the counter and raising the phone to his ear.

"Hi, Shion," he said, smiling. "...Yes, I ran into Cissnei." He laughed. "No, not too badly...a little cut up, but none the worse for wear..."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	56. File 018: Whispers of Rebirth pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Gohan Roxas, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, ryuukoshi, Blinded in a bolthole, SOLDIERsStory13, Amimia, Riku Uzumaki, Furionknight, Draconic, Roza Anne, **and **Leon Kaye **for your reviews and support. I really appreciate them!

**JazzQueen, **he might show up eventually, but I haven't decided on exactly when just yet.

**Gohan Roxas, **I was pretty much just grasping for a Turk that Ivan could call and Shion's name popped into my head, because he seemed like he would be one of the most informed. Sorry for any confusion.

**Ryuukoshi, **I might have to elaborate on that at some point. ^^

**Blinded in a bolthole, **hope the disguise they do use in this chapter works out fine for you. And by disguise, I mean "shove Sephy and Red into a metal cargo crate until they reach their destination", haha.

**Amimia **and **Draconic, **no, it wasn't Luxiere or Denzel. It was just some random recruit placed there to show how Cloud is growing. Good guesses though!

**Leon Kaye, **thank you! I'm very glad you like it, and I'm glad you like what I've done with this story. I've been working hard to make sure that it stays faithful to the style of the Compilation and that the characters act as [I imagine] they would act in these circumstances, so I'm glad to hear that you think those efforts are paying off! Thanks for the review!

**POLL ANNOUNCEMENT: **The Vincent shipping poll will close in exactly one week, on February 26, 2013 at 7PM EST. I know I said I would leave it open until Vincent appeared, but I need to know what the shipping will be so I can continue to plan out the story (and any future _Inheritance_-like stories that I might decide to do). I also would like to put up a Yuffie shipping poll if she does not win, and _that _is a little more relevant to the story as it is now. If you **HAVE NOT **voted yet, please do so at this time. The poll result will be final and I will not take any complaints. Thank you.

XxXxX

**File 018: Whispers of Rebirth**

The storage room was a cramped, windowless affair, and the fact that it was stacked with crates almost to the ceiling help the atmosphere at all. Cissnei would have at least liked a mirror, but it wasn't the first time she had changed disguises on the fly. She tugged on the loose scarf around her neck, adjusting it so that it better resembled the company standard, then pulled on a pair of brown leather gloves. The standard shoulder pauldrons were murder on her injured left shoulder, and for a moment she briefly considered switching positions with Yuffie and dressing a sailor instead, but changed her mind quickly about that. As an infantryman, she could hide her face.

Wasn't much she could do about hiding her gender, but considering the disguise, that didn't matter too much. There were a handful of women in the Shinra army—not a lot, not often in SOLDIER, but in the infantry, it would be plausible.

A knock at the door drew her attention, and she looked up. "Come in," she said, adjusting her belt.

The metal door to the storage room creaked open, letting in a sliver of light and scattering motes of dust. She looked up to see Sephiroth standing in the doorway, an infantry helmet in his hand. He hadn't changed into a disguise, although he _had _donned his usual coat and pants outfit. "The others are ready," he reported. "Aerith and Zack haven't returned. Rufus's ship leaves in approximately two hours."

"Huh..." said Cissnei, going back to adjusting her belts. "They're cutting it close."

"I was considering sending someone to look for them, but dressed as you all are, I thought it might bring more harm than good. I sent Zack a message. Waiting for a response."

"Zack's responsible enough to know when he's supposed to be back," said Cissnei, gathering up her hair in her hands and attempting to coax it into a style more befitting a soldier. "I'm more worried that they might have run into trouble."

"If Zack were fighting anywhere in Junon, do you really think we wouldn't have heard of it by now?" asked Sephiroth, folding his arms. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, smiling.

"True," she said. "He's not exactly known for his subtlety." Strands of reddish-brown hair slipped out of her hands, and she clicked her tongue in impatience, letting her hair fall back down and starting over. Her hair had gotten longer since she first left Shinra. She'd been getting more and more lax about cutting it. "Be glad no one ever made _you _follow regulation," she said, pulling her hair tighter.

"About that," said Sephiroth. He leaned against the wall, eyeing her change in outfit. His brow rose. "What was that you were saying about not being one of my soldiers?"

Cissnei looked over her shoulder at him, tossing him a smirk as she finally succeeded in pulling her hair into a bun. "I never said I was _yours_, now did I?" she retorted, securing the bun in place.

Her efforts were rewarded by the barest hint of a smile. "I think the point still stands," he said, tossing the helmet underhand at her. "Catch."

She caught it under the rim with her good hand, nodding in thanks. Cissnei took a moment to inspect the newly acquired helmet, turning it over and eyeing lining on the inside and the glass of the visor. Replacing members of the crew and security on Rufus's ship had meant knocking a commesurate number of crewmen unconscious, and doing that while not damaging the gear was more difficult than it sounded. She flicked the helmet on. It came to life, the visor glowing a bright red.

"I suppose you won't be carrying a rifle, with your shoulder the way it is," noted Sephiroth.

"I won't," she confirmed, glancing up at him before looking back down at her work. "It shouldn't be necessary for security detail anyway. I have my pistol and a couple of knives. If anything else happens, you'll be sitting with the rest of our weapons." He nodded. She frowned, remembering the arrangements they had all agreed on. "I really am sorry about this, Sephiroth, but..."

He interrupted her. "Don't be," he said. "It makes sense. I understand the reasoning, and I don't mind."

She shot him an apologetic smile. "I'd have you fly, but I don't think even you would find flying over the ocean from Junon to Costa del Sol with no land mass in sight very pleasant. Maybe you could pack a flashlight and a book." Satisfied with her inspection of the helmet, she slipped it on, adjusting the visor to her vision. She was thankful that Aerith had been able to heal the bump on her head—it looked like whatever sort of power had blocked her abilities before was limited only to Nero's bullet. "How do I look?" she asked, turning towards him.

He frowned, his eyes moving over her uniform. "You pass muster," he said. "If you were my recruit, I'd have you shine your boots, but we don't really have time for that. You know the rules of conduct, at least, don't you?"

She let her expression change into a solemn mask, straightening up suddenly and squaring her shoulders. "Sir, yes, sir!" she declared sharply, raising her hand in a salute.

He quirked an eyebrow, apparently surprised by her sudden change in character. She let the mask drop away, smiling. "When you watch the infantry drill everyday, you eventually pick it up," she said. "And I've gone undercover as infantry once or twice, mostly to spy on an alleged dissenter. You'd be surprised how easily it is to sneak in with the right helmet and uniform."

"Mm," said Sephiroth, nodding. "You'd think it's a design flaw they would have remedied."

"Well, it makes things easier on us, at least," said Cissnei.

"Indeed." He stared at her for a moment, his frown deepening. "You realize, by the way, that you could ride in the cargo hold with Red and myself, instead of exposing yourself like this in your current condition."

She smiled faintly, tilting her head forward slightly in acknowledgment of his point. "I could do that," she said. "But who would coordinate the operation? This is my area of expertise."

"Hm." For a moment, it looked like he might argue more, but instead, Sephiroth nodded once, straightening up and moving away from the wall. "Then we should get this operation underway," he said. "Any longer, and we'll have a harder time infiltrating the cargo hold. You can leave Kunsel and Yuffie to wait for Zack and Aerith."

"My thoughts exactly," said Cissnei, with a nod. She checked to make sure her sidearm was still where she had left it, and her knives were hidden in their usual places, before walking forward towards Sephiroth. She smiled. "Come on, SOLDIER," she said. "Let's go find you a first-class cabin."

XxXxX

Tseng swirled the clear liquid around in his glass, considering it for a moment before taking a sip. It burned a line of fire down his throat. He set the glass down on the hardwood bar top with a _thunk_, keeping one hand on it as he considered the day's events. The Junon bar the Turks often frequented when they were stationed here was quiet at the moment. Although the President's parade had caused a stir, it seemed like most people would rather seek entertainment elsewhere. Even the other Turks weren't present. Rude had run off to some poker game he had been invited to, and Reno and Elena weren't off duty for another half-hour—they still had to see the President off at the ship.

He took another sip of his drink as he remembered his colleagues' actions earlier that day. Reno had performed just as expected—which meant that he performed his duties well enough, but somehow managed to pull off the constant appearance of lazing around. Elena had been composed for most of the day, but had slipped up a little towards the end, when he had gone to her post to question her about something. Apparently, his presence made her nervous, and she talked when she was nervous.

She talked a lot.

He downed another sip.

It wasn't that Elena didn't show promise. He wouldn't have accepted her application if she hadn't—the Department's new limitations after the whole Veld debacle had only allowed him to take on one extra Turk. She had graduated from the Shinra Military Academy at the top of her class and had family history with the Turks already, so she was a natural choice. It was just that what she had in natural ability, she made up for in demeanor.

Still, he supposed, if the problem was nerves and inexperience, that could be cured. And in all honesty, if they weren't so shorthanded, he would barely have cared about having one rookie in the team.

He set his glass down, staring at the other side of the bar. There were, of course, bigger things on his mind.

His phone in his pocket buzzed. He didn't check it, partly because he already had an idea of what it would say, and partly because he didn't have the time.

A familiar figure had settled into the seat beside him, resting an elbow on the bar.

"Bartender, get me what he's having," said Zack, with a friendly wave. He glanced off to his left. "Oh, and a water."

"_Water?" _repeated Aerith indignantly. Tseng watched from the corner of his eye as she strode over to the bar, settling onto the stool beside Zack and leaning forward. She smiled sweetly. "A glass of cider, please. Banora White, if you have it. Honestly..." she added, shooting Zack a look.

Zack blinked, seeming taken by surprise. "Uh...sorry?" he ventured, offering her a sheepish smile. "I just kind of assumed..."

"Never assume. You should know better than that," said Tseng coolly, not turning to look at them as he took another sip of his drink.

"See?" he heard Aerith say. "Tseng knows what he's talking about."

"Not helping, Tseng," said Zack, glancing at him.

Tseng set his glass down as their drinks arrived. "I wasn't trying to," he said. "And the two of you shouldn't be out here."

"Why?" asked Zack, giving him a knowing grin. "You going to take us in?"

He paused, then exhaled, his right hand slowly sliding his gun back into its hiding place from under the table. "...I'm off-duty," he said, raising his glass to his lips.

"So does that mean we're going to finally find out what your angle is?" asked Zack, taking a sip of his own drink. The SOLDIER coughed softly, setting it down. "Man, that's strong," he commented.

"I told you," replied Tseng, with a faint smirk. "I'm off-duty."

"Didn't answer my question," said Zack.

Tseng glanced at him calmly. "What question?" he asked.

"Dammit, Tseng!" Zack growled.

A hush fell over the bar, and Tseng could feel more than a couple curious eyes glancing in his direction. He swirled his drink nonchalantly, waiting to see if either of them would notice the change of atmosphere. Aerith did, he saw her straighten up and glance over at the rest of the room once before going back to watching him. That didn't surprise him. He had spent years attempting to come up with a reliable way to watch her without her noticing him, only to have his efforts dashed by a casual _'Great day today, isn't it, Tseng? Do you think I'll sell many flowers?" _She was craftier than most people gave her credit for.

He caught Aerith's worried glance and set down his drink. "I'd advise you to lower your voice," he said, glancing at Zack. "This place is full of unfriendly ears."

Zack frowned, obviously not looking too happy with the prospect, but at a glance around at the place, he seemed to catch on. "Where's your entourage?" he asked, glancing around at the empty seats.

"Classified," replied Tseng, casually. "Yours?"

Zack grinned. "Classified," he replied.

He had a good idea of where they might be, but part of being a good Turk was knowing when to feign ignorance. In more ways than one. "Fair enough," he said, glancing back at his drink, and then, because the question had been nagging at him for a while, "...Cissnei?" he asked.

"Alive," said Zack, with a shrug. "Not exactly Nero's biggest fan, driving Sephiroth up a wall, but alive."

He exhaled slowly, making sure none of his relief showed on his face. He would have been the first to deny an emotional attachment to anyone if asked, but he suspected at least some of his fellow Turks saw through him easily. Shion, for instance. He had been a Turk for long enough that it was almost impossible to guess how much he really knew. The thought of his more senior colleague brought to mind another conversation, another's words.

"_You are playing a dangerous game." _

He took another calm sip of his drink, looking past Zack and turning towards the woman behind him. "Aerith, are you well?" he asked.

"Well enough," replied Aerith, with a smile. "Traveling's...different than I expected it would be."

Only Aerith, he decided, could see the worst that Gaia had to offer and call it _different_. But then again, Junon Harbor was the Midgar slums with a sky and ocean, so he supposed those things couldn't be that far apart.

"I'm doing well too, thanks for asking," said Zack.

Tseng ignored him. Another thought struck him, and he stared down at the drink in his hand, wondering just how much the asking of it would reveal. At length, he gave in. "And Sephiroth?" he asked.

Zack frowned. "Sephiroth?" he asked. "Why do you want to know about Sephiroth?"

Why indeed? As expected, the asking revealed too much. Tseng downed the last of his drink, setting the empty glass back on the counter. He stood up, counting out a wad of gil from his wallet and placing it on the bar. "Their drinks are on me," he told the bartender, turning around and walking away. He saw Zack begin to get up to go after him, only to be stopped by Aerith's hand on his arm. Tseng didn't turn around to face them, walking out the door and into the street.

XxXxX

Cloud stood at attention outside of the cargo ship's wide doors, glancing at the recruit next to him when the captain turned away. He looked uncertain, and was sweating with nerves, but at the very least, he was standing still as instructed, and was waiting in formation for President Rufus to arrive. Cloud exhaled slowly, wondering why he was so nervous as well. After all, he didn't even really like Rufus, and it wasn't as though his career was dependent on his performance today.

Although, it wasn't exactly his career that was on the line today. He cast the recruit another glance as he shifted nervously. _Calm down, _Cloud wanted to say. _You'll be fine. _

Or at least he would be, if he remembered the move Cloud had taught him. And _if _Rufus liked it. It wasn't really one of his own moves—it was something he had borrowed from Zack, but in this case, he doubted the SOLDIER First would mind. He took a deep breath as a shout from the captain drew his attention, along with a whistle. "Alright, it's time!" he declared. "President Rufus has now arrived!"

The recruit beside him gulped. Cloud squared his shoulders, trying not to look too worried as a man in a familiar white suit came into view.

"This is it!" shouted the captain. "Junon Military Reception! Do it right! Do it with enthusiasm! Ready? _Cross!" _

Cloud crossed his rifle over his front like they had practiced, the rifles cracking in unison as the other members of the reception team did the same thing. Beside him, he saw the recruit stumble through the second movement, nearly dropping his rifle. Cloud held his breath, but he righted himself in time, executing the third before Rufus and Heidegger could approach. The captain barked out another position, and Cloud raised his rifle high over his head...

And nearly froze.

There, just over the captain's shoulder, inside the doors opening into the cargo ship, stsood a familiar figure, dressed in an infantry uniform. His eyes widened in surprise. The figure raised her hand, giving him a quick wave before ducking back down to escape detection. Her face had been hidden by her helmet, but it didn't take much for him to instantly recognize her.

_Tifa!_

She poked her head out from behind the crates one last time, catching his eye before disappearing into the darkness of the ship.

A whistle from the captain reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing, and he quickly transitioned into the next movement, hoping that nobody noticed his temporary lapse. He quickly put the thought of what she was doing here and why out of his mind, settling into the routine the captain laid out for them as he turned abruptly to the left. Rufus watched on, poker-faced, as they went through the next series of movements.

It was time. Cloud took a deep breath and met the recruit's eyes as they turned to face each other, the captain calling out the final formation.

As one, Cloud and the new recruit stepped forward, twirling their rifles around in the air. The recruit managed to follow along, the two of them catching their rifles in unison and putting them back in their resting positions. He held his breath, looking up at Rufus in anticipation of the President's reaction. Rufus stared at them for what felt like forever as Heidegger laughed, and then, to Cloud's great surprise, actually stepped forward and...clapped!

"Well done!" he said. "Keep up the good work for Shinra Inc.!" He nodded towards Heidegger, who began walking up and down the line, presenting each man with a token. Cloud forced himself to remain at attention instead of rushing off after Tifa, accepting the slip of paper that Heidegger handed to him.

"Here's a special bonus for you!" said Heidegger. "A token of the President's kindness! Don't forget it!"

Cloud glanced down as Heidegger left. It was a small slip of glossy paper, with the words EQUIPMENT VOUCHER on it. From the looks of it, it seemed to be valid in any Shinra-owned weapon shop. Cloud pocketed it, just in case. He didn't think any of them would be in a position to go waltzing into a Shinra weapons depot, but he wasn't about to throw it away if there was a chance he might be able to use it. He forced himself to stand still as Rufus turned to enter the ship, giving Heidegger a few parting words.

"Once word gets out that Genesis has left, Cloud and his friends will doubtlessly be on our trail," he said.

Cloud tensed.

"We'll crush them as soon as we find them!" promised Heidegger.

Rufus nodded, turning towards him, with his expression serious. "We can't have them get in our way," he intoned.

"Leave it up to me, sir!" said Heidegger, with another laugh.

Rufus sighed, covering his face with his hand. "I thought I told you to stop that stupid laugh," he said, shaking his head and walking into the ship. Heidegger punched the air a couple of times in frustration, before following after him.

As soon as Heidegger was gone, the other soldiers looked visibly relieved. The captain turned towards them. "Alright!" he said. "Dismissed!"

Beside Cloud, the recruit let out a long sigh. "That was close," he whispered.

Cloud turned towards him, tearing his eyes away from the ship. "Ah...yeah," he said. "But you did well."

The recruit shook his head. "It's because of you," he said. "Thank you."

"Me?" repeated Cloud. "I didn't do anything—."

"It's Heidegger," said the other infantryman, looking over at them. "He's been really edgy lately."

"But that's because Professor Hojo disappeared," said the recruit, with a shrug. "He didn't leave anything but his resignation letter."

"Hojo _disappeared_?" asked Cloud.

"Ah, it's not really that dramatic," said the more experienced infantryman. "He retired that's all. He isn't exactly young, you know. It's just that Heidegger's now investigating that too."

"When did this happen?" asked Cloud.

"A couple of days ago," said the infantryman. He frowned suspiciously at Cloud. "You didn't know?"

"I...just got in," said Cloud. "New transfer."

"From where?" asked the soldier.

"Midgar Regiment," supplied Cloud, quickly. "115th Battalion."

"That disbanded years ago, after the terrorist attack at Nibelheim!" said the infantryman. He frowned, taking a step forward. "Hey, who—?"

"Hey!" A shout from the captain made the three of them look up. He rushed over to them, having gone to see Heidegger off. "I thought you were dismissed!"

The infantrymen quickly ran off. Cloud sighed in relief, unclenching his fists. His heart was still racing. _That _was a close call. The captain turned towards him. "We've got some cleaning up to do!" he said. "Hurry up!"

"Yes, sir!" said Cloud, saluting. Apparently satisfied with that, the captain ran off.

Cloud frowned, glancing up at the cargo ship. Genesis had left. Hojo was retiring, and had apparently vanished into the night. What about the Tsviets? He hadn't seen them in the city at all. And people talked of murders in the barracks. What was going on here?

He shook his head, making his way into the ship after Tifa.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	57. File 018: Whispers of Rebirth pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Roza Anne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, Blinded-in-a-bolthole, SapphyreMyst, AlastorGodofVengeance, **and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews! Your support is always appreciated!

**SapphyreMyst, **I actually imagine a combination of that and the Crisis Core style graphics when I do my believability test, depending on the scene and the characters involved. Sephiroth and Cissnei, for example, are almost always Crisis Core-styled in my head. Same goes for Zack and Aerith. :) Barret, though, is usually FFVII box style.

**Blinded-in-a-bolthole,** Shinra did cover up Nibelheim, but considering troops were dispatched there to stand guard, I'm guessing they at least knew there was a fire or something there that they needed to keep under wraps, so "terrorist attack" sounds like the sort of excuse the company would come up with internally.

XxXxX

**File 018: Whispers of Rebirth**

He managed to slip onto the boat just in time. Almost as soon as he was on-board, the gangplank began to rise, the cargo doors closing as the ship prepared for departure. Cloud glanced back at the closing doors to make sure no one had witnessed his hasty exit, but the dock was clear; everyone had already left. The doors closed with a grating sound, leaving him in the cargo bay. He took a deep breath, hoping that he hadn't been imagining things when he saw Tifa, and turned back towards the cargo hold, squaring his shoulders and trying to look like he was supposed to be there. It wasn't hard. There were enough infantrymen already on board that Cloud was barely given a second glance, although a part of him couldn't shake the feeling that they could somehow see right through this disguise.

_That's impossible, _he told himself, letting his rifle rest across his shoulder. _No one's seen your face. _

He clenched his free hand into a fist and unclenched it, trying to calm down as he looked around for Tifa.

"Boo," said a voice from behind him, nearly making him jump out of his skin. He whirled around to see a female infantryman, standing behind him, her arms folded and a smile on her face. A smile...wait a minute, he recognized that smile.

"_Cissnei...?" _he breathed, his heart still racing.

Her smile widened, and she looked up at him. "Sorry, couldn't help it," she said. "You looked so tense."

He exhaled in relief, glad to know that the rest of the party was on board as well. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Only to me," she said. "But remember, I'm trained to spot things like this. You're doing great for a beginner, although considering your performance at Don Corneo's mansion, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Cloud flushed. "Cissnei!" he hissed.

She raised her hand sharply, glancing around. Cloud snapped his mouth shut, following her gaze. They were standing alone in the entrance way, but not too far off, another group of infantrymen and sailors were working. "Not so loud," she cautioned. "We've infiltrated the ship. We haven't taken it over."

"Sorry," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. He looked around as well. "Is everyone here?" he asked.

Cissnei nodded. "More or less. Zack's taken command above deck—we gave him the captain's uniform. Kunsel and Aerith are below deck as infantrymen guarding the cargo. Yuffie and Barret are crew."

"Tifa?"

Cissnei smiled knowingly. The look on her face made Cloud shift his weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable. "On watch," she said.

"What did you do with Sephiroth and Red?" asked Cloud.

Cissnei's response was to pat the metal crate behind her. Cloud's eyes widened in realization. The crate _would _be big enough to hold two people, with room to spare. The idea of Sephiroth hitching a ride inside a metal crate was a little silly, but he could see why it was necessary. "How did you manage that?" he asked.

"It wasn't too hard," said Cissnei. "Hacked into the ship's computer and updated the manifesto to include another crate. Sephiroth and Red are listed as weapon supplies." She smiled. "It's not entirely untrue, if you think about it."

"And your shuriken?" asked Cloud. "Aerith's staff? My..." He trailed off, stopping himself from asking about his sword. He had placed it in the locker room with the rest of his things when he had dressed out for the parade. It was probably long gone. Cissnei frowned in sympathy.

"The weapons and all of our gear are in the crate with Sephiroth," she said. "We'll find you a new sword in Costa del Sol, don't worry. As for that uniform, we can find you another one."

He glanced down at the ground. The uniform. He'd worn that in the first place because his infantry uniform had been soaked with mako, and Zack had wanted to find him something else to wear. After that it had just become natural, but now...Maybe this uniform was actually what really suited him. "Do I deserve to wear that?" he asked. "I'm not a First."

"If you're going to wear a uniform at all, you should at least wear a SOLDIER one," said Cissnei, smiling. She tilted her head back, gesturing at his infantry disguise. "You've kind of outgrown that one, Cloud. Besides, a SOLDIER uniform would have the sheath. But we'll worry about that later. For now, I want you to get up there and meet up with Zack. He knows to look out for you. He's playing commanding officer right now, so play along. You know the drill. Understand?"

Cloud nodded.

"Good," she said. The ex-Turk took a step back and cleared her throat, then pitched her voice to carry throughout the room. "And don't let me catch you doing that _again_!" she barked.

Cloud immediately straightened up, raising his hand in salute. "Ma'am!" he said, scampering off into the hold.

XxXxX

Kunsel sighed and took a seat on one of the crates as his watch ended, slinging his rifle off of his shoulder and letting it rest in his lap. He fought the urge to remove his helmet, as he might have done back in the day. He might have been the least recognizable out of the SOLDIER Firsts that sneaked onto this boat, but he was willing to bet _someone _would recognize him.

He rolled his shoulder, catching Tifa's eye as she walked past. She glanced at him, but said nothing. He knew they'd all agreed to keep small talk to a minimum while they were on the ship, just in case. Kunsel tugged at the strap of his infantry uniform. It felt almost nostalgic wearing this. It was hard to believe it could have been so long ago—ten years, in fact—since he had first put on this uniform and met Zack and the others.

Ten years.

His frown deepened, his mind immediately showing him images of Kalm after the accident, the streets gutted, the grass burned, his house reduced to ash and rubble. It came to mind more easily than before, thanks to his conversation with Shelke. He still didn't think he'd ever forget that day.

He wondered what had happened to Shelke. He hadn't seen her on the day of the parade itself—the area had been mostly patrolled by infantry. Only one or two SOLDIERs, and certainly none from Deepground. And she wasn't here today. There was only one Tsviet on the ship as far as he could tell—a dark-haired woman that had spent the entire voyage on the bridge with Rufus and Heidegger. That simple fact made him cautious. The Tsviets were Rufus's secret weapons. Why wouldn't he want them on this ship, to make sure no one tried to interfere with his passage?

Unless Rufus himself hadn't had anything to do with his security arrangements. He didn't seem like the type to care too much about who was guarding him, preferring to leave that task to his lessers. It was also possible that he didn't want to be stuck in a confined space with so many volatile personalities. Kunsel shook his head. There were just too many possibilities...

His thoughts were interrupted as a figure clad in a white sailor uniform leaned against the crate next to him, looking green. Yuffie groaned, wrapping her arms around the middle. "Ugh..." she said. "I'm gonna die..."

"Here," said Kunsel, digging a small bottle out of his pocket and passing it to her. "This might help." Yuffie looked up, her eyes widening slightly as she took it.

"Tranquilizer?" she asked. "Oh, hey thanks. You're alright." She uncapped it, downing it in one gulp. Yuffie cringed, letting the empty bottle fall from her hand. "Ugh..." she said. "It's bitter."

"Well, it's not exactly made to be sweet," said Kunsel, folding his arms. "But it should help. Give it a minute or so."

The ship rocked again and Yuffie let out another low groan, crouching down and squeezing her eyes shut. A pair of sailors passed by, laughing as they spotted her. One of them used the word "greenhorn". The sound immediately made Yuffie jump up.

"What's that?" she asked, taking a step forward. "Say that to my face, you—." The ship lurched again, and Yuffie swooned, stumbling back. "Oooh..."

Kunsel immediately reached out a hand to steady her, watching as the sailors walked past, chuckling among themselves. "Maybe when you're better?" he offered.

"I hate this..." mumbled Yuffie.

Kunsel sighed, letting the princess take a seat as he looked out at the rest of the ship. Another familiar figure was making her way down the steps, looking preoccupied. Aerith walked up to them, a frown on her face.

"Something wrong?" asked Kunsel.

"I can't find Barret," she said. "I'm worried he might be doing something he shouldn't."

Kunsel's frown deepened. Barret was one of the most volatile out of their group, especially in a situation like this. "Have you checked the galley?" he asked.

"I've checked everywhere below decks, and Zack says he isn't above deck. The only place I haven't checked is the bridge, where Rufus is. Cloud said he'd go look, but..." She trailed off. Kunsel remembered the Tsviet standing guard over Rufus. This was worrying.

"Have you told Cissnei yet?" he asked.

"No," said Aerith. "I didn't want to bother her."

"You should—," began Kunsel, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted. Overhead, alarms started to blare. He tensed, looking up,

XxXxX

The cargo crate was almost in complete darkness, the only light coming from Red's tail. Sephiroth sat with his back against one of the crate's walls, his legs stretched out in front of him. His companion was lying on his side in the corner of the crate, his flaming tail flickering slightly like a candle. Beneath them, the ship rocked with the motion of the ocean, things occasionally sliding from one end to another as the ship took on a particularly large shell.

For the most part, Sephiroth busied himself by listening to the sounds of the crew moving around in the cargo hold, grateful that he hadn't been sealed in with someone prone to seasickness. Outside, the men continued to move, barking orders to each other and rushing around the ship. He hadn't heard any alarms, so he assumed that none of the others had been caught, although he did hear retching at one point followed by Barret complaining to what sounded like Yuffie. He occasionally heard Cissnei's voice, so from what he gathered, she must have been coming back and forth to check on them, but he didn't speak—his and Red's cover depended on being as silent as possible. It was dull and boring, but other than that, it didn't bother him too much. He had had worse.

His eyes drifted towards the packs stacked up in the corner of the tent. Masamune, Rekka, the Buster Sword, Kunsel's Shinra issue blade, Yuffie's shuriken, and Aerith's staff had all been secured so that they didn't slide around in transit, and waited in a neat pile for their owners to reclaim them. If he heard fighting and deemed it necessary, he was supposed to slash his way out of the crate with Masamune, then allow the others to reclaim their weapons. Simple enough.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, about to allow himself to drift off to sleep, when it happened.

Alarms rang.

Sephiroth's eyes snapped open and he sat up, just as Red sprang to his feet. Overhead, an announcement rang out through the loud speakers, seeming inordinately loud inside of the crate.

"_Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found! I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found!" _

"Have they been caught?" asked Red.

Sephiroth pushed himself up to his feet. The ceiling was low enough that he had to crouch to avoid hitting his head, but it was the best he could do at the moment. He listened, but he couldn't hear anything going on outside aside from the alarms and the sound of frantic running feet. "It sounds like it," he said, reaching out towards Masamune.

He had barely touched the sword when he felt it, a sudden intense pain, accompanied by a sound like metal scraping on the inside of his mind. Sephiroth stumbled forward, the whole ship seeming to lurch as his grip tightened on his sword's hilt, dragging it down with him with a crash. His free hand reached up, gripping his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. He landed on his knees, the pile of weapons falling around him and Aerith's staff smacking him hard in the shoulder on its way down.

"Sephiroth?!" shouted Red, alarmed. He bounded forward. "Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth could barely hear him. His mind was filled with a sudden burning, and a hatred so intense it ached. It wasn't his own, he knew. This was deeper. It was ancient hatred, running deeper than anything he had ever known. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to stay focused on his task, to think past the pain. In the back of his mind, he heard a sound, a woman's laughter. His eyes snapped open. He knew who it was.

_Jenova._

"Sephiroth!" called Red a third time.

XxXxX

Aerith raced above deck following Kunsel and Yuffie, her heart thudding her chest. After the initial announcement, the ship had gone almost deathly quiet, aside from the sound of people going to look for the intruder. Nobody came to arrest them, so at the very least, it looked like their cover wasn't blown. She reached the deck just as Tifa jumped down from her post and Zack rushed towards them, looking concerned. Barret and Cloud appeared, running down from the bridge.

"You alright?" asked Zack at the same time as Tifa asked a panicked "Everyone alright?"

Aerith nodded, taking a deep breath. Behind her, Cissnei followed, hissing in pain as she gripped onto her shoulder. Aerith straightened up and looked around, doing a headcount. They all seemed to be here, minus Sephiroth and Red. The others looked around as well, seeming to come to the same realization. Zack looked up sharply, turning towards Cissnei. "Cissnei—," he began.

"The crate's secure," said Cissnei. "It's not them." She looked around. "Is everyone here?"

"Looks like," said Aerith.

"Then that suspicious character..." said Barret. 'Ya don't think it might be...Genesis, do ya?"

Cissnei shook her head. "The last time we checked, he and Rufus were allies. They wouldn't raise an alarm if he was on board."

"Then who...?" began Tifa.

Cissnei shook her head. "No clue," she said.

Aerith stared down at the ground, rubbing at her arms. "I have a bad feeling about this," she admitted.

The group fell silent for a moment, before Cloud spoke up. "Let's find out," he said, stepping forward. The others looked up at him in surprise.

"Wh-What?" said Yuffie.

"We won't know what it is unless we check it out for ourselves," said Cloud.

Zack nodded. "Mm," he said. "I agree with Cloud."

"Let's do it," said Cissnei, nodding. She took a step back, inclining her head towards the open door. "Downstairs." The others nodded in assent, and the group took off, running below decks.

The scene downstairs was much different than it had been when they left. The soldiers and sailors that had been down there were down, some of them groaning in pain. The majority of them looked to be alive, however. Aerith immediately ran towards one of them as the group reached the foot of the stairs, crouching down next to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked. "What happened?"

The man looked up at her, struggling for breath. His eyes were glassy, one hand clenched over his wound. His injury consisted of three jagged lines down the front of his shirt, like claw marks caused by an animal. "...the engine room..." he breathed. "...a suspicious character..." He shook his head. "No...there's no way...that...not a human. That thing's not human."

Aerith sat back, feeling a chill creep up her spine. She pulled back her hand as the others ran towards the engine room. It was wet with blood. She scrambled to her feet, performing a quick healing—not enough to erase his wound completely, but enough to ease his pain, and make his injury survivable—and quickly followed the others, dashing into the engine room after Cloud.

The room was as quiet as the grave. Aerith let the door to the main cargo hold hang open behind her, coming to stand with the others. They had all come to a stop, and were staring at something in front of them. Now that she had stopped as well, she could see why. There were bodies strewn around the room. At the head of it, a single soldier stood with his back to them, completely silent. Zack was already moving forward, walking towards him.

"Hey, buddy," said Zack, placing a hand on the soldier's shoulder. "You alright?"

The soldier slumped underneath Zack's touch, falling back. His eyes stared sightlessly up at the ceiling. Tifa gasped. Aerith bit her lip.

Zack crouched down, placing one hand on the man's neck. "He's dead," he said gravely, looking up at the rest of the group. He straightened up. "What the hell happened here?"

The eight of them looked up, turning around, as footsteps rang out, heading towards the engine room. Those of them that had weapons reached for them, and Aerith heard the sound of rifles being slung off shoulders, and safeties being released. A woman came into view, stumbling frantically in the open doorway.

Aerith froze.

The woman stepped forward, grabbing onto her shoulders and embracing her tightly. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright," she said, her green eyes squeezing shut as she cradled her face with her hand. "Thank goodness. Aerith. My Aerith..."

Aerith remained stiff, her eyes widening in shock. This couldn't be happening. But no...she _knew_ that voice. She knew that smell—that touch. It was impossible, but at the same time, there was no denying it.

"M—Mother...?"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**A/N: **Another audience participation opportunity for you guys. Obviously, Cloud is in need of some new threads. What I want you guys to do is suggest to me a new outfit for Cloud. You can do that in the review section, or via PM. Your suggestions can be as short as "SOLDIER Third uniform" or as detailed as a full description, or you can link me to a picture. I'll take whichever one I feel fits best with the current version of Cloud. Good luck!


	58. File 018: Whispers of Rebirth pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **So, the poll closed. The results can be found on my profile page. To summarize, **Yuffentine** won with 41 votes, while **Vincrecia **had 37 votes (a VERY close poll). Yuffentine voters, you were actually trailing behind up until the very last minute, when you suddenly took a 4 vote lead, so thank those last four people who voted. Vincrecia fans, I'm sorry you lost. I hope you're willing to stick around with the story anyway. Either way, a Vincent ship will only be hinted at at this story, so if you don't like the result, feel free to ignore it and fill it in with your own personal headcanon. (I'd even welcome someone writing a Vincrecia ending to this story, as long as they asked me first. ^^)

Anyway, on with the story. I'd love to answer all of your reviews, but since most of them are about the twist in the last chapter, I can't really answer them without spoiling anything, so, thanks go to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, City of Dis, SubZeroChimera, Riku Uzumaki, Roza Anne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, ryuukoshi, SapphyreMyst, Leon Kaye, **and **Irish-Brigid** for reviewing!

**City of Dis, SapphyreMyst, **and **Irish-Brigid**, I'll take your suggestions into account. Thanks!

Also, I just realized that in giving Tifa Shiva as her summon, I have accidentally recreated Snow. Oops, haha.

XxXxX

**File 018: Whispers of Rebirth**

Aerith stood stock-still, her mind racing as the woman in front of her hugged her, whispering words of comfort into her ear. It couldn't be, but her heart told her it was. Ifalna. Her mother. Her breath caught in her throat as the woman replied.

"Yes, Aerith, it's me. Oh, sweetheart, don't worry. It's going to be okay. Come with me. I'll take you somewhere safe, somewhere we can be together. I'll—."

A hand grabbed onto her shoulder, yanking her roughly out of her mother's embrace and pulling her backwards into a hard chest. Aerith screamed as Sephiroth twisted around suddenly, Masamune sinking deep into Ifalna's chest. The woman went rigid and spasmed once, slumping back so that she was hanging from the blade. Sephiroth's grip on her shoulder was like iron, and he was breathing hard in her ear, half-leaning on her even as he kept her back. She turned to face him, her eyes wide in shock as the rest of the group sprang into action.

"_Sephiroth!" _she shrieked. "Why—?!"

A sudden cold gripped her heart, and Aerith's eyes widened as the body on the blade twitched. A shudder ran through her, her limp hands suddenly curling into a claw-like shape. She straightened up in jerking motions, transitioning into smoother ones as her feet touched the ground and she stirred, seemingly oblivious to the several feet of steel protuding from her chest. Her hands moved in front of her, and she clasped the blade almost lovingly. Her brown hair seemed suspended in the air behind her, as if it no longer obeyed gravity. Her eyes, when she looked up, appeared to be a completely different shade of green. A sneer split her face, so unlike Ifalna's kind expression that Aerith felt herself step back, the blood draining from her face.

"Yes, Sephiroth," repeated the creature in a mocking tone. "_Why?" _

Sephiroth grit his teeth, his grip tightening on both his sword and her. The hand on her shoulder gripped her like a vise, but she couldn't bring herself to shrug out of his grip or ask him to let go. Her eyes were fixed on the woman—no, the creature that spoke with her mother's face.

"Why would you attack a poor defenseless woman?" asked the woman. "Stop a mother from reuniting with her daughter? The only thing she has left in the world...?"

"You're not her mother," said Sephiroth, his breathing sounding labored. "And you're _not_ mine."

"Ah, but you see, my son, I am," said the woman. "As of this moment, we are the same." Her eyes fixed on Aerith, meeting hers, and Aerith felt a shudder run through her at the amount of malice contained in the woman's bright green eyes. "Oh, poor dear Ifalna put on a _brave_ fight. Rather inspiring, you might even say. The Cetras' last stand. But _I _won. I _always _win." She smirked. "And now I'm here to finish the job."

Her eyes flashed, darkness surrounding her as her feet lifted off from the ground. Sephiroth whirled around, withdrawing his sword from the woman with one hand as he pushed Aerith away with the other. She stumbled back, and was quickly caught by Zack. He wrapped an arm around her from behind, his expression grim as the woman rose up from the ground, her hair sweeping back as light surrounded her and her body started to change. Her nails sharpened into claws, her body contorting into a grotesque, bulbous shape. Sephiroth took a step back, raising his sword, and then stumbled, plunging Masamune point down into the ground as he held onto it with one hand and gripped his head with the other.

"The time is now," said the woman, her voice now sounding distorted, a mixture of Ifalna's and something else, something _other_. "Join me, Sephiroth! I can make you a king. We can rule together!"

"Seph!" shouted Zack in alarm, stepping forward and placing Aerith behind her.

Sephiroth shook his head, his free hand over his face. At that moment, a snarling streak of crimson burst in through the opening door, tackling the floating creature to the ground and burying his claws into it. "Weapons!" growled Red, looking up at them. Cloud and Barret immediately took the cue, spraying the creature with gunfire as it lashed out at Red with one of its tendrils. The limb caught him in the side, and he let out a canine yelp as it threw him against the ship's wall.

Cissnei didn't waste any time, quickly running for the open door at Red's word. Kunsel let out a barrage of bullets at the creature before following. Yuffie, who up until this point had been standing stunned at the center of the group, yelped as a second tendril rushed towards her. Tifa immediately jumped in front of her, raising both of her arms and crossing them in front of her. She had thrown off her infantry helmet, her dark hair falling behind her. The tendril struck her arms, wrapping around them.

"Go!" she shouted at Yuffie.

Yuffie nodded, eyes wide as she dashed to the side after Cissnei and Kunsel. The tendril jerked sharply, slamming Tifa's back against the wall before letting go. Tifa let out a grunt of pain, and Aerith watched, horrified, as her friend slumped to the ground, then quickly pushed herself up and jumped back, wiping the side of her mouth with the back one fist as she got into a fighting stance. A shove at the small of her back reminded her where she was, and she looked over her shoulder at Zack.

"C'mon, go," he said, and she nodded, scrambling towards the door. Zack followed her. Their weapons, as promised, were scattered over the floor of the cargo hold outside of the engine room, next to an overturned box. The box was riddled with clawmarks, a rope with teeth marks on it tied around it. She passed Yuffie and Cissnei as they rushed back into the engine room with shurikens in hand, scooping up her staff as Zack ran for the Buster Sword. She gripped the staff tightly in both hands, feeling her own hands shake. Zack looked up at her as he picked up his own blade, placing his hand over hers and squeezing tightly. His eyes met hers—she could feel it even through his helmet, and she didn't know where her helmet had gone.

"Hey," he said. "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded once, biting her lip. He looked uncertain about that—she couldn't blame him, she _felt _uncertain about that—but he nodded once and didn't ask her again, tapping her arm and nudging her in the direction of the engine room. The two of the rushed back, Zack first, and Aerith second.

By the time they arrived, the battle was already in full swing. Cloud and Barret held Jenova at bay, spraying it with rifle rounds as Kunsel and Tifa rushed at it from either side. Sephiroth remained where they had left him, kneeling with his hands on his sword for support, his eyes fixed on the floor ahead of him. His face was drawn and pale, his breathing labored. As Aerith watched, Yuffie soared into the air, flipping end over end and throwing her shuriken at the creature's head. The grotesque Jenova-Ifalna hybrid laughed, swatting Yuffie's shuriken straight out of the air and slamming her into the wall with one clawed hand. The girl let out a grunt of pain as Jenova's claws tore a line down her chest, blood spilling across the ship floor. Aerith's eyes widened.

"Yuffie!" she shouted, running forward.

Zack grabbed at her arm suddenly in alarm, pulling her back. She stumbled behind him as he raised the Buster Sword in front of himself. Jenova fired a laser at the two of them, the blade catching the brunt of the attack. Zack grunted upon impact, sliding back slightly.

"Zack—," began Aerith as the attack let up.

Zack nodded, glancing back at her before glaring at Jenova. "I know," he said. "I'll cover you!"

Aerith nodded, gripping onto her staff tightly as Zack ran forward, letting out a shout as he raised his sword over his head and bringing it down towards Jenova. She blocked it with her crimson and white forearm, a smirk on her face as she twisted her arm around and slammed Zack down onto the ground. His place was immediately taken up by Tifa, who arrived to plant a solid kick into Jenova's chest. She flipped over backwards before Jenova could make a grab for her, landing on the ground and sliding back. The ship lurched suddenly, and Aerith squealed as she found herself sliding back on her way towards Yuffie. She jumped back to avoid a blow from one of Jenova's tendrils, breathing hard as she landed on the ground.

"Don't worry, Aerith."

Aerith's eyes widened, and she looked past Jenova at the girl. Yuffie was struggling to sit up, a pained grimace on her face. "You're not the only one who knows a trick or two," she said.

As Aerith watched, Yuffie muttered something under her breath in Wutaiian, blue light surrounding her. She closed her eyes, and shimmering Wutai characters formed in the air in front of her, as though written in light. Yuffie opened her eyes and raised her shuriken over her head, and a blue light spread over the entire party. Where it touched, it healed, landing on the others like a curtain of water. Yuffie sprang forward, her own injury almost completely healed as she drew her shuriken back.

"Hey fish-face!" she shouted. "Leviathan says get the hell out of his ocean!"

"Aerith!" called Cissnei from somewhere off to her left as she rolled out of the way of one attack on her good shoulder, one hand gripping onto her bad one. Cissnei threw Rekka at Jenova as the creature fired a laser towards her and Cloud, the shuriken igniting into flames as soon as it left her hand and leaving a line of fire across Jenova's chest. Aerith nodded, raising her staff and holding it in front of her. Power crackled through her and the staff, and she closed her eyes, drawing it out. She opened her eyes quickly, and a bolt of lightning shot from the tip of her staff, slamming into Jenova's shoulder. As Jenova recoiled, she clutched her staff close to her, holding it out in front of her and calling on the Planet.

A bright light surrounded her, and Aerith took a step back, sweeping her staff across from her in one rapid motion. Violet light swirled in the air around Jenova, spiraling down towards her, and she froze in place, her eyes wide and her limbs frozen in the air. Beside Aerith, Red crouched down, then raised his head in a loud howl that caused each of the members of the party to glow with a bright gold light. Yuffie and Cissnei shot forward at rapid speed, both of them trailing streaks of light as they leapt into the air, their shurikens cutting a scissoring line down Jenova's front. The wounds they caused were already beginning to close up, but before they could close fully, Cloud and Barret were there, peppering Jenova with bullets. The creature staggered, but it couldn't move to defend itself, caught under the grip of Aerith's magic. Aerith held her staff out in front of her, her eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip. She couldn't—she _wouldn't—_fall here. She had to be strong, for everyone's sake.

It would be over soon, she realized. Even she could see that the creature was starting to lag. Tifa, Zack, and Kunsel rushed in from three different sides, prepared to deal a finishing blow.

Then everything changed. Jenova raised her head and smirked.

She spun around suddenly, her two tendrils lashing out like whips. Aerith's spell shattered with a sound like breaking glass, the recoil from it flinging her back as though she had been struck. She gasped as she hit the wall, still gripping her staff tightly with her right hand. Jenova's attack caught Zack, Tifa, and Kunsel in mid-air, flinging them into the engine room walls in one swoop. The walls buckled with the force of the throw. Aerith's eyes widened, and she tried to push herself to her feet, but at that moment a great force suddenly slammed into her, forcing her back down onto the ground. She lay with her back against the wall, struggling to raise her head. The others were all down as well, every last one of them frozen in place at the edges of the room. Aerith gasped as the pressure against her intensified, shoving her back further against the wall and limiting all movement. It felt hard to breathe.

As if sensing her discomfort, Jenova turned towards her, her green eyes shining with glee. "What's the matter, little one? "she asked. "Don't have the power to break _my _spell? Well, I suppose that's only to be expected." She glided forward, stopping in front of Sephiroth. He could move, but he still looked to be in pain—he grit his teeth, glaring at her as she hooked one clawed hand underneath his face and tilted it up towards hers.

"See how easily I've defeated them, Sephiroth?" she asked. "This paltry effort at standing against me will never succeed. You can't fight a force of nature."

Sephiroth glared at her, saying nothing. Jenova clicked her tongue, the way an impatient mother might. "So insolent," she said. "You are my _son._ I gave you your strength. Join me. I can give you more. Together, we can create a new world."

"I'd rather die," snarled Sephiroth.

"So be it," said Jenova, simply. "Never let it be said that I don't listen to your wishes."

Before any of them could react, the hand that was under his chin suddenly surged forward, wrapping itself tightly around his neck. It curled tightly, and she lifted, dragging Sephiroth to his feet. Aerith saw his eyes widen, saw and heard Masamune clatter to the ground as he released it to try and pry her fingers off his neck. She sucked in a breath, trying and failing to free herself as she struggled against the force that hold her. Her fingers twitched, and she grit her teeth, fighting against it as she attempted to raise her staff. Sephiroth's fingers scrabbled for purchase, as Jenova lifted him off the ground, she could see him trying to lash out, trying to break her hold. He needed help. Whatever power she had over him, he couldn't break free on his own. If she could just raise her staff. If she could just—

A shot fired, a bright orange blast slamming into Jenova's side and causing her to stumble. At once, it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders, and Aerith accidentally flung herself forward with her own effort. Her eyes widened, and her head swiveled around. Barret was lying on his stomach, a pained grimace on his face. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead from the effort. His gun arm was in front of him, parallel to the ground. The tip of it was smoking.

"Get the hell away from him, bitch," he growled.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, frost crystals forming against the metal. Aerith turned her head to see Tifa glowing, her wine-colored eyes narrowed as she held her hand out in front of her. _"Shiva!" _she called.

The ice crystals twisted, forming the shape of a woman on Jenova's other side. She raised her hand high, a swirling whirlwind of snow and ice forming at its tip. Aerith quickly grabbed her staff close to her and braced herself for impact as it grew, hurtling towards Jenova at rapid speed. She ducked her head, shielding her face with her arms as a wave of cold suddenly rushed over the room, shards of ice peppering the far wall as Jenova took the brunt of the blast. Before the dust could clear, Zack and Kunsel were already moving, throwing themselves from opposite sides of the room. They reached for their swords at the exact same time, both of them cutting down and through Jenova's arm. Sephiroth crumpled to the ground, and Aerith saw him quickly rip what was left of the arm off of his neck, gasping for air.

The ice cleared, Shiva shattering into ice crystals that eventually faded away. Tifa let out a breath, lowering her hands. Aerith looked up, supporting herself with her staff as she prepared to fire another spell at Jenova, but the creature wasn't simply injured.

She was gone.

Just like that, the ten of them were alone in the engine room, the only trace of her presence being the arm that still lay on the floor. Aerith looked around one last time, then exhaled, slowly letting out the breath she was holding. Zack seemed to have come to the same realization as well. He turned, holding out a hand and helping Sephiroth up. The other SOLDIER took it, letting Zack help pull him to his feet. Sephiroth shook his head, rubbing at his neck. There was a distinct red line around it where Jenova had attempted to strangle him.

No one said anything for a long moment, everyone simply getting to their feet and clustering around the hand on the ground. Aerith glanced at it once, then couldn't bring herself to look at it, keeping her eyes on the floor next to her.

Yuffie was the first to break the silence. "Um...so," she said. "Is it over?"

Cloud cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Ah...looks like," he said.

"Damn," said Barret, shaking his head.

"Everyone alright?" asked Tifa, looking around worriedly.

A round of nods answered her. Aerith managed a small nod of her own, feeling suddenly sick. Her mother...and all of the other things Jenova had said...How much of that creature had been Ifalna?

Kunsel took a step forward, closer to the arm. "This is..." he began.

"The arm of Jenova," finished Cissnei, glancing at it. She rubbed at her shoulder, grimacing in pain. "Although I don't know what we should do with it."

"Burn it," said Sephiroth, vehemently.

"Aerith?" asked Cissnei, looking up at her.

Aerith made a small noise of agreement in the back of her throat, turning away. Zack noticed her then. He looked up, his expression growing concerned as he took a step towards her. "Aerith?" he asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "...Hey...are you gonna be okay?"

She didn't answer—couldn't. Her throat closed up and she couldn't find the words. Zack seemed to sense this, and she allowed him to rest an arm across her shoulder, turning her away.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Barret, causing her to look up. He was standing on the far end of the engine room, looking down at a glowing red orb. He picked it up. "That thing musta dropped it," he said. "Its loss."

"Barret!" scolded Tifa. "Don't just pick it up! It might be dangerous."

Aerith found her voice, glancing up. "I don't..." she began softly, causing the others to look at her. She shook her head. "I don't...it doesn't feel dangerous to me," she said, more decisively that time. "It just feels like a Summon Materia."

"That's settled then." said Barret, gesturing at her. He pocketed it. "Finders keepers."

Tifa sighed and folded her arms, but relented. "What do we do?" she asked.

"What we always do," said Cissnei. "We regroup. We think about it. We plan. Now that we know Jenova's in the game, we can try and get a better picture of what's really happening here."

"That thing," said Red, padding forward. "It spoke of taking over the world..."

"Yeah, what was that about anyway?" asked Yuffie, hands on her hips. She tilted her head towards Sephiroth. Her eyes narrowed. "She's _your _mother? That explains a _lot._"

The room instantly fell silent again at Yuffie's comment, and even Aerith braved her own discomfort to look over her shoulder. Sephiroth stared at Yuffie his eyes hardening. Aerith felt the tension in the room skyrocket suddenly, the air crackling with it. For a moment, she couldn't tell if Sephiroth was about to lash out at Yuffie or at himself. Another moment passed, then Sephiroth took in a breath, nodding tersely.

"Yes," he said, stiffly. "I suppose it does."

He turned, taking his sword with him and striding out of the engine room. "The crate's ruined," he said. "I'll meet you in Costa del Sol. The ship should be docking soon."

The door to the room fell shut behind him, leaving the nine of them in silence. Yuffie stared after him, seeming taken aback by the near-outburst. She lowered her eyes to the ground, looking suddenly uncertain and almost guilty. "Um..." she said. "...Did I just hit a nerve?"

The others stared at her in disbelief.

**END FILE**

XxXxX

**A/N: **For those of you who are curious, I used Eve's third form (the pregnant one) from Parasite Eve as inspiration for the Jenova BIRTH/Ifalna hybrid. Warning, she's gross looking, hence why I didn't wax lyrical on her description in this chapter. As for Yuffie's Clear Tranquil limit break, since she is the only character besides Aerith with a healing Limit Break, I went with the explanation that it has something to do with Wutai's connection to Leviathan, hence the blue light and "Japanese" incantation you've seen used by monks/priestesses a hundred times in anime.

Battle music for the fight? Why, JENOVA, of course.

The next chapter will be the first part of our obligatory beach episode interlude! Although it technically doesn't count as an interlude because there is one solitary scene that furthers the plot, I'm calling it as such because it's more character development than anything else.


	59. Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I put on my scientist hat for this chapter, trying to make sense of what exactly Hojo and Hollander were trying to accomplish and how G-cells differ from S-cells. Hope it makes sense! Anyway, this chapter is a little serious, but next chapter will contain some fun in the sun.

I've decided that this story will be a trilogy, with each book encompassing one "Disc" worth of material. So this book will be the Disc One book, and it'll go from there.

**JazzQueen, **yep! I had to give her a couple of levels up to explain her being such a threat to their combined forces, but I'll explain it later on in the story.

**Irish-Brigid**, ah, that's a good question. I won't tell you what the answer is, but you'll find out soon. And yes, Yuffie and tact do not go together well, although at least she did seem to realize that.

**Guest, **thanks! Glad you liked it! And yes, poor Vincent.

**Roza Anne, **explained via PM. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. ^^

**Ryuukoshi, **actually, this interlude doesn't have much Sephissnei on the beach, because neither Seph nor Cissnei are in the right condition to go to the beach right now, but there will be a scene or two that helps further their relationship. This actually feels more like a friendship-building interlude than a relationship-building one, though, considering who gets pulled together in each scene in my outline.

**SapphyreMyst, **thank you! I'm so glad you liked the battle scene, and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! It's tough coordinating a fight with ten participants, eleven if you count Seph being incapacitated for most of it. And Yuffie's young and has a lot of growing to go, so it makes sense that tact isn't her thing.

**Riku Uzumaki, **tactless doesn't even begin to describe her sometimes.

**Furionknight, **thanks!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **yeah, Aerith did not have a good time in the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it though!

**IzumiYukimura, **but who would read it? And thanks, glad you liked it!

XxXxX

**Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun**

The remaining nine of them stepped off the boat after Rufus and the rest of the crew had gone, entering the deserted port. Cissnei trailed along behind the others, shielding her eyes from the sun with her good hand as they stepped out from underneath the ship's shade. She had almost forgotten how bright Costa del Sol could be. Barret noticed the same thing too, stopping at the front of the group and looking around. "Damn," he said. "Sure is hot here! But I'll feel better once I say goodbye to this sailor suit."

His remark was met with silence, aside from a few quick nods here and there. She half-expected someone to answer with some sort of teasing remark, but she certainly didn't feel up to it, Yuffie and Aerith, the two most likely culprits, were both staring off into space, and Zack's eyes were only on Aerith now. It looked like the battle on the ship had had a sobering effect on them all. She saw Kunsel give the dock a cursory glance, before saying the thing they were all thinking.

"No sign of Sephiroth," he said.

"Mm," said Cissnei, folding her arms. She looked around the dock as well. "He said he'd meet us here, so he will. He'll find us when he's ready. In the meantime, I think we should check in at the inn and get some rest. We all need it."

"A'ight," said Barret, "But one thing first." He glanced over at her, raising his human hand and pointing. "You gonna tell us what's up with Sephiroth. No more secrets—we're all in this now. What the hell happened back there, what's the deal with this Jenova, and how's she connected to Seph? And don't say you don't know."

She could feel everyone's eyes on her now, some of them uncomfortable, and some of them curious. She glanced up at Zack, but he averted his eyes when she met them, his arms folded with an expression on his face that told her to do what she had to. Aerith lowered her gaze to the ground, one hand curled close to her face from where she stood next to Tifa. Cloud, Kunsel, and Yuffie looked curious now, and Red's ears perked up. She couldn't read the expression on Tifa's face—it looked like a cross between worry and curiosity. In the end, it was Sephiroth's story to tell, but he wasn't here to tell it, and she knew he wouldn't want to even if he was. And the others deserved to know. Cissnei sighed, looking back at Barret and nodding once.

"Alright," she said. "I guess there's no point in keeping any of this from you. We're all involved now." She looked around at the group again. "But I'll start by saying that this information was highly classified. Even as a Turk, I didn't have access to all of it. What I know, I've learned mostly from Sephiroth—whatever he's been willing to tell me, and whatever I researched or guessed on my own."

She looked at Barret as she finished, because he was the one who had asked. He nodded, and she set her eyes back towards the center of the group.

"Jenova," she began, "is an entity first discovered in a 2000 year old rock layer. She was excavated approximately thirty years ago by Professor Gast Faremis, then head of the Shinra Science Department. He identified her as an Ancient, and laid the groundwork for the Jenova Project. The aim of the Jenova Project was to produce a human hybrid with Jenova's cells in the hopes of creating an Ancient to lead them to the Promised Land." That got a reaction out of Aerith. Cissnei saw her tense, worrying her lower lip slightly with her teeth but saying nothing. She looked back at the others, then went on.

"Professor Gast had two assistants in the Project. The two of them had very different views, so they each formed their own independent teams, creating two separate spin-offs of the Jenova Project. Professor Hollander led the team of researchers that worked on Jenova Project G. Professor Hojo worked on what he called Jenova Project S. At some point—I'm not entirely sure what happened—Professor Gast left his post, and Hojo and Hollander took over the Project completely."

"Project G eventually gave rise to Genesis and the Tsviets, as well as all Deepground SOLDIERs. Professor Hollander's method was to inject a woman, Gillian, with Jenova cells, and then once those cells had stabilized, take some of her cells and implant them into a child. The experiment produced one result—Genesis Rhapsodos. But he wasn't stable, and the experiment was branded a failure. Hollander later went on to continue his research in Deepground, because although Project G failed, it carried with it a surprising characteristic absent in Project S—the creation of copies. G-cells are unstable by nature, they can take in and impart traits, changing the physiology of the person infused with them. It explains why all the Tsviets have such unique abilities, and probably also explains their volatile personalities."

"From what I understand, Deepground was meant to be experimental only—the Deepground SOLDIERs were never meant to join the regular ranks. They were too unpredictable. Project G produced only one stable product, and that, completely by accident." She hesitated, glancing at Zack, but when he didn't stop her, she went on. "Angeal Hewley. Gillian's son."

Zack tensed, and Cloud looked up, startled. "That's—," he began.

Zack looked up, a slightly strained smile on his face. "Yeah," he said. "My...uh...mentor, guess you could say."

"What happened to him?" asked Tifa.

"He's dead," said Cissnei, in a tone that said that anyone who wanted to know more would have to ask someone other than her. "And that's irrelevant right now. Gillian died too—she killed herself when Genesis defected from the army and started going insane. But that's all neither here nor there. The other experiment, the one deemed a success, was Jenova Project S."

"S?" repeated Tifa. Cissnei saw realization dawn on her face. "S for...?"

"Mm." She nodded. "S for Sephiroth. Project S was spearheaded by Professor Hojo. The actual how and why of the project are all details lost in time. Hojo was extremely paranoid about having his methods get into the wrong hands—he conducted his experiments in secret, using methods known only to himself, but the end result was that a child was created using Jenova's cells. Sephiroth."

"But isn't Hojo—," began Barret. He shook his head. "I mean, he said somethin' about being Sephiroth's dad!"

"That could be true, although I haven't come across that in any records. Speaking purely from an objective standpoint, it would make sense. Hojo would have needed to get genetic material from _somewhere._ Sephiroth believes it." _And hates it_, she added silently, but she didn't say. That much should have been obvious. "I don't know if it's true. I do know that Sephiroth was told his entire life that Jenova was his mother, that the reason he was raised in the SOLDIER program was because she died giving birth to him, and the department was "kind" enough to take him in, and up until the Nibelheim Incident five years ago, that was all he knew."

Someone, Kunsel, she realized, let out a low whistle. "Damn," Barret muttered.

She nodded. There were a lot of things she didn't say. She didn't mention finding Sephiroth nearly insensate near the mako pools at Nibelheim, didn't mention the changes she had seen in him during their four years of exile in Modeoheim as he had time to truly contemplate what he had learned, and certainly didn't mention the S-Cell experiments that had given rise to Zack and Cloud's personal four-year hell. Those things weren't things the others needed to know, and they weren't her secrets to tell. She glanced at Zack and Cloud, but the two of them seemed in no hurry to volunteer information, and neither did Tifa and Aerith, who knew some of this already.

"I don't buy it," growled Barret. "That _thing _whatever it was—that can't be anyone's mother, and if Aerith's a real Ancient, there's no way in hell that thing can be one too!"

"I agree," said Cissnei, nodding. She glanced at Aerith. "Given what we saw today, I think Jenova might have been misidentified. But if she isn't an Ancient, what is she, and what are her motives? As for her being Sephiroth's mother—he was born with her cells, and she obviously has some sort of hold on him, but other than that, I think that the 'Mother' story was something made up on the spot, to quiet a questioning child. Metaphorically, you could probably make a case that Jenova made Sephiroth—making her his 'mother', in a way. She certainly does. I don't know how to answer the first question. Aerith?"

Aerith sucked in a breath. "I—," she began. She looked up, shaking her head. "I don't know," she said. "I don't even really know what the Ancients _are_. I mean, I know that I'm one, that the Planet speaks to me sometimes, that I can see things that others can't...but I don't understand it at all."

Cissnei looked around at the others. Nobody seemed pressed to ask Aerith any questions, and for good reason, after what had just happened today. They stood in silence for a moment longer, before Kunsel cleared his throat, looking up.

"We should, um..." he began, trailing off uncertainly as he glanced around.

"He's right," said Red, who up until this point had been listening quietly to the story. "This is still a Shinra ship. It wouldn't do us good to be caught out here."

"C'mon!" said Zack. "Let's forget about this stuff for now. We're in Costa del Sol. We should be having fun!"

Tifa smiled weakly. "I don't know how much fun we can be having like this, Zack," she said.

"No, he's right," said Cissnei, looking up. "Look, it'll take us at least a couple of days to replenish our supplies and work out what we're going to do next. A break and some sun would do us all some good."

"See?" said Zack. "Come on. Let's hit the beach. Who's coming with me?"

The others exchanged uncertain glances, before Barret looked up. "I'm gettin' the hell out of this suit," he said. "You guys go off and do whatever you want."

"I'd rather get out of this heat," said Red, sounding slightly apologetic. "I'll meet you all at the inn later."

"And I've got business to take care of," said Yuffie, grinning. She shot off down the street. "You snooze, you lose."

Cissnei and the others stared after her worriedly.

"There she goes," said Zack, turning around with his hands on his waist.

"Uh, should we do something about that?" asked Kunsel, watching as Yuffie easily jumped the low wall leading down to the harbor and vanished into the city.

"Like we'll be able to find her," said Tifa.

"Dammit, that kid," muttered Barret, shaking his head. "Anyway, see y'all later. Stay out of trouble." He walked off, Red following along behind him. Zack watched them go, then turned to look back at them.

"Alright, who's coming with?" he asked. "Cloud?"

Cloud shrugged in response. "Sure," he said.

"I guess I'm coming too," said Kunsel, glancing back at them.

"That's the spirit," said Zack. "Teef?"

Tifa smiled, shaking her head. "Sure, Zack," she said.

"What about you, Ciss?" asked Zack. "For old time's sake?"

Cissnei smiled apologetically. "I'm not exactly beach material right now," she said, pointing at her injured shoulder. The thought of getting sand or saltwater anywhere near it already made her cringe. "I think I'll just check in at the inn."

"Alright," said Zack. He looked up at the one member of their group that hadn't said anything. "Aerith, you coming?" he asked.

Aerith looked up at him, smiling slightly and shaking her head. "No..." she said. "Not right now. I don't really feel up to it. But you go ahead."

Zack's expression changed, his brow furrowing in concern. "You sure?" he asked, walking back towards her. "I could stay..."

She shook her head. "No, go," she said. "Have fun. I just need to be alone for a bit, that's all. I'll be fine. Don't worry."

Zack stared at her, seeming reluctant, but Tifa, Kunsel and Cloud were all watching him, waiting. He took a step forward, then glanced back at her. "You sure?" he asked again.

She nodded. "I'm sure," she said. "Go with the others. I'll be fine."

"Alright," said Zack. He looked away again, taking another step, then paused, looking back at her. "Dinner?" he asked.

Aerith smiled at him, a genuine smile this time. "It's a date," she said.

XxXxX

Aerith stood at a deserted end of the beach, watching the waves crash onto the shore. It was only her second time seeing the ocean, and in Junon it had never been this blue. The sight should have moved her, and it did, but it brought with it more of her worries. Out here, next to open sea and beneath open sky, she thought she should hear the Planet's voice. And yet...she could feel it, certainly, a thready pulse beneath the earth, but it sent no voice back, no response.

She didn't know how to start a conversation with the Planet—all of the other times she had heard its voice, it had reached out to her, but she tried to quiet her heart and mind, and took a deep breath, trying to reach out to it. It shied away from her touch, slipping through her fingers and returning to pulse gently beneath the waves. It felt weak, and that worried her. She had noticed something weakening in Midgar—the Planet spoke to her more as a child than it did as an adult, but she thought that had just been Midgar, with its eight Mako Reactors. Now she was coming to a realization that worried her. It was weakening everywhere. Kalm, Junon, Costa del Sol. Everywhere.

Her hand went up, her fingers resting against her own chest, feeling her own heartbeat as her eyes fixed on the waves. _You'd think if there was ever a time to use _that_...it would be now, _she thought. But, no, she couldn't be hasty. If she was wrong—if she spent the Planet's strength too early on a defense it didn't need—She shook her head. She wished...she wished her mother was here. To guide her, tell her what she needed to do. Her throat closed up as she remembered how it had felt to see her on the ship, and then to find out that it was Jenova after all. She looked away, glancing down at the sand.

Her mother had been dead for fifteen years. If she hadn't been who she was, Aerith would have said that Jenova's claim was impossible. But her mother had always said that for the Cetra, death was a curtain, not a door, and the dream she had had on the way out from Kalm worried her. That had definitely been Ifalna then—her mother's voice, her mother's presence, and then it was gone.

_Please..._she thought towards that thready pulse of light. _Please, Mother. If you're out there, if you're still there...I really need to talk to you now. _

No response. But then, she didn't think there would be. The waves continued to crash onto the shore. She raised her head, watching them numbly. After that day on the train station, she'd never cried for her mother. She wanted to do so now, but it felt like she couldn't remember how.

The sound of wings fluttering behind her made her tense, and she turned her head as booted feet touched the ground. Aerith relaxed—it wasn't Genesis or some other creature, just Sephiroth. He pulled his wing flat against his back, and she watched as it sank into it, disappearing from view. The only trace that it was ever there were the black feathers strewn about on the ground underneath his feet. His expression was serious—he looked as troubled as she felt. She offered him a smile.

"There you are," she said. "The others were worried about you. Cissnei went ahead to the inn."

He frowned at her, glancing around as if he expected to see Zack or one of the others to jump out from the sand. "You didn't go with them?"

"I needed a minute," said Aerith, looking back at the sea.

"I see. Should I leave?"

"That depends," said Aerith with a wry smile. "What do you know about questioning everything you thought you knew about yourself and what you're supposed to be doing?"

She felt him hesitate, and then he stepped forward, coming to stand just over her shoulder as he looked out at the ocean. She glanced back at him, and saw that there was a faint, rueful smile on his face as well.

"Lately?" he asked. "I feel as though that's all I do."

Aerith took a deep breath, then took a step forward. She walked along the shore to keep herself busy, and he followed, staying just a few steps behind. "I can't reach her—my mother. If she's there, she's not answering me. I feel—." She shook her head. "I'm not sure how to describe what I feel. I've always known—ever since I was little, I've known that I'm not normal. I pretended at it well enough, but I—I knew it wasn't the same. My mother would tell me that I was meant to leave Midgar someday, that I had a destiny. I thought that by leaving Midgar, I would find out what it is. But I don't. I still don't know what it means to be a Cetra...and what I'm meant to do for the Planet."

He glanced at her. "You regret leaving Midgar?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No," she said truthfully. "I miss my flowers sometimes, but there was nothing for me there. I just—." Another breath. "—I guess sometimes I wish it wasn't me. That I was born normal, that someone else could be the last Cetra. I'm jealous of Zack and the others sometimes..."

There was a pause, and then she felt Sephiroth move up, walking beside her but keeping a respectful distance. "I've been told—frequently—," he added, with a somewhat exasperated tone that allowed her to guess who exactly had been telling him this. She hid her smile. "—that we cannot help what we are born to, only what we do with it."

"Then what am I supposed to do with it?" asked Aerith, turning towards him. "The Planet's hurting. I can tell that much. I can tell I'm supposed to help it. But I don't know how. I'm not a hero, I'm barely a healer. I'm not cut out for all this fighting."

"You don't like to fight," said Sephiroth. It was more a statement than a question.

"I hate it," admitted Aerith. "I know—for what we've been doing—it's the only way, but I'm not like you. I can't enjoy it."

Sephiroth's brow rose. "You think I enjoy it?" he asked.

"You don't?" asked Aerith, glancing back at him.

"I enjoy the discipline of it," said Sephiroth. "Swordsmanship. Tactics. A decent spar every now and then. But that's different from an actual battle. I fight because I don't know how to do anything else, because it's necessary, and it's the only way I know how to live. I don't enjoy it—neither do I hate it." He shrugged. "I've been fighting or training to fight my whole life, it's a part of me. I don't know...I've never learned how to solve things another way."

"But at least you know how," said Aerith, looking away from him and at the beach ahead. They were entering the populated portion of the beach now, and people gave them the occasional stares, but no one said anything and no one approached. Sephiroth still had Masamune on his back, that gave people enough reason to stay away. She wondered if they would encounter Zack or the others soon, and if she really wanted to right now. "I don't. What happened today...I couldn't _do _anything, Sephiroth. She turned my own magic against me. I couldn't move. If it hadn't been for Tifa and Barret, we would have—I would have..."

He looked at her, eyeing her critically, like, she imagined, he might have studied a new recruit. "You're not weak," he finally said. "Just green."

"But I—," began Aerith.

"You can learn to fight," said Sephiroth, interrupting her. "I'm not saying it has to be physical. If you're serious about studying the staff, I can teach you. I know its fundamentals. If you want to learn unarmed combat, Tifa can help you more than I can. If you want to pick up a gun, Cissnei can help. If your power is your weapon, your real weapon, than you should train it. If you only want to be a healer, we can use that too. But in the end, its your choice. Fighting is a necessity, we will likely see more of it before this ends. How you want to be a part of that...that's up to you. But I've seen grown men, fully trained, cower at their first real battle. You did not. That's harder to learn than any form of fighting."

"I..." She trailed off, thinking about it. Zack had shown her some basics with the staff—she at least knew how to strike with it, and to defend herself with it, but more than that, they hadn't really had much time, and if she could be completely honest, she hadn't bothered to learn. But she couldn't expect the others to keep defending her, like they did today. She needed to do more, and beyond that, she needed to know more. "I think...I should," she said. "I'll think about it some more. I wish I could learn more about who I am—who the Cetra were."

"Is there somewhere you could go?" asked Sephiroth. "Somewhere the Cetra might have left information about themselves?"

"I don't know," admitted Aerith. "My mother never mentioned anything like that. If there is a place, I don't know where I can find it."

Sephiroth frowned for a moment, as if thinking over something. At length, he looked up. "Red," he said, simply.

"What about him?" asked Aerith.

"When we freed the two of you and Hojo called you an Ancient, Red reacted. He asked if you were a survivor of the Cetra. He acted as though he was familiar with the term. You should talk to him and ask."

Aerith's eyes widened. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that. Red rarely spoke about himself, and he obviously knew more than he let on. "I—I will," she said. "Thanks, Sephiroth, I—." She froze, stopping in place as she saw something in front of her. A man, resting on the beach, surrounded by three women. He wasn't looking at them, but Sephiroth stopped as well, his eyes narrowing as he noticed what he saw.

"Is that...?" Aerith began.

"Hojo," Sephiroth confirmed, hatred seeping into his voice.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**NOTE: **

**[1]** - "Green"? - Got some reviews asking about this, so thought I'd explain it here for further notice. The term "green" is often used to refer to an inexperienced person, such as a soldier who hasn't seen battle. The analogy came about because of green/unripe fruit. Here's an explanation that pretty much says what I was going for with that line best. (Source: Brainz dot org).

"When a person is referred to as a green person, it means that he or she is new to a certain position, work, hobby or activity. The term green is a metaphor for an inexperienced person for a certain field of endeavor. It is similar to a plant that just sprouted its fresh, green leaves in a certain location surrounded by other plants. Same with people who just had their first taste of real life experiences.

The term green people is often attributed to first timer workers or even officers who handled jobs in a new setting for the first time. For instance, a nurse who was recently been hired and is having a difficulty in adjusting to her new life is referred to as green. Another example is that of a police who handles his or first rescue operation but was not able to handle the situation well, is also said to be green. When the person is referred as green, it means that he or she is new to the job and mistakes can occur in the performance of his or her job. But being labeled as green also implies certain expectations. When a person made mistakes in his or her first job experience, the supervisors of that newly-hired person expects that such mistakes will not be repeated. Finally, the term green can also refer to a person who just transferred to another work setting. Even if he or she is well-acquainted with his job in the new workplace, he or she is still called a green person considering the fact that he or she is new to the workplace."

In military settings, new recruits who hadn't yet seen battle were often called "green recruits". The more you know~


	60. Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I wanted to preemptively state that no matter who ends up with whom in a scene in a chapter, the pairings will be as I stated them in the summary. It just so happens that certain characters are...well, flirts, and certain other characters have drawn the short straw. So bear with me for a bit and enjoy some silliness while certain other pairings are still amorphous and undefined, and you'll see where I'm going with this. ^^

**Review Responses: **Quick announcement to make. While I love all of your reviews and am so happy that more people are reviewing, I find that a lot of the individual responses I give start to become repetitive. So I will continue to acknowledge all my reviewers and answer questions or give comments to things that strike me, but I'm going to start grouping some of my responses together, to save time and space. Please don't feel like that means I value your reviews any less. So without further ado...

Thank you to **JazzQueen, Roza Anne, IzumiYukimura, Furionknight, ryuukoshi, SapphyreMyst, Irish-Brigid, Leon Kaye, meowwl, Riku Uzumaki, HeartofFyrwinde, **and **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero** for your reviews and support! And yes, I share your views about Hojo. Unfortunately, murder in a public place isn't the sort of thing most people get away with, even if they are Sephiroth *sigh*. Hope you like the chapter anyway!

**Roza Anne **and **IzumiYukimura**, sent you guys responses via PM.

**SapphyreMyst, **I would LOVE some cranberry muffins (hungry right now, lol). And I'm glad you liked the conversation and think it works out with the plot. Part of what I want to do for this story is tie up loose ends when I find them.

**Irish-Brigid, **aww! Now I have that mental image stuck in my head too!

**Leon Kaye, **thanks! I'm glad you like the relationship between Aerith and Sephiroth. It's one of the things I've wondered about. In the game the two of them were kind of set on opposite sides of the spectrum as mirrors of each other (Black Materia/White Materia, the whole Cetra thing, Gast's daughter / Hojo's son, otherwordly "Mothers", being unique and one of a kind...etc.). It made me wonder how that would translate if they were not enemies.

**HeartofFyrwinde, **it probably seems that way because there ARE four villainous/semi-villanous antagonistic groups in the story. Although...when I say four, I count the Tseng and the Turks as their own entity, and two of the ones you mentioned can be combined. Won't say which ones though~

XxXxX

**Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun**

Sephiroth stared at the man in front of him. He couldn't believe it. Hojo. Here. The world seemed to dim for a moment, the sounds fading so that he was alone except for sound of his heartbeat, all the blood rushing to his ears. He grit his teeth, his right hand clenching into a fist as he remembered everything that had happened in Midgar, everything he had learned in Nibelheim. His left hand itched for his sword, and his fingers twitched. From behind him, Aerith shifted uncertainly, her expression suddenly concerned.

"Sephiroth...?" she asked.

He glanced at her, back at her, realizing then that he was shaking. Sephiroth let out a breath, attempting to calm himself as he remembered where they were. He couldn't make a scene here.

"...What is _he_ doing here?" he finally managed to say.

"I don't know," said Aerith, glancing at the ground. She paused. "Um...what do you think we should do?"

He knew what he _wanted _to do. But they were in a public place, and he was too well-known and Hojo too important to risk it. What he _needed _to do was to take Aerith somewhere else, because while he was perfectly capable of defending himself against Hojo (and in fact would practically _dare _the scientist to try and capture him), he knew that the same couldn't be said for her, and she was still a target. But the thought of turning and leaving Hojo here to enjoy his vacation like he had any right to it left a sour taste in his mouth. If he engaged Hojo, there was no telling if he would be able to stop himself. But surely he had more control than that.

He strode forward before he could change his mind, leaving Aerith to jog to catch up.

"S-Sephiroth, wait," she heard him say as he stood in front of Hojo, glaring down at the man. One of the girls surrounding him looked up, giving him a pouty glare. "God, what do you want?" she asked impatiently.

Sephiroth ignored her. "Hojo," he growled.

He saw the scientist crack open an eye and regard him and Aerith coolly. He sat up, a sneer spreading onto his face. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite specimens," he said. "What do you want? I'm busy."

He couldn't quite help the mocking tone that crept into his voice, his lip pulling back in a snarl. "I can see that," he said.

One of the girls raised her head to say something to him. He glared at her, and she withered visibly, shrinking back and falling silent. Hojo glanced at the girl, then scowled at him. "What do you want, boy?" he asked.

"I want the truth," said Sephiroth. "What did you do with Jenova?"

Hojo cackled. "Jenova?" he repeated. "That relic? Still chasing after your mother all this years, Sephiroth?"

His blood burned hot in his veins, and it was all he could do to not step forward and snap Hojo's neck. Aerith must have sensed it too, because he suddenly felt her hands on his wrist, drawing him back. It wouldn't have been enough to stop him if he insisted, but her touch reminded him where he was. Hojo simply smirked at him.

"Ah, have I touched a nerve?" he asked. "You never used to be quite so emotional. I've done nothing with that creature."

"Liar!" snarled Sephiroth. "We saw her on the ship. You must have done something."

"On the ship, you say?" asked Hojo, looking interested. He cupped his chin with his hand. "Hmm...that's interesting. Very interesting. And what concern would this be of yours?"

"I said I want the truth," said Sephiroth. "What am I to her?"

"Her son," replied Hojo. "As you should be." He grinned.

"I'm not her son!"

"Is that so?" asked Hojo. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, getting to his feet. Hojo folded his arms, studying him closely. If he was worried at all about any danger to his life, he didn't show it. "Tell me, Sephiroth," he said, smirking. "Do you still travel with Zack and Cloud?"

A flash of anger ran through him, white-hot. "I don't see how that's any of your business," he said.

"So you do," said Hojo. "And you're all chasing Jenova, you say? How nice of the three of you to stick together. I'm sure this reunion of yours was long overdue." Something in his tone implied there was more to the story. Hojo looked up, grinning like a madman. "So, Sephiroth. Would you be interested in collecting some data for me?"

His hand was at his sword before he even realized it. He shook Aerith off his free hand, and she stepped back with a yelp. The girls screamed and scattered as Masamune slid free from his back. It wouldn't take much, he knew. Just one stroke—.

"Sephiroth, no!" shouted Aerith, grabbing onto his arm. "If you kill him, we won't be able to find out anything!"

Her words cut through the fog in his mind, and he froze, Masamune hanging in the air just feet away from Hojo's neck. He glared at the man, then sucked in a breath, lowering the sword. He saw Hojo release the breath he was holding, before the light of triumph shone in his eyes. Before his mouth could widen in another smirk, Sephiroth stepped forward, raising Masamune and pointing it at Hojo's neck.

"You're lucky the girl was here," he said. "Or you would be in pieces."

He turned, shrugging his arm out of Aerith's grip before he could lose control again and striding down the beach, walking along the coast. Behind him, Aerith hesitated, looking from him to Hojo before hurrying off after him.

XxXxX

"Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth ignored the voice behind him, continuing to walk across the sand. He could feel people's eyes on him, but he ignored them. His mind was still thinking through that conversation with Hojo, and he was still seething. He heard hurried footsteps behind him as the woman ran to catch up, reaching his side. "Sephiroth, wait!" said Aerith more insistently, grabbing his wrist.

He stopped, finally, glancing at her. Now that he got a good look at her, he realized that she was out of breath, and her boots and the hem of her dress were coated in a fine layer of sand. Sweat plastered stray strands of hair to the side of her face. She leaned on his arm, breathing heavily.

His control returned to him, and he glanced back at the distance they had traveled. He couldn't even see Hojo now. "Sorry," he said.

Aerith shook her head, releasing him. "No, I'm okay," she said, wiping her brow with one hand. "I was just a little worried. I was starting to think you couldn't hear me."

He could hear her, of course, but his mind had been in another place. He shook his head, deciding not to think on that. "I'm alright now," he said. "Sorry to worry you."

Her face broke into a grin, and it looked like she was about to reply.

"Hey!" shouted a voice off to his left. It drowned out whatever she had been meaning to say. The two of them looked up to see Zack jogging towards them, dressed in black swimming trunks with a yellow sun design on the left leg. Cloud and Tifa stood behind him, Tifa raising her hand in a wave towards them as Cloud watched, his arms folded. Tifa wore a simple white two piece swimsuit; Cloud wore light blue. There was a volleyball court behind them, a ball lying forgotten in the sand. He raised an eyebrow at their attire but said nothing as Zack reached him, grinning.

"Hey, where've you been?" asked Zack.

Sephiroth looked away from the other two, facing Zack. "Around," he said simply. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a break," said Zack, stretching. "Cissnei agreed, we could all use one. Apparently we'll be here for a couple of days, so we might as well make the most of it."

Aerith gave him a guilty smile. "Sorry," she said. "Forgot to tell you." She stepped forward to meet Tifa as the other woman approached. "Tifa, that's a cute swimsuit!" she said. "Where did you get it?"

"Over there," said Tifa with a smile, pointing to a shop on the beach not too far away. "It wasn't too expensive, and if you're going to relax on the beach, you have to look the part, right?" She took Aerith by the arm and led her aside, out of earshot. Zack's earshot, at any rate, he had more sensitive ears. "There's a pink one your size," she said, with a meaningful glance at Zack. She whispered something more Sephiroth couldn't hear, and Aerith covered her mouth and giggled.

He looked away from the two of them, turning towards Zack. Zack looked away from them as well, frowning at the expression on Sephiroth's face. "What's up?" he asked.

"Hojo," said Sephiroth simply, not wanting to say more. Zack's eyes widened at the name, and he glanced around.

"Here?" he asked.

"Where else?" asked Sephiroth.

"Is he..." began Zack. "I mean...did you...?"

"He was alive when I left him," said Sephiroth, surprised at how much heat there was in his own voice. "Beyond that, I can't make promises."

"Ah," said Zack. "And are you...?"

"I'm fine." He looked around. "Is everyone here?"

"Nope," said Zack. "Cissnei went on to the inn—you know how it is. With that shoulder of hers, she probably didn't want to be anywhere near the water, and Red's probably there too. He mentioned wanting to get out of the heat. Barret left. He said he'd meet us later, and who knows where Yuffie went." He glanced around. "Kunsel was here a while ago, but he left to get drinks and never came back." Zack grinned. "Probably met a girl."

"Or an enemy," Sephiroth noted.

"We thought so too, but he sent a message saying he was fine and to go on without him." Zack took a step back, shrugging. "Although we can't exactly pick up the volleyball game with only three people. Just like him to leave when we were winning." He glanced over at the two girls. "Hey, Aerith!" he called. "Want in?"

Aerith looked over her shoulder at him. She looked much less troubled than she had when he first ran into her, and he took that as a good sign. "Um, sure," she said. "I just need to get a swimsuit first."

"Sweet!" said Zack. He turned back towards Sephiroth. "What about you?" he asked.

"You can't play with five any more than you could play with three," said Sephiroth, frowning.

"Yeah," said Zack. "But you could hang out on the beach and go for a swim. You need a break too, you know. There's probably a bookstore around here if you want something to read."

Something in Zack's expression told him that he wasn't simply asking because he wanted Sephiroth's company. There was concern there, well-hidden behind a smiling face. So be it, if Zack wanted to play the counselor, he didn't have anything better to do that day. He shrugged. "I'll consider it," he said.

XxXxX

Kunsel sighed, glancing once at his phone as the girl seated across from him happily dug into her ice cream. He watched as people walked down the sunny Costa del Sol street, wondering for what felt like the thousandth time how exactly he had ended up in this situation.

He had been standing on the main street of Costa del Sol, a bag of sodas in hand for Zack and the others. The street seemed to be especially crowded that day, with a crowd of vacation-goers not usually seen until the summer months. He guessed it was because the weather had suddenly taken a turn for the warmer, leading everyone who could do it to apply for vacation leave at once. He counted one or two men that had SOLDIER's trademark mako eyes, but none of them seemed to recognize him. He was just about ot head back to the beach when a figure darted out of the crowd, quickly grabbing onto his arm and spinning around.

"Kunsel, help!" said a frantic Yuffie Kisaragi. "We're dating!"

He blinked in surprise. "Wait, what—?"

"Shh, just play along," said Yuffie. "Here he comes."

A young man walked out of the crowd, a grin spreading onto his face as he noticed Yuffie. He sauntered up to her. "There you are," he said. "What's the rush? The party's back this way."

Yuffie shot Kunsel a look warning him to play along, taking a step back. She put a sugary sweet smile on her face. "Sorry," she said. "I kind of already have plans."

The man's eyes flickered towards him, and a scowl spread over his face. "I can see that," he grumbled. "Hey, who the heck are you?"

Kunsel took a step forward, scowling and placing an arm around Yuffie's shoulders. "I think the better question here is, who are _you_?" he asked.

The man took a step forward. Kunsel met his eyes straight on, narrowing them into a glare. He saw the man falter, noticing the blue glow of his eyes for the first time. He took a step back, his bravado seeming to fade away as he shook his head. "Hey, sorry about that, buddy," he said. "Don't want any trouble."

"You and me both," said Kunsel, leading Yuffie away. "Have a nice day."

Yuffie glanced over his shoulder as the man turned to leave, and he saw her stick her tongue out, pulling her cheek down with her index finger. She giggled, and he sighed, shooting her a tired glance.

"You owe me one," he said.

"Whatever you say," she said, grinning at him. "I'm starving. I could go for some ice cream. You wanna go get some ice cream?"

And that was how he ended up here, sitting outside of a cafe in Costa del Sol, the drinks forgotten in a bag underneath his seat, while Yuffie Kisaragi worked herself steadily into a sugar rush. On his dime. He glanced up at her, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat. The ninja looked appropriately beach ready, her shuriken and any obvious weapons seeming to have disappeared into the blue. She had put on a bikini top over her shorts, although it said a lot about her usual style of clothing that it had taken him a moment to notice the difference. He calculated the time since she had last been seen leaving them at the dock and decided it was more than enough time to get into some serious trouble.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened back there?" he asked.

She looked up, wiping a drop of chocolate off her cheek. "Oh, him?" she asked, pulling something out of her pocket. She set it onto the table, spinning it around between her fingers. It was a glowing green orb. He frowned at her. He should have known.

"You're joking," he said.

"Nope," said Yuffie, grinning. "One Fire Materia, one Cure Materia. Not much of a haul, but hey, it's better than nothing."

"Have you been stealing Materia this whole time?"

"Maaaaayyyybbbbeeeee."

He shook his head, amused in spite of himself. "You're hopeless," he said. "_Try _not to get arrested?"

"Pfft," said Yuffie. "They'd have to catch me first." She set her spoon down in her empty bowl, resting her arm on the table. "So, anyway. What have you guys been up to?" She gestured at his attire. "Just hanging out on the beach?"

"We were playing a game of volleyball," he said. He frowned at her, realizing that he had the opportunity to bring up what had happened on the ship. Kunsel paused, thinking through the best way to start the conversation. "You know...Sephiroth hasn't come back yet," he finally settled on.

Yuffie immediately tensed at the mention of her name, her eyes dropping down to the table. "What about it?" she asked sullenly.

"What you said on the ship..." began Kunsel. "Don't you think that might have been a little out of hand?"

"No!" said Yuffie quickly, looking up at him. He watched her, not saying anything. Her face fell, and he could see her thinking it over slightly as her fingers curled uncertainly around the orb of Materia. She bit her lower lip. "...Alright, maybe just a _little," _she admitted. "Just...like, a teensy-tiny bit. But it's not my fault! I didn't know all that stuff about Jenova or whatever that freak is!"

"Even so," said Kunsel. "If you were related to that, would you want to be compared to it?"

"No..." said Yuffie hesitantly. "But Sephiroth's—!"

"A SOLDIER," finished Kunsel. "Just like me, just like Zack. We bought fought in the Wutai War too."

"That's different," said Yuffie, looking away again.

"Oh really?" asked Kunsel. "How?"

"It just _is_, okay?" she said angrily, looking back at him. "Look. You can't make me forgive him!"

"I'm not asking you to forgive him," said Kunsel. "I'm just asking you whether or not you think you should apologize."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Apologize?" she repeated. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because even if you don't like him, you were still in the wrong," said Kunsel. "And..." He paused, looking her in the eye. "You can't tell me you don't feel at least a little guilty about that."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, avoiding his eyes. "He has to apologize first," she said. "For what happened to Wutai. He's the one who should be apologizing. But he doesn't feel anything about it. He's not even sorry at all."

Kunsel's brow rose. "How do you know that?" he asked.

"I just—I just do."

He sighed, unfolding his arms and resting them on the table as he leaned forward slightly. "Let me tell you something about Sephiroth," he said. "He's not the type of person to talk about how he feels."

Yuffie folded her arms. "Then why should I apologize?" she asked, defensively.

Kunsel shrugged. "Because it will make you feel better?" he asked. "Because at the very least, it'll let you be angry with him without feeling guilty about it? Because we're a small group with very dangerous people after us and we don't need to be fighting among ourselves? I don't know. You tell me. At least think about it, okay?"

Yuffie's frown deepened, her eyes darkening as she stared at the table. He continued to watch her expectantly, and she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

"Alright!" she shouted finally, loud enough to make the people in the table behind them look over at her. "Alright, already! I'll think about it! Sheesh!"

He smiled. "That's all I'm asking," he said, taking a sip of water.

She glared.

XxXxX

Sephiroth arrived at the inn to find Cissnei asleep on a deck chair outside, her hand still closed around a paperback book. She was dressed in a yellow swimsuit, white bandages peeking out from her left shoulder underneath the top. They were fresh bandages, and his frown deepened as he noticed that. He knew she had changed them before leaving Junon, but the battle on the ship must have re-opened the wound. It was unlike her to just fall asleep. She must have been tired. It was only to be expected, now that he thought about it. She'd only just woken up yesterday.

He hesitated, then stepped forward, reaching out and touching her right, uninjured shoulder. He only gave it a little nudge, but she winced, opening her eyes. Cissnei blinked blearily at him, raising her right hand and shielding them from the sun.

"Sephiroth...?" she asked.

"You fell asleep," he said with a shrug as he turned away from her. "You'll burn if you stay out here. Thought you might want to know." Her skin had felt warm to the touch, and without the slickness associated with sunscreen. He kept his hand at his side, uncertain why he still seemed to remember the feel. He heard her sitting up behind him, groaning slightly thanks to her injured shoulder.

"Ah, thanks," she said. "I'm guessing you don't get sunburned?"

"Correct." he said, gathering up the bundle of his things and picking up Masamune. He could feel her eyes on him.

"Are you in a swimsuit?" she asked.

He frowned at her, turning around. He had his coat and pants bundled up in his arm, his boots in hand. "Yes," he said. It was a pair of plain black swimming trunks. He'd bought them out of necessity—his coat was too hot for the beach, and it made him too noticeable. "What about it?"

"Nothing," said Cissnei, shaking her head. She smiled. "Just wondering how much the Silver Elite would pay for a picture of this."

He frowned at her. "You wouldn't dare," he said.

"No," she admitted. "But a girl can dream." She slid out of the seat, lowering the book to her side. "Did you have fun at the beach at least?"

"Hn," he grunted, noncommittally. It hadn't been a wholly unpleasant experience, aside from the fact that it was still colored by the events of today and the knowledge that Hojo was within the same city. She'd want to know about that, he realized, and he made a note to tell her at some point.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Swam a little. Got dragged into refereeing a volleyball game."

She smiled. "Zack and the others?" she asked.

He nodded, glancing at the position of the sun. It was late afternoon, but there was still an hour or so before sunset. "They're still out there," he said. "They said they'd be back before dark. Zack wants to take Aerith out to the boardwalk."

"Dinner under the stars," she noted, with a small grin. "How romantic. Aerith will love that."

He shrugged in response. The whole notion of romance continued to escape him. Sephiroth glanced back at her, noticing she was watching him. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Just a thought." He tilted his head, indicating that she should elaborate. She gestured at his back in response. "There's no mark where your wing should be," she said.

"There never is," he said, wondering what that had to do with anything. "Why?"

"I had a thought," she said. "Something that might help us understand Jenova. But we don't need to talk about it now."

"Suit yourself," he said, turning away from her. Another day, he might have pressed on, but even the mention of Jenova seemed to rub at a raw nerve. He looked back at her, deciding now would be as good a time as any to inform her about what had happened on the beach. "Hojo's in Costa del Sol," he said.

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?" she asked. At his sudden change in expression, she shook her head, raising her hand. "No, I'm sorry. Of course you're sure. Do you know what he's doing here?"

"On vacation, I suspect," he said. "What about it?"

"Cloud told me he'd retired," said Cissnei. "I was going to tell you later, but in all the excitement..." She trailed off.

He frowned. Hojo retired? The idea didn't sit well with him. In fact, it felt completely wrong. He wondered if Hojo might have more to do with this than he realized, or if he had truly stumbled unwittingly into this mess. He didn't say as much out loud, though, and from her expression, he could tell that she could read it on his face.

"Well anyway," she said. "That's not really too important right now, I guess. Zack knows to keep Aerith close?"

He nodded. He had the feeling that Zack didn't need to be told twice. "Of course."

"Then we're fine," said Cissnei, walking over to him. "Come on," she said. "Let's head inside. I'll show you to your room so you can put your things down."

"Mm," he said, nodding again as he followed her in. The lobby felt blessedly cool compared to the heat outside. He saw Red curled up in a shady spot beside the pool table, asleep from the looks of it. Cissnei looked over her shoulder at him.

"We're two to a room," she said. "Hope you don't mind. You'll be sharing with Zack this time."

He didn't mind. Zack was occasionally loud, but it couldn't be worse than sharing with Genesis. "That's fine," he said, following her in.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	61. Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This interlude is so _loooonnng_! I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, but all these characters have some dirty laundry they want aired out! Next chapter, there will be a little treat for all of you patient shippers, so expect that by the end of the week (I'm on spring break!) Enjoy!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, TOWTWUKER, Eon Penumbra, PerfectLove88, Irish-Brigid, Gohan Roxas, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, Roza Anne, Riku Uzumaki, Leon Kaye, Aeris Heartlily, **and **SubZeroChimera** for your reviews and support! It's much appreciated!

**JazzQueen, **negative publicity drives some fans away, but it only makes others more rabid. Never underestimate the tenacity of fangirls, lol.

**Irish-Brigid**, agreed!

**Gohan Roxas, **no, it's not a bad thing. I actually considered it once or twice, when it looked like Lucrecia was winning the poll. But we can settle for a friendship, right?

**Ryuukoshi, **yep, it's a little terrifying that Hojo isn't scared off at all, but he never seemed to be. Even in the games, he was cool as a cucumber (and even a little mocking) when Genesis showed up to kill him.

**Roza Anne, **Cloud was in a swimsuit, a light blue one. And it's not a beach scene, but…eh…close enough? *points down*

**Leon Kaye, **500 chapters might be a bit much, but it _is _going to be long. Still I'm glad you like it. It would be shorter if I just focused on one set of characters, but everyone has their story, and this cast really won't shut up and let other characters take the spotlight. Even counting just MAIN characters, we have Cloud, Sephiroth, Zack, Cissnei, and Aerith all with their own issues, concerns, and storylines (and Tifa, Kunsel, and Yuffie's subplots could give them a run for their money).

XxXxX

**Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun**

Yuffie Kisaragi stood outside of the wooden door on the first floor of the inn, wondering not for the first time what on earth she was doing here and if there was any way she could get out of it. She hooked a thumb into one of the belt loops of her shorts, giving the corridor a quick once-over. Costa del Sol's main inn was wide and spacious, more of a resort than a resting place for travelers. This particular corridor was lined with rooms on one side, and large windows on the other, opening out onto the courtyard and letting in the fading sunlight. She glanced at the windows. They were on the second floor, but there was a palm tree outside the second one on the right that she could shimmy down if she had to and escape into the courtyard. She could always say she had tried to talk to him, and he refused to open the door for her. But no, Kunsel could ask Sephiroth, and then it would be her word against his, and for some Leviathan-unknown reason, everyone else would believe _him_.

She looked at the mouth of the corridor to see if she could escape that way, to say Sephiroth wasn't in or that he had gone to the bathroom or something and she would try again later (_not!_), but Zack and Kunsel were standing there, talking with each other and laughing about something. Yuffie saw Kunsel glance over his shoulder at her, a meaningful look in his eye, and she scowled at him, raising her right hand and giving him a rude gesture with one finger. He only smiled in response, turning back towards Zack. She ran a hand through her hair, glancing back at the door and glaring at it as though _it _had destroyed her homeland and not the man on the other side of it.

She rocked back and forth on her heels, cursing the day she had ever agreed to accompany this party in the first place. No Materia was worth this. But then she remembered Tifa summoning Shiva on the boat, the frost crystals that had frozen the whole room. She sucked in a breath and fixed that scene in her mind.

_Do it for Wutai_, she reminded herself, staring up at the door.

Yuffie cringed inwardly, bracing herself as she raised her hand. She knocked twice, as lightly as possible, then quickly lowered her hand to her side. There. She'd done her job. If he didn't hear her, that wasn't her problem. She stepped back, feeling her shoulders slump with relief.

The door opened.

Yuffie tensed. Damn him, she thought. Damn him and his perfect hearing. Sephiroth stood behind the door, dressed, surprisingly, in a black swimsuit. He frowned at her as he saw her there, his expression puzzled. His brows rose.

"Yuffie?" he said.

Well, it was too late now. She cursed her luck, clasping her hands behind her back and putting an uncomfortable grin on her face. "Uh—hi, Seph!" she chirped. "I was just, uh—." Another glance at Kunsel. This time he was definitely watching her, a serious look on his face that told her she wasn't going anywhere. She wished him a fiery death. Yuffie turned back towards Sephiroth, who was watching her expectantly. "Uh—so…like the inn?" she asked.

His frown deepened. "It's…peaceful," he said, with the sort of tone that told her he meant '_It was, until just a minute ago_.' "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh…well, you tell me," said Yuffie. _Act sincere_, she told herself. _Act sincere, tell the truth, get it over with quickly. _"See, the thing is…" She took a deep breath. "Um…about what I said on the ship—with Jenova and all that. I don't like you, but—uh—no one deserves to be related to that thing, so…I…uh…" Another glance down the hallway. Kunsel and Zack weren't going anywhere. She looked back at him and swallowed her pride. _That _left a bitter taste in her mouth. "—I'm sorry. Alright?"

He blinked at her in surprise, his hand falling away from the doorknob. "You're sorry?" he repeated, as though he was waiting for some sort of trick. She bristled.

"That's what I said!" she said. "So…um, anyway. Are we cool?"

He still looked surprised, but he nodded once. "Apology accepted," he said.

Yuffie exhaled in relief. "Great!" she said, raising her arms up over her head. She laced her fingers together behind her head. "So…um, in the interests of apology-making and all that, I've decided to make an offer of…uh…what's the word?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Peace?" he asked.

Yuffie shook her head. "No," she said. "I mean the word for when you decide to stop fighting even though you don't like each other."

"Truce?" he offered, sounding both puzzled and slightly amused.

She shook her head again. "No, too friendly!" she said. "What's another one?"

"Ceasefire? Armistice?"

"Ceasefire!" she said, pointing at him. "Yeah, that's the one! I'm not gonna be friendly with you, but I'll work with you as long as we're traveling and vice versa, and I won't attack you while we're traveling, and vice versa. Meanwhile, you don't get to kill any Wutaiians—even if they attack us." She paused for a moment, thinking. "…Except for Tseng. Tseng doesn't count. So what do you say?"

This time, he really did look amused. She saw his lip twitch, as though he were fighting to hide his smile. He nodded instead. "I accept the terms of your ceasefire, Lady Kisaragi," he said.

"Sweet!" said Yuffie, grinning. "Now, I'm off, and if you see Kunsel, kick him in the pants for me, kay?" Before he could say anything, she took off, hurrying down the hallway and out the window she had spied earlier. She could feel his eyes on her as she left, and when she hopped up onto the windowsill and reached for the palm tree's trunk outside, she heard him close the door.

XxXxX

Cissnei hissed in pain as Aerith moved her left arm, squeezing her eyes shut and sucking in a breath behind her teeth. Aerith kept her hands firm on the other girl's arm, her frown deepening.

"Well, of course it hurts," she said. "You were shot in the shoulder."

"I know," said Cissnei, nodding once and opening her eyes. A shudder ran through her, and Aerith felt the arm in her hand relax slightly, as though by great force of will. Her arm was raised just slightly below her chest, not quite high enough to be completely straight. "I haven't been able to lift it any higher than that, or keep weight on it for too long," she said. "It's been aching since the fight on the ship. Painkillers help."

"It's been healing quickly, for a gunshot wound," commented Aerith. She wasn't a doctor, but she had seen her share of injuries in the slums, and since leaving with Zack and company. She knew how long such injuries normally took to heal, and she had heard the estimates the doctor had given, the first night they arrived in Junon. Cissnei's injury seemed to be moving past that. She frowned, but decided not to question their good fortune, reaching out and holding her hands up above the wound. Bright light filled the spaces between her fingers. Cissnei tensed, then let out the breath she was holding as the healing dulled the pain. Aerith glanced at her.

"Better?" she asked.

"Mm, much," said Cissnei nodding. "Your healing must be doing something, Aerith, even if it's not healing it completely."

"I hope so," said Aerith, her eyes narrowing in concentration as she poured herself into her work. Cissnei was right—she was beginning to feel results. There was still something lingering there, some old darkness that pressed back against her and kept her powers at bay, but it was weakening slowly, and she could actually feel the healing start to take. With any luck, Cissnei might be back to normal by the time they next found themselves in a fight—unless somebody else got injured first. The thought made her shiver, a feeling of cold washing over her despite the relative warmth of the bedroom.

Cissnei sat in the room she shared with Yuffie, at the foot of her bed. The room was bathed in orange light, coming from the setting sun outside of the window. It was a nice room, overlooking the courtyard, and just down the hall from the room she herself shared with Tifa. The four of them—Aerith, Tifa, Cloud, and Zack, had just gotten back from their time at the beach, and had met Kunsel and Yuffie in the lobby. Cissnei had stopped her on the way in, asking privately if Aerith wouldn't mind having a look at her arm. She had agreed. The two of them were still dressed in their swimsuits, Cissnei in a yellow tankini and Aerith in a light pink two-piece with a white cloth tied loosely around her waist. It would be dark soon, and the room rang with the clack of wood striking wood, coming up from the courtyard. The sound seemed to echo in her mind.

"Aerith?" asked Cissnei, concern creeping into her voice. "Everything okay?"

"Mm," said Aerith, nodding once as she finished and straightened up. She folded her arms, lowering her eyes to the ground. Her conversation with Sephiroth and the later encounter with Hojo were still weighing heavily on her mind. She glanced out the window after the sounds, looking down into the courtyard. Cloud, Kunsel, and Sephiroth stood there, the three of them still in swimsuits from the beach, with wooden sticks in hand that approximated their swords. Sephiroth stood in the center of the courtyard, his own wooden sword about the same length as Masamune and held lightly in his left hand as Cloud and Kunsel flanked him, searching for an opening. Kunsel darted forward, but Sephiroth twisted out of the way letting Kunsel's 'sword' slice through empty air as he parried a blow from Cloud. She watched as Cloud sprang back, and Sephiroth turned to swipe at Kunsel. "What are they doing out there?" she asked.

Cissnei followed Aerith's gaze, looking down at the courtyard as well. "Looks like a training exercise," she said. "If they're using wood, it can't be that serious. They're probably sparring to first touch."

"So, whoever lands a hit on another person wins?" asked Aerith.

"Mm," replied Cissnei. She smiled. "It keeps Sephiroth on his toes. That was a narrow miss." She spoke about a strike Kunsel had sent towards Sephiroth, one that he avoided only by bending backwards and letting it sail straight over his head.

"They're ganging up on him," Aerith noted, as Cloud stepped forward quickly to fill the gaps.

"They probably recognize that they can't spar seriously until he's out of the picture, if it's a three-way battle," said Cissnei.

Even with two against one, Sephiroth did not seem fazed. He moved with the same effortless grace he had used on the battlefield against Nero, his expression calm and focused as he sidestepped and parried blows, his own strikes sending his opponents reeling. In fact, Cloud and Kunsel looked like they were the ones on the ropes. They were blocking and dodging his strikes, but they looked almost frantic doing it. She remembered what he had said about battle earlier on the beach as he moved, his hair a rope of silver behind him as he darted underneath Cloud's blow and rushed to meet Kunsel, the other SOLDIER First stumbling back as swords met. The fingers of one hand curled inward, forming a loose fist. "Sephiroth's…really strong," she commented.

"I don't know," said Cissnei, offering her a small smile. "Zack might be able to give him a run for his money. Speaking of which, don't you have a date with him in a bit?"

"We're leaving in an hour," said Aerith. She saw Sephiroth turn, and Kunsel miss the second blow as the wooden sword snaked past his, catching him in the cheek. Kunsel stumbled back, nodding in acknowledgment and dropping his sword to the ground as Sephiroth rushed towards Cloud. Cloud rallied, taking a step back and raising his sword in a defensive position. He managed to fend off the first of the blade, and then the second, but the third sent him stumbling back, sweeping his sword arm off to the side and leaving him open. Sephiroth sprang up in front of him before he could regain his balance, and the next thing Aerith heard was a resounding _whap_. She winced in sympathy. "That has to hurt."

Cissnei nodded in agreement. "Cloud was doing well," she said. "So he probably forgot himself and stopped holding back." She turned towards Aerith, and Aerith could feel the ex-Turk's eyes watching her carefully, searching for something. "Aerith…" she said gently. "Is something wrong?"

"No," said Aerith quickly, shaking her head. "Nothing's wrong. I just…" She took a deep breath, watching as Cloud picked himself up off the ground. Sephiroth was right. She had to do _something_. Hiding and waiting for things to get done wouldn't help anyone. "Do you know where Red is?"

"Red?" asked Cissnei, frowning. "Try three doors down the hall on the left, Room 209. If he's not there, he's probably still down in the lobby or in the shade somewhere. Why?"

"I have to ask him a question," said Aerith, drawing herself away from the window.

Cissnei watched her closely. "Does it have to do with the Cetra?" she asked.

Aerith nodded once. "I need to ask him…" she said. "…if he knows of a place where I can learn more about them. If he does, I might—." She took a deep breath, shaking her head. She didn't want to leave the others, but if it came to that, if she had no choice. "—I mean, this is something I have to do."

"Hmm…" said Cissnei. She folded her arms, and Aerith saw her cradling her left arm close to herself. She wanted to suggest a sling—Cissnei wouldn't be too proud to take it. "As far as I'm considered," said the ex-Turk, "We lost our previous objective when we lost Rufus in Junon. And Jenova being on the ship changes things. Whatever's happening here…you and Sephiroth are at the heart of it. And you'd have a hard time finding any of us, besides maybe Yuffie, willing to leave the two of you to face it alone."

Aerith's eyes widened, and she glanced back at Cissnei. "You're saying?" she asked, a sudden cautious hope filling her.

"I'm saying talk to Red," said Cissnei. "And if you have a location in mind, come tell me. We're with you."

_We're with you. _

The words stole whatever she was going to say right out of her throat. Cissnei's eyes were sincere, her expression serious as she watched Aerith. Aerith nodded rapidly, not knowing what she could say to that as she hurried from the room to find Red.

XxXxX

Cloud winced as Tifa pressed the cold cloth to his skin, his shoulders tensing as he looked out at the courtyard. Sephiroth's last strike had left a deep purple line across his chest, even with his mako enhancements. He didn't want to think what would have happened if he had still been an infantryman. Then again, as an infantryman, he wouldn't have been crazy enough to train with Sephiroth in the first place. As it was, he still wasn't sure he was completely sane. Sephiroth had come out of nowhere in the last part of their match, rising up just as Cloud regained his balance with his left hand pulled back and ready to strike. A crash rang in his ears, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on his back looking up at the sky, his chest throbbing with pain.

"One _touch_," he muttered under his breath as he watched Sephiroth continue to train in the courtyard, going through another one of his katas.

"Well, who told you to train with him?" Tifa asked. She leaned back, releasing the ice pack as he took it from her.

"He did," replied Cloud. "It was his and Kunsel's idea." Zack had been off getting ready for his dinner with Aerith, and Cloud had been ready to head back to his room when Kunsel had stopped him, asking him if he wanted to join them for a quick spar. Cloud hadn't meant to accept, but then Sephiroth had agreed to the invitation, and he couldn't think of a way to say no with the both of them looking at him.

"Well, you agreed, so I'm going to say that you brought this on yourself," said Tifa. She placed both her hands on the bench she was sitting on, a small smile coming to her face as she watched him. "Besides, didn't you say you would be as strong as Sephiroth one day?" she asked with a giggle.

Cloud felt his face flush, and he glanced away. His memories of the days before his capture might have been patchy in places, but he remembered that much. "I was thirteen then," he said. "What did I know?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Tifa. "You did manage to hold your own for a little while. I was watching."

"You _were_?" asked Cloud, looking back at her.

She nodded. "From the window," she said. "Yuffie was with me."

Cloud groaned inwardly. He could already imagine the ninja's comments the next time she saw him. "Yuffie saw too?" he asked.

"Yes, she did," said Tifa, grinning. She shook her head. "Anyway, Cloud, I think you might be selling yourself short. You did manage to sneak into Junon before anyone else did, didn't you? Not to mention, back in Midgar—."

His face burned. "Can we _not _talk about back in Midgar?" he asked.

Tifa reached out, shoving him playfully. "I wasn't talking about the Don's mansion!" she said. "I was just talking about how you acted in Midgar in general. You protected me and Aerith."

"You didn't need much protecting," Cloud commented, glancing over at her. She'd changed a lot since their childhood, grown in a lot of ways. The Tifa Lockhart they had met in Kalm was not the same as the one he had left in Nibelheim.

"Aerith did," said Tifa, smiling. "For a while. And you tried, Cloud. That was enough for me."

Her eyes met his, and something inside of him warmed. The closeness of her seemed to draw him in. He held her gaze for as long as he was able. They were a dark deep brown, with just the barest hint of red in this light, and they seemed to draw him in. He looked away quickly, clearing his throat into his hand. Tifa drew back suddenly as well, her eyes widening. When he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her face was pink.

"Um…anyway," she said. "About your sword—have you found a replacement yet?"

Cloud frowned, remembering the sword he had left behind in Junon. It was a common sword he bought on the street, not something he shared a lot of history with like Zack and his Buster Sword or Sephiroth and Masamune, but he'd used it for a time, and he had become accustomed to it being there. He still had the weapons voucher Heidegger had given him. It was in his pocket, reminding him of what he still had to do. He shook his head.

"Um…no," he said. "I have a voucher I can go redeem, but it needs to be at a Shinra supply depot. Cissnei says there's one down the road from here, and she thinks it's safe if I go, as long as I don't stick around or say anything stupid." Her actual words had been 'Just do what you did at the parade and Corneo's mansion. You'll be fine,' but he didn't repeat them.

Tifa frowned at him, crossing her arms underneath her chest and leaning back. "So why haven't you gone?"

He took a deep breath. There was no fooling her. Tifa could always tell when he was hiding something. "Well…" he said. "They sell uniforms there too."

Realization dawned on her face. The rest of them had brought their clothes and gear onto the cargo ship, but Cloud had left all of his in the locker at Junon, bringing only the bare essentials—his wallet and his Materia. The only traveling clothes he still had with him amounted to the infantry uniform still tucked away in the room he was sharing with Red. "Are you going to get one?" she asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "What uniform would I get? Wearing the infantryman uniform just wouldn't fit anymore, but…I was never a SOLDIER. I—." He didn't think he could walk in there and ask for a SOLDIER First Class uniform, not off the rack. He could pretend to be a lot of things, but he didn't think he could pretend to be that anymore.

"It wouldn't be that easy, finding something you can travel in in Costa del Sol," Tifa said slowly, watching him as he spoke. "Especially not if you're thinking about carrying around a SOLDIER-sized sword."

"I know," he said. He'd decided that wearing a uniform would be easier—it was made for travel, and after so long, moving around in it felt almost second nature to him. And SOLDIER uniforms were made for carrying SOLDIER swords, civilian clothes would need to be customized for the weight, which would take up time they didn't have. But he didn't want to show up wearing a rank he didn't deserve, and he couldn't face the real Firsts wearing a First Class uniform he didn't earn. Tifa seemed to read his thoughts; her expression softened as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you ask?" she asked, inclining a head towards Sephiroth. The First had just finished training, and was setting down the wooden pole he had used as a replacement for Masamune, picking up a bottle of water and taking a sip. Cloud stared.

Ask Sephiroth? The thought hadn't occurred to him before. He wanted to say no, to shrink back and say that he would figure it out somehow, but he had no reason not to, aside from the fact that he was afraid to hear the answer. And Cloud was done being afraid.

He took in a breath and nodded, pushing himself to his feet. "Maybe I will," he said, leaving her sitting on the bench and walking over to Sephiroth.

The SOLDIER stood with his back to him, replacing the cap on his bottle of water. Cloud stopped a few feet away from him, his fists clenched at his side. He took a deep breath. "Sephiroth," he said.

Sephiroth frowned, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Cloud," he acknowledged, nodding his head.

"I have a question to ask you," he said.

"Go on," said Sephiroth.

"If we were still in Shinra, what rank would you say I am?"

Sephiroth didn't react as Cloud expected he would. He had expected the First to have an answer right away, to tell the blunt truth and point out that Cloud was like a lot of eager new recruits he had seen before—a SOLDIER Third and nothing more. What he didn't expect was for Sephiroth to pause in serious thought, his eyes seeming to pierce straight through him as he turned, facing Cloud fully. Cloud did his best not to shift under the weight of his gaze, straightening his shoulders as though he was standing at attention. Sephiroth's eyes moved over his stance, his expression, and the bruise across his chest, with all the thoroughness of a general. When he spoke, his voice wasn't condescending. He made no attempt to spare Cloud's feelings, instead speaking what he saw to be the truth.

"You're new," he said. "You're inexperienced and it shows. Your swordsmanship could still use a lot of work, and you have no confidence on the battlefield. Your techniques are still unrefined, and you lack the training and presence expected of a high-ranking SOLDIER."

Cloud lowered his face to the ground. He knew all that, but it still hurt to hear it said so plainly. But what had he expected from Sephiroth? "Thank you," he said. "I thought so." He nodded once to show that he understood, then moved to turn away.

"I'm not done, Cloud," he said sharply, causing Cloud to stop and look up. He tensed, bracing himself for more. Sephiroth frowned at him, watching him. He waited until Cloud had fully settled before speaking.

"That said," said Sephiroth. "You've been making remarkable progress. You've displayed presence of mind and discipline time and again, on the field and off. You show potential for leadership. You know how to follow orders, and you do as your told, but you also know when to question them. You've shown an ability to remain cool under pressure, both in Midgar and in Junon, and your performance in the marshes when your group was attacked by the Zolom…" He paused. "…exceeded expectations. Your swordsmanship is improving, and you take your lessons without complaint. In the regular SOLDIER program, I could easily see you as being a high-ranking Third Class, beginning to stand out from the crowd."

"I—I see," said Cloud, nodding quickly. Third Class wasn't much—he had expected that, but Sephiroth thought he had potential. The boy who had left Nibelheim all those years ago would have fallen all over himself just to hear that. Even the man that stood there now couldn't help but feel pride rising in his chest. He would take what he could get. "Thank you," he said, sincerely this time, as he turned away.

"Cloud."

Sephiroth's voice stopped him when he had barely gone a few steps, once again cutting off his retreat. Cloud glanced back at him, but the older SOLDIER seemed amused this time, a hint of a smile on his face and in his eyes. "You didn't let me finish," said Sephiroth again. "Given all that, if we were still in SOLDIER…"

He met Cloud's eyes.

"I would have sponsored you to Second Class."

Cloud stared, stunned. The words repeated themselves over and over again in his head, but it seemed like their meaning wasn't quite sinking in. He opened his mouth, aware that he should say something, but all that came out was "I—That's—uh, Sephiroth, I—."

Sephiroth lowered his head slightly to hide his smile, shaking his head. "_Now_, you're dismissed," he said.

Cloud nodded quickly, shutting his mouth before he said something stupid. "Yes, sir," he said quickly, running back off into the inn.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	62. Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This is the last chapter of the interlude. There will be a bit of a time skip, and then we'll get back to our regularly scheduled plot. Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, ryuukoshi, Roza Anne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Leon Kaye, IzumiYukimura **and **KuroArget** for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **oh, thanks for pointing that out! I didn't notice that. It was a mistake, I meant second floor. I'll go fix that.

**Ryuukoshi, **I meant that her power was being suppressed and that the darkness was starting to weaken, allowing Aerith to heal her now. It's my way of justifying the fact that a gunshot wound normally takes about 6-8 weeks to heal, time that they don't really have in this story. (But as to the rest of that, you'll have to wait and see *wink* ) Thanks for asking! (Also, I am predicting that you will like this chapter. Just saying.)

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **Vincent appears in Nibelheim, which is after Corel, Gongaga, and Cosmo Canyon. So about midway through Disc One, towards the end.

**Leon Kaye, **glad you like it! Sephiroth is hard to write because I don't want to make him OOC, but at the same time, he's one of the most fun to write because his perspective is so interesting!

**KuroArget, **thanks for the review! As for Cloud being used as a puppet, you might see that, I haven't fully decided yet. A lot of the things in the story that I haven't already written down are still up in the air. But I wouldn't count the possibility out!

XxXxX

**Interlude 002: Coast of the Sun**

Sephiroth found Cissnei in the inn's common room later that evening, seated at a table by the window. She had changed out of her swimsuit into a pair of shorts and a simple shirt, and was surrounded by papers on all sides, scribbling something down into a leather-bound record book. The ex-Turk looked up as he entered the room, a smile appearing on her face.

"Did you have fun training?" she asked.

"It was interesting," he admitted, stepping closer. Outside, the sun had finally set, and the courtyard was lit by lamplight. The common room had lights of his own, but even the quality of light in Costa del Sol seemed geared to be relaxing—instead of harsh bright lights like those that could be found in Midgar, the Costa del Sol lights seemed designed to bring on a more comforting glow. He frowned, folding his arms as he leaned against the armrest of the nearest couch. "Cloud came to see me afterwards," he said.

"I heard," said Cissnei, shuffling some of the papers next to her and setting them aside. He caught a glimpse of them and saw that they were receipts, from Junon. "First Aerith, then Yuffie, then Cloud. You've been busy lately."

His frown deepened as he remembered his earlier conversations. He wasn't the type to spend his time talking to the other members of their group, and yet they still sought him out. "I don't understand why," he said.

"You tell the truth," said Cissnei, with a small movement of her shoulders that might have been a shrug if she wasn't injured. "Not what you think people want to hear. It's refreshing sometimes. You can always be counted on to tell it like it is."

"And you don't?" asked Sephiroth.

She responded with a faint smile, not meeting his eyes as she twirled the pen around in her hand and continued to write in her notebook. "I have a lot of practice in telling people what they want to hear," she said.

He said nothing to that, thinking it over as she worked. For a moment, the only sound in the common room was the sound of paper rustling, and Cissnei's pen moving over paper. At length, when she studied the map of Gaia in front of her and traced her pen from one point to another, he stood up, glancing down at what she was working on. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Rearranging my notes," she replied, placing one hand on the stack of receipts next to her. "A lot of things happened while I was out. Our budget needs to be updated, and I'm still looking over what supplies we'll need for our trip out."

"Our trip out?" asked Sephiroth, glancing down at the map.

Cissnei nodded. "Aerith's given us a destination," she said. "She talked to Red earlier today. Cosmo Canyon. I'm thinking we can get there by way of Corel, then cut through the Gongagan jungle and head west from there. That'll give us enough time to resupply, and it will be easier in the long run than trying to make it straight from Corel."

"Hm." Sephiroth studied the map. "Zack's from Gongaga," he mentioned, almost casually.

"He is," said Cissnei, nodding. She smiled as she wrote something down. "I imagine he'll be happy to go home."

"If I didn't know any better," said Sephiroth, the corner of his lip quirking in a faint smile. "I'd think you planned it that way."

Cissnei's smile grew slightly mischievous as she lowered her head, her lips parting in a quick flash of teeth. "I may not be as honest as you are, but I can do my part too, in my own way."

"I see," he said, nodding once. If it had been anyone else, he might have questioned the decision, might have asked if Gongaga was too far out of their way, or if the person in question was giving them unnecessary delays. But he could already predict that for every question he had, she would have three good justifications prepared to meet it, so he let her do what she wished. If Cissnei was in charge of the preparations, there was a fairly good chance that they would get there, but not necessarily in one piece. He remembered her saying as much with that same crooked smile a year ago, when they first left Modeoheim to track Zack halfway around the Planet.

"_Getting there is my job_. _One piece is yours." _

He'd held up his end of the bargain. Masamune was always ready.

_Except in the woods outside Fort Condor_, a voice in the back of his mind reminded him. _You weren't ready then. _

His eyes darkened. It still burned to think about it. He'd been so sure that Nero was going to attack Aerith—they all were. He'd been so focused on getting to her, on taking Nero down, and then that shot...

That had been his failure, he knew. He should have been watching, should have suspected a trick. And if Cissnei had died…

He watched her work. It was obvious that her left shoulder was still giving her trouble—she kept her left hand at her side, and when she used it to reach for something, she didn't reach very far, but she worked tirelessly, rearranging receipts, studying maps, flipping through clippings of newspapers and magazines that he hadn't even seen her collect. Each finding ran from the clippings to her fingers, as she jotted it down in that notebook of hers. He'd caught glimpses of it once or twice, but saw only scribbles, an odd jumble of letters and numbers. It was a cipher, obviously, but it was one he couldn't read. He remembered how disorganized their travel from Junon had been while she was out, and how, in return, their flight to Costa del Sol had been meticulously planned. He tried to imagine her gone, tried to picture how things would have turned out if she had died before reaching Junon.

Certainly, he would have continued on. He would have led the others to Junon Harbor, and would have kept the rest of them safe. Rufus Shinra would be dead, he realized suddenly. There would have been nothing stopping him from swooping down from the sky and taking Rufus's head off of his shoulders during the parade. And then what? He thought of the scenario Cissnei had laid out for him when he first suggested taking care of Rufus himself.

Rufus's guards would spring into action. He would be able to fight them off, certainly, he was strong enough for that, and Zack and Kunsel would be able to do the same, but what about the others? They were spread out enough that he and Zack and Kunsel would only be able to save perhaps one other person each, but even without her, they would have been a group of nine. And there would be the Tsviets to consider. Whoever hadn't managed to escape would be executed publicly for their crimes—thinking about it now, it would probably have been Barret or Tifa. Or both. Zack would have protected Aerith, but he couldn't fly away. If the Tsviets overpowered and killed him, Aerith would be recaptured by Shinra, and sent to Hojo. Without an heir or a vice president, Rufus's empire would have gone to its board of directors for them to squabble over—it would be in the hands of the likes of Heidegger, Scarlet, Tuesti, and Hojo. Reeve Tuesti might be the only voice of reason on the board, but he was a small voice, and likely to be overpowered—or worse, likely to try to subvert their authority in his own way. Without a centralized leader, she'd reminded him, Tseng's loyalty and that of the Turks would go to the highest bidder, and although Heidegger commanded the Turks in name, it was well-known even among the SOLDIERs that Veld, and later Tseng, commanded himself. The Shinras were the only ones that could bring them to heel. The Turks would still work for Shinra, but which leader would they answer to? Cissnei predicted Tseng would go to Reeve—the Director of Urban Planning had assisted the Turks before, and Tseng respected the man. So Reeve might rise to power and the world be better off for it, but until that happened, it would be complete chaos, and that was one thing they couldn't afford.

And that was only if Genesis or the Tsveits didn't seize the opportunity to cut down the board and assume control. The likes of Nero the Sable and Rosso the Crimson set free and running loose in the world didn't bear thinking about. With AVALANCHE destroyed, he would have been alone to fight them, and while he could handle Genesis, he didn't think he could handle Genesis and four or five others just as strong as he was. There was a limit to his strength, and he was, as much as he hated to admit it, next to useless against Jenova. If it hadn't been for AVALANCHE's presence, he reminded himself, he would have died on the cargo ship.

He exhaled. "You were right," he heard himself say.

She looked up from her work, confused. "Hmm?" she asked.

"About Rufus. You were right. He needed to stay alive, to give our enemies a united front." The truth galled him to admit it. On the battlefield, he had seldom been wrong. But then again, on the battlefield, he had been fighting a war—one acknowledged on both sides. He was expected to attack, and he did, often and easily. If he made an enemy on the battlefield, that enemy didn't stay alive for much longer. Nothing he did was ever a secret. His enemies saw him coming.

She smiled in response, looking back down at her work. "It's my job to think about these things," she said. "Killing Rufus now isn't going to solve anything, it's just going to make the situation worse. But if the situation changes, we might have to do something." She flipped a page in her book, starting on a fresh one. He heard the sound of laughter from the hallway and listened to the voices. Zack and Aerith leaving. He wondered vaguely what the two of them would say if they knew about the conversations that went on behind closed doors. Zack was a soldier—like Sephiroth, he'd fought in open wars. On the field, you didn't plan the death of an enemy—if he was in front of you, you cut him down. Zack would rage, and argue, and bring up honor, and Aerith—.

…No, Aerith was kind, but she was smart. If it came down to that, if their reasoning was ironclad, she would express her regret and quietly walk away.

He looked up at Cissnei again, putting the thought out of his mind. He would deal with Rufus when it was time to deal with Rufus. For now, he returned to the scenario in his head—what would have happened if Cissnei had died. Assuming he managed to keep his cool in Junon—assuming Aerith or Kunsel or Zack managed to talk sense into him, what then? They would still be facing Jenova, true, and AVALANCHE would still be a unit. A disorganized unit, one with a slight tendency towards overspending, but he would probably have stepped up to the plate. He could keep a war camp organized, surely he could manage a group of nine, and yet…

…It shouldn't have, but for some reason, the thought made him feel hollow inside. He was a soldier, he reminded himself. He had lost men before. And yet…when Angeal had died, he had grieved. Not outwardly, not loudly, but he had. When it became clear that Genesis had finally gone insane, he felt…something. Sadness certainly—a part of him still felt it when he remembered the friend Genesis had been—but even in the beginning, it was clear that Genesis's arrogance would be his downfall someday. If Zack had died in the Midgar wasteland, if he and Cissnei had been too late, he would have been upset, perhaps even angry. He would have mourned his friend, would have set up the Buster Sword on that hill as a monument and a reminder. Perhaps he would have even vowed revenge. But he would not…

He would not have felt this. The thought of _Zack _being dead didn't make him feel this same numbness, almost a dull, hollow ache. He had thought about it, in the night during their trip to Junon, replayed the situation with Nero over and over again. And each time, when he thought she was about to die, and he thought about that one moment of decision, when he had gone for Aerith instead of Cissnei, a part of him regretted it. He knew it wasn't right—in his mind, he knew. Aerith was not expendable. She was the last of the Cetra, whatever was happening with Jenova and Genesis and the Planet hinged on her in ways he didn't understand, but he knew that he had to protect her. And Cissnei was a Turk, useful, true, skilled, true, but not wholly unique. She would have been the first to say, if she'd had the chance, that his choice was clear—he should have gone for Aerith. And yet…

And yet, in the dark of the night, when he replayed that scene in his mind, when he saw Nero raise his wing, heard the shot, and saw Cissnei fall, the same thought had come to him each time. I should have gone to her. I should have gone to Cissnei.

He'd never told her that, in part because he didn't understand it, and in part because it had been an unprofessional thought.

He cleared his throat, wondering why it suddenly felt thick, as he watched her work. He folded his arms. "You…uh...you do a lot," he said. He wasn't sure what he had meant to say, but that was not it. He meant to commend her for the amount of work she did, to mention that he noticed, as he noticed how Cloud was improving. Everything he'd wanted to say was on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason, that was all he managed.

She looked up, smiling. "Someone has to," she said, shutting her notebook and putting down her pen. He coughed into his fist.

"What I meant to say," he said. "Is that you were—rather, I mean you're—you do—." He trailed off. "You're very…organized…" he finished lamely.

She stared at him with a puzzled expression. "Er…thanks?" she said. He looked away. What was wrong with him? He wasn't some green recruit fresh from the countryside, to stutter and stumble over all his sentences. He took a deep breath, trying again.

"What I mean is…I hadn't noticed how much you do," he admitted, talking to the floor. For some reason, that made it easier. "And…I'm glad you survived. That's all I wanted to say." He pushed himself up off the couch he was leaning against, deciding that now was the best time to make a retreat. For some reason, he felt embarrassed, and didn't look at her, turning instead towards the door as he walked away. He could feel her eyes on him, watching him, and he didn't turn around, not wanting to imagine what he would find there. A part of him wished he hadn't spoken at all—certainly that was something unnecessary to say.

He'd barely gone a few steps when he heard the scrape of the chair sliding back against the tiled floor behind him. Arms wrapped around him from behind, and he froze in place. She was holding him—he could feel her weight and her warmth pressing against his back. In most situations, he would have called such a grab and attack, but her arms were loose around him, and he was aware of everything—her breathing, her touch, her heartbeat and…his own. He didn't dare move, didn't dare do anything in case he did something wrong, in case he frightened her away, and he didn't know what he could have done in the first place, so he stood there, completely still, his eyes focused on the wall in front of him and his heart racing. She remained there for a few moments, and then he felt her grip on him loosen, felt her weight shift as she leaned up on the tips of her toes to whisper into the air just above his shoulder.

"_One touch," _she announced, in a slightly playful tone. Her voice was lower than usual, laced with a heat he hadn't heard before. His body responded—he felt warmth blossoming in his blood. His eyes widened, and—.

—She pulled away. Her presence suddenly left him, and she stepped around him, walking in front of him. She paused and looked over her shoulder, and when she spoke, her voice was back to its normal quality, her tone playful and a smirk on her face. "You should watch for attacks from behind," she said. "You never know what might come at you."

She turned away, walking towards the door, and he watched her go. He remained where he stood as the door closed, staring at the spot where she had been, his heart still beating fast. He remembered the feel of her even after she had gone, warmth still coursing through his veins. Outside, he heard her voice as Yuffie approached her, her own tone casual, as though nothing had happened.

"_Hey, Turkey—what'cha up to?" _

"_I have some work to finish up," _she said, and he could hear her smile. _"And then I was thinking of getting in an early night, maybe doing a bit of reading." _

"Reading?!" Yuffie sounded disgusted. _"We're in Costa del Sol, what are you? Sixty? Come on! We are going __**out**__! You can be my wingman..." _He heard their voices fade as they disappeared down the hallway. _"Hey, Tifa, you coming—?" _

He stood there for a long moment after they had left, his eyes on the door.

XxXxX

Zack looked over his shoulder as he and Aerith walked down the road away from the inn, arm in arm. His eyes fell on the white-haired figure still standing in the courtyard, staring at a spot ahead of him with a look of confusion on his face. Sephiroth had been wearing that same grave expression since he emerged from the common room, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance, as though he wasn't really seeing what was in front of him, but was thinking on something far off. He looked back at Aerith.

"You see the look on Seph's face?" he asked. "He's been like that for a while. Wonder what's eating him."

Aerith frowned in thought. "Hmm…I don't know," she said, shaking her head. A playful smile appeared on her face, and she glanced over at him, pulling closer. "_Zack Fair_," she said, in mock outrage. "Don't tell me you're thinking of Sephiroth when you're on a date with _me_!"

Zack grinned, shaking his head. He pulled his arm out of hers, wrapping it around her waist. "My bad," he said, leading her towards the boardwalk. "Well then. Shall we go?"

"Yes," said Aerith, returning the smile. "Yes, we shall."

XxXxX

Later that night, after all of them had gotten back, Cissnei sat on the long couch in the common room, watching as Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie giggled over something across from her. Aerith and Zack had gotten back from their date a little after the three of them had returned from their short-lived trip to the bar, after Cissnei winning at a game of darts had prompted Yuffie to call her 'the worst wingman ever'! She guessed that it must have been a good one. From down the hall, she could hear a shower running—Sephiroth, probably, she mused. She'd seen him heading in that direction. Tifa and Yuffie were talking about Zack, but as soon as the three of them stopped laughing, Tifa changed the subject, looking up.

"By the way, Yuffie," she said. "It's a good thing you made peace with Sephiroth."

Aerith looked up as well, her eyes widening. "Oh yeah," she said. "I heard about that. How did that happen?"

"Oh, well, you know," said Yuffie, smiling modestly. "I just figured, we have enough problems without fighting among ourselves, and well, it was really a stupid thing to say, and I did regret it in the end, so I figured I should let him know that."

The two of them blinked in surprise. It was Tifa who spoke first.

"Wow, Yuffie, that's…really mature of you," she commented.

Yuffie grinned. "Well, you know me," she said, playing with the tassel on one of the couch cushions. "Super mature, heir to Wutai, all that jazz."

A loud thud echoed from down the hall, followed by the shower suddenly cutting out. An angry bellow echoed through the room. "YUFFIE KISARAGI!"

"Whoops," said Yuffie, jumping up. "That's my cue! Catch you all later!"

She hopped up onto the coffee table, bounding out the common room's open window and into the courtyard. Angry footsteps echoed down the hallway after her. She'd barely been gone a handful of seconds when the door to the common room burst open. Cissnei stared. Sephiroth stood in the doorway, dressed in a cotton bathrobe. He had obviously just jumped out of the shower, he was trailing water everywhere, and there were shampoo suds in his hair. His hair—.

She stared at him, dumbstruck. His once-silver hair was a bright, bright pink.

His eyes darted around the common room, taking in the sight of Tifa, Aerith and Cissnei all staring at him with wide eyes, before his eyes moved to the open window. With a snarl, he ran forward, using the coffee table as a springboard and jumping right through it, trailing water and pink dye-stained shampoo suds all the way. She heard a thud as he landed in the courtyard, followed by Yuffie's startled shriek and the sound of running.

"_YUFFIE!" _

"_Uh, you know if you kill me, it'll be an international incident!" _

"_I'll show __**you **__an international incident!" _

"_H-Hey, Seph, sit down and think about this! Pink is totally your color!" _

Their footsteps echoed through the courtyard, and Cissnei looked up from over the coffee table to see Tifa and Aerith both looking at her, the same looks of dumbfounded shock on their faces.

Their eyes met, and then all at once, the three of them started laughing.

**END INTERLUDE**


	63. File 019: The Mountain Town pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **My random list generator likes Red for POV scenes, apparently. Ah well, it gives me a unique perspective to write from. A bit of a set-up chapter here, so bear with me. We're starting a new story arc, but hopefully you like this chapter anyway. ^^

Thanks go to **ryuukoshi, KuroArget, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, PerfectLove88, Gohan Roxas, RinHildeSora, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, IzumiYukimura, RozaAnne, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, Eon Penumbra, Leon Kaye, shadowneko003, **and **Draconic** for your reviews and support. I'm glad you all liked pink-haired Sephiroth (and the Sephissnei scene as well!). I had a fun time imagining that scene. Thanks for reading!

**Ryuukoshi, **no, it's not going to be. They're going to go back to how they were before, but with some small changes. ^^ (He certainly is still puzzling over that event).

**KuroArget, **if anyone wants to take on that challenge, I would love to see the results!

**Irish-Brigid, **he does seem more human in that scene, doesn't he? I couldn't get it out of my head, once I imagined it, I had to write it.

**Eon Penumbra, **the trope page is sadly suffering from neglect. I would love to update it, but I haven't had the time. If any of you readers want to take that on, feel free. I'd love to see what you guys come up with! And yes, he is just like an awkward teenager, isn't he? Although he never got to be an awkward teenager, so it would make sense.

**Leon Kaye, **I knew what I was getting into. When I wrote that ending scene, I knew that it would completely overshadow the Sephissnei scene in the chapter and in the reviews. But I regret nothing, lol.

**Draconic, **It was Zack. He remembered from the fanclub.

XxXxX

**File 019: The Mountain Town**

The mountain air was crisp and cold, bearing with it the hint of smoke. He could feel loose stones scraping underneath his claws as he walked up the path with the rest of the party. The path was barely wide enough for three people to walk abreast, and as such, the group had formed a narrow line. Sephiroth walked at the head, as always. He wore a scowl on his face, his eyes set in the same glare he had been wearing over the past few days. His hair spilled over his shoulder, gleaming silver, but of a sort that still flashed pink in the right light. He shot a glare over his shoulder at Zack and Cloud, who hid their smiles. Cloud wore a purple SOLDIER 2nd Class uniform now. He had gotten it with his sword at the stop in Costa del Sol. Word of his conversation with Sephiroth had gotten around—when Cloud showed up ready to go, he had been greeted with smiles, and a quick jab from Zack that he was the only one Zack had ever known who had gone through First and Second class without seeing Third. He and Cloud followed close behind now, with Tifa not far behind them. The three of them seemed to be at ease with the climb, laughing and joking around with each other on occasion. Red kept an eye on the sheer drop to his right as they rounded the corner. If any of them lost their footing and fell, it could mean the end.

It had been four days since they had left Costa del Sol. In that time, the ground had sloped steadily upward, the mountains in the distance drawing ever closer. They were in those mountains now, scaling them as they headed towards the now defunct town of Corel. There wasn't enough left of the town to resupply, but from what he gathered, it served as a landmark, and there was a cable car to take on the other side of the mountain down towards the Gold Saucer. It didn't matter to him what the others chose to do, though, all that mattered was where they were headed. Cosmo Canyon.

Home.

It had been a while since he had allowed himself to think about coming home. He wondered if he would see Deneh…but no, it had not been that long since she had sealed herself in the altar. Less than ten years, in fact. Had it really been that short of a time? In the lab, it felt like much longer. He had attempted to prove himself a Guardian of the Canyon and had failed, and now he was returning home, with a Cetra in tow while Shinra's empire crumbled slowly at the seams and an evil he had never heard or seen before walked the earth. What was the world coming to?

He raised his head, putting those thoughts out of his mind as he negotiated a particularly narrow passage. Said Cetra was lingering towards the middle of the group, a somewhat tense smile on her face as she braced one hand on the mountain wall and attempted to keep her balance as she climbed. Zack immediately doubled back, placing a hand on hers and guiding her up the mountain. Aerith gave him a thankful smile.

"I didn't think it would be this high," she said to Zack.

"This is nothing," said Tifa, as she and Cloud paused to look back at them. "Mt. Nibel is higher."

"What?" asked Zack, shaking his head. "Nah, it can't be. This definitely seems higher than that."

"Because you started the climb from Nibelheim," said Tifa. "By the time you get there, you're already halfway up the mountain."

Sephiroth didn't pause, turning his head to glance back at them. "Let's keep moving," he said gruffly, continuing to walk. The four of them exchanged glances, and instead of the fear, respect, or even anger that had used to come from such comments by Sephiroth, Red saw them grin, Aerith covering her mouth with her hand to mask a smile as Tifa motioned at her hair. Sephiroth's scowl deepened—he seemed to be doing his best to ignore them. From a little bit behind him, he saw Yuffie stick her hands into the pockets of her shorts, looking away and whistling guiltily. The princess seemed quite capable of climbing the mountain, but lingered near the rear of the group, probably not wanting to risk provoking Sephiroth too much in one day.

Barret walked toward the rear of the group as well, a scowl on his face. Ever since they had crossed into the mountains, he had been in as bad of a mood as Sephiroth. None of them understood the reason why, save perhaps Cissnei, and she wasn't telling, but they had had enough experience with Barret's temper by now to know to leave him his space.

"Yo!" shouted Zack, looking back at the group. "Kunsel, keep up!"

Kunsel grimaced, looking up at Zack and shaking his head. "Sorry," he said. "Looks like I'm a city boy after all."

Red didn't quite hear Zack's reply, letting Barret and Kunsel walk ahead of him as he paused on the ledge. He looked back down at the mountain path and at the last member of their group, waiting patiently for her to catch up. Cissnei's arm had been healing remarkably fast, according to Aerith, but it still wasn't at its full capacity, and by their fourth day of traveling and their second day of hiking through the mountains, it was beginning to show. She looked up at him, giving him a strained smile as she passed.

"Hey," she said. "You didn't have to wait for me."

Red shook his head, looking back at the group. They were approaching a large rope bridge now, Sephiroth leading the way. "It doesn't bother me," he said. "I could easily catch up."

Cissnei nodded once, and he waited until she was walking on the road directly beneath the ledge he was standing on before he started to move again. He glanced at her, taking note of her walk. She moved with steady steps, one foot in front of another, with practiced discipline, but it was clear that it was taking all of her effort and concentration to keep moving forward. Even in his mood, Sephiroth had suggested a stop once or twice, but she had denied it, insisting that they needed to keep moving. He watched her now. She was a small little thing—if he caught her unawares, it wouldn't take him more than a swipe of his paw to break her neck, and yet the Turks had been the ones that had captured him at Cosmo Canyon. And as he remembered, she had been there.

He contemplated that now as he watched her stagger her way up the mountainside. He never would have thought to be traveling with a Turk, in the company of SOLDIERs and a reformed AVALANCHE, with a descendant of the Cetra. Fate made for strange bedfellows.

Making his decision, he leapt down from his ledge, landing beside her. He settled into an easy walk, bringing up the rear. "…Perhaps it would be easier on you if you leaned on me," he suggested.

The smile she gave in return was slightly rueful. "On which side?" she asked. "The left would hurt, and I need my right."

"There is no need to keep this pace," he said. "I'm sure if you asked, the others would stop."

She shook her head. "We can't stop," she said. "Not until we're out of these mountains. We're—."

Whatever she was about to say was drowned out by the sound of gunshot, a bullet ricocheting off the mountain wall exactly where Yuffie had been a moment ago.

The group sprang into action. Zack grabbed Aerith, wheeling her around him as the others unsheathed blades, looking around for the source of the attack. Red turned his head towards the source of the sound, and there he saw them, a small contingent of Shinra troops, mostly infantrymen but with some SOLDIERs among them, making their way down a trail directly before the bridge. A second group was coming up, attacking them at their rear. From the head of the group, Sephiroth whirled, cutting down the two nearest soldiers before even changing stance. Barret immediately ran forward and opened fire, and one of the infantrymen screamed before falling clear off the mountain.

He growled, looking back at the group advancing up the mountainside towards them, and glanced at Cissnei. "Run," he said, nudging her once with his body when she failed to comply. "Run," he said again.

She stumbled to the side this time, her eyes wide as she nodded once. She turned, running back up the mountain towards the rest of the group. Red dug his claws into the ground and launched himself forward as one of the infantrymen neared them, feeling his claws tear through fabric as his teeth found flesh. The others poured past him on either side—three of them, running towards Cissnei. He looked up from the man he had attacked to see her wheel around, Rekka opening one man's throat. Blood spattered against the rocks as her pursuer collapsed, and she completed her turn, resting the flat of the shuriken against another attacker's chest as she pushed him backwards. He stumbled back, and Red heard him groan before falling backwards off the mountainside, clutching something in his belly. He looked, and saw the hilt of a knife in the split second before the man fell. The third advanced towards her, and Rekka slashed twice across his chest, but those blows failed to drop him. Red launched himself towards her attacker, his claws gripping his back as he threw him to the ground with a roar.

At the front of the group, Sephiroth cut a path through the main wave of attackers. His voice rang, clear and commanding as he kicked a body out of his way and glanced back at the remainder of the group. "Forward!" he said, brandishing his sword. "Across the bridge!"

The group ran forward, charging towards the bridge like a human wave. Red saw Zack jump ahead of Sephiroth, grabbing the Buster Sword in both hands and letting its weight propel him as he swung around. He took two infantrymen just as they were preparing to bunker down in front of the bridge—Red heard the sound of bones cracking. Tifa and Cloud stood back to back, fighting off a pair of them. Tifa tripped hers, throwing him off the mountainside with a cleverly placed foot sweep as Cloud spun around, stabbing his new Force Stealer straight through another soldier's chest. Red sped up, sprinting forward two paces before clearing the rest of the distance. He spun in the air, letting out a loud growl as he threw another one of the soldiers against the mountain and began running onto the bridge. The bridge shook with their weight and the weight of their pursuers as the others followed, rushing onto the rope bridge, but they were faster. Red ran quickly, feeling wood change to stone beneath his feet as he arrived at the other side. The infantrymen scrambled to catch up, a stream of them now, but for the most part, they were alone on the other side.

Yuffie jumped the last few feet, clearing the bridge and landing on the ground next to Red. She wheeled around, her previous enmity with Sephiroth forgotten as she turned towards him. "Cut it!" she cried. "Cut it now!"

Sephiroth turned, raising Masamune to cut through the metal cords that held up the bridge. Aerith's eyes widened as she spotted something on the other side, and she stepped forward.

"Wait!" she shrieked.

Sephiroth froze in midair, his eyes widening as he saw it too. Red stared, realizing with a sinking feeling what they had all noticed.

Cissnei, standing alone on the other side of the bridge, her back against the mountainside as she fought back the rearguard of the advancing force—five infantryman that had stayed to face her, even as the others advanced.

XxXxX

Cissnei grit her teeth against the pain in her shoulder as the second infantryman dropped, Rekka feeling like a dead weight against her side as her left hand fell. She shifted it to her right hand, staring at the remainder. There were only three of them now—the rest were crossing the bridge, and judging from the sounds of fighting she heard, at least a few of them made it. She studied the three infantrymen as they moved to advance, her fingers tightening around Rekka's grip. Before they could reach for their rifles, she rushed forward, twisting around and bringing Rekka straight towards one of the men's head.

Her shuriken caught him in the side of his head and flew out of her hand as he slashed down at her. She felt the shock of impact traveling up her arm, Rekka clanging against his helmet. He recoiled, taking a step back, his helmet askew. Cissnei scrambled back against the rock as he regained his balance and advanced, his helmet falling off his head and clattering to the ground. Rekka landed point down at his feet. He stepped past it, and Cissnei saw the snarl on his face as he moved towards her, reaching for his gun. She looked over, but the others were fighting across the bridge, Sephiroth grabbing one SOLDIER by the neck and throwing him clear off the mountain. He pivoted, saw her, and she saw him start forward, but he was too far back, and even if he flew, it would be too late by the time he reached her.

She pressed herself back against the rock, grabbing onto her last knife as she looked straight at her attackers. Three infantrymen, raising their guns. The knife would be useless against their rifles, and she was without a weapon and pinned against the wall of a mountain like a criminal awaiting execution. There was no way out. The knife slid home, its hilt landing smoothly in her right hand as her eyes narrowed. If this was it, she would go out fighting. She heard the click of safeties being released.

A knife flew out of the shadows behind her, taking the unhelmeted infantryman in the eye. He staggered back, his eyes wide as he lost his footing and slipped clear off the mountainside. Before the others could react, a second knife struck another infantryman in the throat. Cissnei reacted quickly, throwing herself to the ground and scrambling out of the way as a third open fired, bullets spraying the side of the mountain. She rolled over, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she let the knife fly. It caught the infantryman in the throat; he let out a garbled sound as he dropped to his knees and grabbed at it. Cissnei ignored him, sitting up and looking around.

There were reinforcements heading up the mountain trail, rushing towards them. The party's main force was holding their own, but Cissnei saw artillery and war machines stomping their way up the trail. She glanced back at Zack and the others. Zack tried to run back towards her, but Sephiroth grabbed at his arm to stop him, his expression hard. He knew and she knew. They would have to lose the bridge. She gave him a curt nod, quickly, before she changed her mind, scrambling to her feet. She saw him step forward, as though he intended to cut the ropes and then fly towards her, but she looked away from him, watching the advancing army. Her heart thudded in her chest as she stared at them, but, she reminded herself, it wasn't the worst situation she had ever been in, and this time, she had help.

She glanced at the fallen infantryman, the one currently bleeding out from the wound on his neck. The knife that had taken him was a sleek black blade, weighted for throwing. She would recognize that type of knife anywhere, although she certainly hadn't expected to see it here. She turned, looking for the thrower.

"Move!" shouted a voice from the mountainside. "What are you waiting for? _Move_!"

A woman stood in a crevice, one so small Cissnei had barely noted it. She darted back the way she came as soon as she saw Cissnei looking, but Cissnei hadn't needed more than a glance to recognize her. The woman in question had short dark brown hair…and a hand full of throwing knives. She glanced back at the force advancing up the mountain and at Sephiroth holding the bridge, then quickly made her decision, grabbing onto Rekka and scrambling through the crevice. The woman grabbed onto her good arm and pulled her through just as bullets began to strike the mountainside. She pulled her towards herself, drawing her back just in time. Her last glimpse of the outside was Sephiroth moving, cutting through the metal cords that held the bridge up in two quick motions.

A series of small controlled explosions echoed up the passage, triggering a rock fall. Cissnei instinctively turned away from the blasts, shielding her eyes. When she looked back, there was no sign of the passage or an opening in the mountain face. She let out the breath she was holding, then looked back at her rescuer, who was staring at her with an expression about as relieved and surprised as her own.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	64. File 019: The Mountain Town pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **The way the fic is set up is that each group of Files represents a story arc (what would be a Chapter, in say FFXIII or some video games or a Part in some books) and the arcs are separated by interludes where things wind down and the characters get a chance to explore their issues and go over the developments of the arc. We've had two so far—the Midgar Arc and the Road to Junon Arc, and now we're starting a third which, depending on content, will either end before Gongaga or at Cosmo Canyon.

Thanks go to **ryuukoshi, JazzQueen, Gohan Roxas, Furionknight, SapphyreMyst, Roza Anne, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, PerfectLove88, Kurogane7, **and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews and support. As always, it's much appreciated!

**Irish-Brigid, **it was four days after they left Costa del Sol, but only one day of vigorous mountain climbing. So about three days of gently sloping ground/foothills. And thanks for that note about Red. I'm usually pretty good at checking the timeline, but I slipped up on that one. Good catch!

**Kurogane7, **I will, but not because you said 'would you kindly'. I know how that works. :P

**Leon Kaye, **well, not everyone who helps them will end up joining the party—like Shion, for example. I think the party roster is pretty much set in stone right now, with only Cid and Vincent missing, but I won't make any promises for down the line. ^_^ As for Seph being more of a swordsman than a magic-user, I guess that's how I've sort of imagined him in my head. In CC, in the cutscene where he fights Genesis and Angeal, he fights them both off without really using magic (as opposed to Genesis, who definitely uses some spells), and in Dissidia, the majority of his fighting style involves swordsmanship and not Materia usage really, as did the final battle with him and Cloud in AC.

So, really, it's established that Seph can fight off most of the people in the Compilation without even needing to resort to Materia. I guess part of the reason I don't write him as using it is because it would make him overpowered and hard to write, and also at the same time, when I block out the fight scenes in my head, he uses a sword, and maybe some healing Materia. Although he will get a Summon down the line, just like all the others.

XxXxX

**File 019: The Mountain Town**

After the collapse of the bridge, the group didn't pause, making their way quickly up the slope. Zack kept a hand on Aerith's arm, keeping her ahead of him as he hurried them up the side of the mountain. Aerith was breathing hard from exertion, and she could feel her chest burning for air, but she didn't dare stop, not until they were far enough away and out of the reach of Shinra's guns. She had no doubt in her mind that they would shoot if they could, and terror drove her forward, adrenaline allowing her to keep the pace until they were up off of the slope and onto a more level part of the mountain. There, the group collapsed in a heap, several of their members slumping down against the rocks as Sephiroth finally drew to a stop.

Aerith let out a sigh of relief, leaning against a rock wall to catch her breath. Up here, the air was thin and cold, but it was blessedly quiet. The only sound she could hear was their own footsteps and breathing. It appeared they had escaped the ambush for now. She took in another couple of gulps of air, then looked up at the others.

Zack had stepped away from her, and was now looking back at the trail, a thoughtful expression on his face. He still had one hand on his sword, the edge of which was crusted with dried blood—Aerith tried not to look at that too much. His expression was serious and troubled, his eyes set on the trail, and she knew what he was thinking. They had left Cissnei back there.

"Zack…" she began, straightening up and walking towards him.

He shook his head. "Someone has to go back," he said, looking back at the group. The others looked up at him from where they stood, expressions grim.

Sephiroth looked up coolly. "No one goes back," he said.

Zack scowled, rounding onto Sephiroth. "How can you say that?!" he demanded, taking a step forward. "Cissnei—."

"—escaped," finished Sephiroth. "And we would be wise to do the same. Unless one of you likes their chances against an entire contingent of the Shinra army. Zack?"

Zack fell silent, his eyes darkening. He folded his arms and glared at Sephiroth, but said nothing.

"I thought so," said Sephiroth, turning around. There was a definite edge to his voice, as though he didn't like the situation any more than Zack did. He stepped forward. "We press on. Cissnei is an experienced field agent. She can catch up."

Zack snorted, storming off angrily. Aerith stepped forward, about to follow him, but changed her mind, her hand slowly falling back to her side from where she had been about to tug at his arm. He followed a few feet behind Sephiroth, still seething. She let him go, glancing back at the trail that led down the mountain as the others slowly started moving as well, Barret a little reluctantly. Sephiroth was right—their chances against an entire army on ground like this weren't very good, but she got the impression that he might have a decent chance…

…If he could bring himself to leave the rest of them unprotected on the mountainside. Aerith stared after him as he walked away, far ahead of the others with his shoulders square and his back towards them. She bit her lip, glancing back down the path.

_Stay safe, Cissnei…_she thought, quickly jogging to catch up with the others. The other members of their party were clustered towards the rear of the group, giving both Zack and Sephiroth a wide berth. They looked uncertain, Cloud and Kunsel exchanging looks as Tifa watched the other two with concern. Only Barret barely seemed to notice what had happened. He stared straight ahead, his dark mood only getting darker as they neared the summit. She glanced at Barret, then looked away, wondering what had happened to the light-hearted party that had left Costa del Sol.

The summit came ever closer.

XxXxX

Back here again.

Barret scowled as he stood with the others, looking out over the ruined camp that was all that was left of Old Corel. He heard Aerith and Tifa gasp as they crested the ridge, looking down at the town.

"What a dump!" Yuffie exclaimed.

He shot her a glare, but she didn't seem to notice. Sephiroth paused only for a moment to take in the town, before walking past with his usual cool indifference. Barret glared at him too, not sure which was worse. He clenched his human hand into a fist as he looked down at the town, gritting his teeth. He didn't want to go down there. If he had his way, he would never go anywhere near Corel again. But this was his fault, and he had to face it. If he didn't, how could he look Marlene in the eye again? Keeping that in mind, he folded his arms, following Sephiroth down the mountain.

A couple of the miners were sitting around one of the tents playing dice. Barret glanced at them, recognizing them from the old days. He looked away, but they recognized him too, and anger flashed through their eyes as they sat up, walking towards him. Barret turned to meet them, aware that the rest of the party had noticed and had stopped to watch. He stood completely still, even as the leader, a guy called Joey, he remembered, from back in the day, stepped forward and slugged him hard across the face.

He recoiled, but didn't retaliate. Zack's eyes widened, and Barret saw him step forward. "Hey!" he shouted. Barret raised his human hand out towards him, stopping him, and Zack frowned, freezing in place with one hand on the hilt of his sword. A miner glanced at Zack, then spat on the ground in front of him, looking back at Barret.

"Well lookey here!" he said. "Never thought I'd ever see your face again. They kick you out of another town or something? You destroy everything you touch."

_None of your goddamned business…_Barret wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, he remained silent, staring at the ground at the miners' feet. Another image came to mind, freezing the words in his throat. Sector 7. The sight of that plate, all of that metal just sitting there, blocking the entrance, and knowing that Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were under there. Heck, knowing that there was an entire Old Corel under there. Just thinking about it made him sick.

"You got a lot of balls comin' back here!" snarled another miner. Barret couldn't remember his name. Sam, or something like that. He'd only been a kid when Barret left. He was still a kid now, he thought, but he looked so much older. "Look at this place!" he shouted. "It's all _your _fault North Corel turned into a garbage heap!"

"Why don't'cha say something?!" asked the third miner, leaning forward. "Or did ya forget what you done here already?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but the thought of Biggs, and Wedge, and Jessie made him close it again. Sector 7…North Corel…His shoulders slumped, and he stared down at the ground.

"…I'm sorry…" he said, although he wasn't sure who he was talking to. The guys in front of him, or the ghosts.

"Fuck it," snarled the first miner vehemently. That was Joe. "You ain't even worth the effort." He turned around. "Don't waste your time talking with that Techno-freak," he said to the others. The three of them nodded and turned, stomping away. Barret stood there, and he was aware of every eye in North Corel on him, a silence settling over the town as the others watched him.

He turned around slowly, looking back at the others. They were all watching him now. Most of them looked slightly concerned. Even Sephiroth looked uncertain, glancing around at the others as if he wasn't sure what he should say. Their concern made his stomach churn unpleasantly. He wished they would stop that, especially Aerith and Tifa. He didn't deserve to be looked at that way.

"Well, you heard 'em," he said. "It's my fault this town was destroyed."

Cloud stepped forward, reaching out a hand. Barret quickly turned away from it, and before any of them could say anything, he ran off, heading past the camp and back into the mountains.

XxXxX

The two of them waited in tense silence as the sound of footsteps faded away from the other side of the passageway, heading down the mountain. They were sitting in the dark in a small hollow beneath the passage they had come in from, hands cupped over flashlights as they waited with bated breath. The other woman had collapsed the passage three more times, effectively blocking Shinra pursuit. Cissnei had heard them trying to use the artillery machines to drill their way through, but after drilling through the first layer of rock, it seemed as though they had given up. She let out the breath she was holding as the last scraping, clanking footstep made its way down the mountainside. The woman beside her waited a beat before looking up, her eyes narrowed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked.

Christina, known as Chris, was pleasant company on most days, but she was Corel born and bred, and there were days when it showed, particularly when she was upset. Cissnei blinked. "Sorry?" she said.

"You know damn well what I mean." She got up, shaking her head and running a hand through her short hair. "You nearly gave Gun and Rod heart attacks."

She stared. "Lydia and Xander?" she asked. She was slightly surprised that they had been together, but thinking about it, she supposed she shouldn't have been. They had been partners as Turks, much to Lydia's dismay, but Cissnei had always gotten the impression that the serious gunslinger was more attached to her partner than she would have cared to admit. "Where?"

"Costa del Sol. Where do you think?" asked Lydia. "Walking around in plain sight. Going to a _bar_! It's a good thing they got to me before Shinra found you. What were doing out there anyway?"

Cissnei folded her arms, feeling a small wry smile come onto her face. She remembered feeling like she was being watched as she, Yuffie, and Tifa entered that bar, but she looked around and hadn't seen anyone. "Would you believe I was escorting royalty?" she asked.

Chris rolled her eyes. "Yuffie Kisaragi, right?" she asked, with a snort. "Heard about that. What the hell are you getting yourself into, Ciss?"

"Sometimes, I wonder," said Cissnei. She tried to gauge how far they were underground, but it was impossible. The passage widened under their feet in a way that could not have been natural—she guessed that they were walking directly into the heart of the mountain. Beams held up the roof of the passage on both sides, suggesting that this was one of Corel's many abandoned mine shafts. The sight of a cart, abandoned by the side of the path confirmed her suspicions.

She frowned, thinking back to Sephiroth, Zack and the others. They would be alright, she assumed. Sephiroth had taken the bridge, which meant the only way for a Shinra force to meet them would be to go around and ambush them when they came down from the mountain. And while that was a distinct possibility, it was one they would be ready for. A thought struck her, and she glanced at the ex-Turk beside her as Chris stepped lightly over a small pile of rubble.

"Didn't Tseng say we weren't supposed to go back to our hometowns?" she asked.

"We're not supposed to blow up Mako Reactors either, but look where we are," said Chris, glancing back at her.

"Touché."

Chris sniffed disdainfully, holding up her flashlight. "Tseng can go stick his head in a bucket and drown if he thinks he's going to keep me from coming back here. My pa and grandpa were miners—this town is in my blood. You wouldn't understand."

"No, I wouldn't," said Cissnei automatically. Not having a hometown, it was difficult to understand. She had been born in Junon, technically, but that was different. There had been days when she had wished Junon would meet the same fate. She put the thought out of her mind, following closely.

"You mentioned you'd been in contact with the others," she said. "Got any news for me?"

"Maybe," said Chris, glancing back at her. "Honestly, I don't know how much I should tell you. You're kind of the black sheep right now."

"The black sheep," she repeated. "Of the _Turks_?"

"The white sheep then, if it makes you feel better about yourself," said Chris. She shrugged. "How about this. Trade you. My info for yours."

"What do you want to know?" asked Cissnei.

"The Tsviets. Sephiroth and Genesis. AVALANCHE. And anything Shion might have told you."

Cissnei frowned, thinking it over. It was a lot of stuff, not all of which was information she was willing to part with. "What will you give me in return?" she asked.

Chris's response was to glance back at her. "You're not the only one of us with a side-project. I've got some information I think you might be interested in. It has to do with Shinra's board of directors. And also…" She grinned. "I've got an informant on Deepground you might want to meet."

"Done," said Cissnei. It was already understood that she wouldn't tell Chris everything and vice versa. There were still certain things she would keep to herself.

"Alright," said Chris. "Not here, though. Let's keep going. It's not that far ahead."

She walked ahead of her, holding the flashlight. Cissnei frowned, glancing down at Chris's feet. She moved without difficulty, her gait clear and even.

"You're limp's gone," she commented.

Chris glanced down at her leg. It was common knowledge among the Turks that Chris had sustained a bullet wound to the leg before joining with Shinra, and it had healed badly. Even then, she walked with a slight limp. She'd often joked that that was why she had gotten so good at throwing knives, because it was occasionally difficult to run away.

"Oh, this?" she asked. She grinned, bending down and rolling up her pant leg. "Wait till you see my new toy."

Her new toy turned out to be a mechanical brace, fitted over the injured part of her leg and going up to her knee. When she took a step, the mechanical parts moved with it. Cissnei watched, fascinated. "Where'd you get that?" she asked.

"The kid built it for me," said Chris, rolling her pant leg back over it and continuing to walk. "Works like a charm, except it doesn't stop it from hurting when it rains."

Cissnei frowned. "Kid?" she asked.

"Guess she's not a kid anymore," said Chris, glancing at her. "Actually, she's about your age. People around here are calling her the doc now, in as much as they see us, at least. They don't really take kindly to me, because they know I worked for Shinra. She's actually the informant I was telling you about."

Her frown deepened. "Chris," she said, "Who are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" asked Chris, frowning at her. "You've met her. Ex-AVALANCHE scientist. Corel Prison? Ring any bells?"

Her eyes widened, images flashing through her mind. Corel Prison. A young scientist, dying of thirst and looking for her sister. Cissnei was about to answer, when the two of them emerged in a small cavernous room, where a brown-haired woman was waiting for them, watching them from beside a work desk. Her left arm ended at the shoulder, the remainder of it replaced by a mechanical arm, and she wore glasses. Her arms were folded. On the work desk in front of her were several metal pieces and tools.

"I believe she's talking about me," she said. She smiled, holding out a hand. "We've met before, I think. I'm Shalua Rui."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**Notes: **

**Knife's Name **– A lot of the names from Old Corel are really sort of traditional English names, names like Marlene, Eleanor…etc. So I bounced a few names around in my head and went with a name that sounded pretty standard English-y, but that could be shortened if need be. Originally, I was going to go with Christine, but after thinking about it, I liked the way Christina sounded better.


	65. File 019: The Mountain Town pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**MORE TIMELINE DISCREPANCIES: **I just noticed as I was reading the official timeline that the Turks/Veld incident didn't occur until October of 2007, at which point in this story, Cissnei and company were already hanging out at Shion's hideout in Kalm discussing the Veld incident that…well…wasn't technically supposed to have happened yet. My point with this story has always been to hold it as true to canon as possible and only let the things I've changed affect the outcome, but this was an honest mistake and it's too late to go back and edit that out now, **SO **to make things easier on me and more dramatic, the "Tseng shoots Veld, Turks defect" incident is being moved back to late 2005/early 2006—sometime during the later part of Zack's capture and Cissnei and Sephiroth's exile in Modeoheim. Sadly, I have no convenient "oh, hey, it was because Genesis" excuse for this, so I'm just going to have to add that to the AU portion of things.

This shouldn't matter unless you're following the official timeline very closely. Again, my bad. In my defense, I didn't know the timeline existed when I started writing this fic.

Thanks go to **Kurogane7, JazzQueen, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, PerfectLove88, the real Marik Ishtar, Leon Kaye, ryuukoshi, **and **Roza Anne **for your reviews and support! Thanks also go to **KuroArget** for his awesome little chibi pink-haired Sephiroth fanart. Appreciate it!

**Irish-Brigid, **it's kind of funny, because 'Shion' is a feminine-sounding name, and I made the two of them partners in this fic.

**Riku Uzumaki, **well, Vincent's still around, isn't he?

**PerfectLove88,** I'm really glad you like it! Thanks for the publicity~

**Leon Kaye, **I agree with you. Looking back, Seph's POV would have been better for that scene. Thing is, I didn't know I would be emphasizing Seph's emotions in that scene, or I would have thought to use him first. Oh well…We'll get a Seph POV scene fairly soon, so in the meantime, I guess we can all infer how he feels from what the other characters (*cough*Kunsel*cough*) notice. If I get enough time, I might go back and write about how he feels in that scene, along with some other Sephissnei one-shots that have been knocking around in my brain.

XxXxX

**File 019: The Mountain Town**

Kunsel found Barret standing alone near the cable car to the Gold Saucer, his arms folded and a scowl on his face as he looked at something off in the distance. He stepped forward, walking over so that he was standing next to him and reached out, clapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, man," he said. "You okay?"

Barret's scowl deepened, and he twisted out of Kunsel's hold, turning away. He lowered his hands to his sides, staring down at the world beneath the mountain. "Where're the others?" he asked gruffly.

"Still down in the camp," said Kunsel. "Tifa and Aerith are trying to buy potions. Sephiroth keeps staring at his phone. I wonder if he knows how incredibly obvious he's being."

Barret snorted, hooking the thumb of his human hand into his belt loop. Kunsel frowned, folding his arms and looking out over the valley as well. From this height, it felt as though he could see everything, from the Gold Saucer sprawled out below to the vast desert and even to its edges. "Nice view," he commented.

Barret grunted in assent. "Used to say I'd take my kids down there all the time, if I had kids or the money," he said. "But that was before…" He trailed off, waving his human hand in the air in a circular gesture.

Kunsel frowned critically, glancing at Barret. "You want to talk about what happened?" he asked.

"You don't know?" asked Barret, scowling at him. "What with you being in SOLDIER an' all…"

"I know the gist of it," said Kunsel. "They told us there had been a rebellion up here—that you guys were working with AVALANCHE. But it wasn't SOLDIER they sent to burn the town down. It was the Turks they put in command of the infantry."

"Bullshit," growled Barret. "There was never no rebellion up here. Someone set off an explosion at the Reactor. No one knows who did it, but it sure as heck wasn't the whole town. But does Shinra care? No."

"I figured," said Kunsel. "When they sent the Turks out instead of us, some of us caught on. If it was a real rebellion, they would have sent the army, like they did for Wutai. But that's just their style." He felt a small amount of bitterness creep into his tone as he looked down at the Saucer below. It was a cover-up, just as it had been back then, ten years ago, in Kalm. He took a deep breath. "They got my hometown too," he said.

"What?" asked Barret, looking up. "When?"

"Ten years ago," said Kunsel. Even though Barret didn't ask, he added. "Kalm. The company said it was an accident—that the missiles they launched went off-course. I don't know how much of that is true. I was in Midgar, already in training for the army. My dad was a strong Shinra supporter—he was happy when I decided to join. My mom—." He shook his head. Remembering still made his throat feel oddly tight. Barret glanced at him sidelong.

"They all die?" he asked.

He nodded. They said it had been quick, he remembered. In his mind's eye, he was there again, standing in front of the burned and blackened house, listening as the man in the dark suit next to him droned on in a tone that was meant to be comforting, but that he barely heard. Quick. Barely felt anything.

"Any siblings?"

"Sister. Younger," replied Kunsel flatly. "She didn't make it out either."

"And you still joined Shinra?" asked Barret, incredulously.

"I was a kid," said Kunsel. "I was barely thirteen. What was I supposed to do? They told me it was an accident. I decided to believe them." He shrugged. "Now, I wonder."

Barret snorted. "Makes me wonder if they've ever told the truth," he said. He turned away from the view, walking away with his arms folded. "Ain't the same," he said. "I did this. This was my fault."

Kunsel opened his mouth to speak, but another voice spoke for him.

"It was Shinra's fault," said Sephiroth, walking towards them from the path that led to the ruined town. "You didn't set the fire."

Barret jumped, whirling to face him. "Goddammit!" he said. "How long have _you _been there?"

"Not long," said Sephiroth coolly. Kunsel looked over his shoulder and saw the others following—Red and Yuffie first, with Zack, Aerith, Cloud and Tifa bringing up the rear. Everyone was here, except one. He glanced down at Sephiroth's right hand and saw that he was still holding his phone. Kunsel said nothing, looking over at the others.

Barret scowled, waving his gun arm dismissively. "You got no idea what you're talkin' about," he said.

"Then tell us," said Aerith, stepping forward. "Barret, what happened?"

Barret shook his head, lowering his gaze to the ground. He turned away from Aerith. "Sorry," he said.

"C'mon," said Zack, stepping forward as well. "What happened?"

Barret sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Alright, fine," he said. "My hometown used to be around here."

"What do you mean 'used to'?" asked Red, coming up to the front of the group and sitting down. He watched Barret intently.

"It ain't here no more," replied Barret. "Heard it got buried…in just four years."

Zack's expression darkened, his arms folding. Looking at him, Kunsel knew why. Four years. All of this would have happened while he was still imprisoned.

"But how could those people say those terrible things?" asked Aerith.

"Because it's my fault," said Barret, this time shooting Sephiroth a glare. "Like I said. It's all my fault."

Sephiroth snorted softly, but said nothing, waiting for Barret to continue. He folded his arms, listening. Barret went on. "My hometown, Corel's been a coal mining town. It was dusty, but calm, and so poor. A real small town, this one. Then Shinra came. That's the first time I ever heard the words 'Mako Reactor' mentioned…"

"They wanted to build the Reactor?" asked Tifa.

Barret nodded. "They promised us a better life, said we could work in the Reactor, and the Reactor would bring money to the town. No one used coal anymore, business was bad, and my wife Myrna…well, we were always hard up. My buddy Dyne opposed the idea, but he was the only one. The rest of us wanted to go along with it…so…I talked Dyne around, and he finally agreed. That lady, Scarlet, had us all sign the papers, gave us all a little bit of money. To help us cope, she said, 'till the Reactor started running. That's how the Corel Reactor was built…and completed. We all thought it would bring us an easier life…"

He shook his head, looking away. "It happened when Dyne and I were out of town for a few days. Corel was burned down by Shinra troops. All the townspeople…all my relatives…everyone…everything…" He trailed off.

"Shinra troops?!" asked Cloud. "What for?"

Barret stepped away from Cloud as he started to move forward. "There was an explosion at the reactor," he said. "Shinra blamed the accident on the people. Said it was done by a rebel faction."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Tifa.

"Well…I guess that's true," said Barret. "But more than Shinra, I can't forgive myself. Never should've trusted them. Never should've gone along with it."

Tifa frowned in concern, taking a step forward. "Don't blame yourself," she said gently. "We were all fooled by the promises Shinra made back then."

"That's why," said Barret. "That's why I get so pissed off! Not only did they take advantage of me, but I lost my wife, Myrna too!" He clenched his hand into a fist, turning away. "And then Sector 7 happened. I can't stand 'em! I just—."

"Hey, everyone!" shouted the conductor, looking over at them. "If you want to go to the Gold Saucer, you better hurry up and get on."

They looked over at him, then exchanged glances with each other. Cloud took a deep breath. "We should…probably get on," he said.

Sephiroth nodded in assent.

"Yeah," said Zack, stepping forward first. He patted Barret once on the shoulder, placing a hand on Cloud's back and guiding him towards the cable car. Kunsel moved to follow.

"Dyne was my best friend," he heard Barret say as he passed. "We were close ever since we were kids…"

He paused, letting Barret go ahead. Behind him, Tifa stood, her eyes wide as she stared at the ground. "I never knew…" she said. "All this time…Barret never said a thing…"

"Well, _I'm _not sympathetic." Yuffie, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up angrily. "Barret should've never trusted Shinra!"

She turned away before any of them could stop her, hopping into the cable car.

XxXxX

The inside of the mountain was deathly still, the only sound coming from her footsteps as she walked down the path back towards the main room where Chris waited and the constant whirring of the generators that supplied power to the place. If the air hadn't been so warm and the area old metal instead of stone, she might have thought that she was back in Modeoheim, hiding out in the old Mako Reactor again. Their four years in exile had been a necessity at the time, occasionally boring and much colder than she would have liked, but still…she wouldn't say it was _all _bad. There were days when it had been peaceful, and truth be told, she hadn't disagreed much with the company.

She would be lying if she said she hadn't been intimidated—at first, but only at first. There were days when things had been perfectly cordial between them—a reminder that they had only come into this by chance, but then there were days when they'd felt like friends, like that week in the second year when a snowstorm had blanketed the entire mountain in white, trapping them inside. By the third day, they'd each given up on their individual rooms—originally storage spaces that didn't hold much heat—and had camped out in the main office, using folders of paperwork they'd dug up from one of the labs as fuel for a fire, eating military rations and reading and rereading old books in an attempt to stave off boredom. By the time the snow finally melted, the two of them were just short of stir-crazy, and she'd clambered outside the first chance she got to fix the generator and get the heat running properly again while he disappeared for long hours and returned with a bloody sword and some huge mountain cat. She'd nearly frozen her fingers off working on the heater, and he gave her a slightly incredulous look—with the definite feel of 'you should have known better'—but had fetched the Cure Materia anyway. It wasn't the best memory she could think of, but sitting in that dark room by firelight, exchanging stories to pass the time—she remembered teasing him about his hair and managing to get him to crack a smile—.

She frowned, shaking her head as she zipped up her vest and lengthened her stride, feeling the familiar weight of her shuriken against her back. Now wasn't the time to think about things like that. Now, she was working. She trailed her fingers over her left shoulder, her expression growing slightly troubled. She could still remember it if she closed her eyes, how it had felt like to lie on the ground and watch as Sephiroth moved, his sword meeting Nero's wings once, twice, three times, pure ice and anger in his eyes.

She placed a hand over her face. _You're a professional…_she reminded herself, schooling her expression as she stepped into the room. _You know better than that. _

This particular underground room was filled with light. Several lights paneled the ceiling, mimicking the sun in an attempt to make the place feel less enclosed. It didn't particularly help. Even in Modeoheim, they had at least been inside a building, with the occasional window. Under here, it felt like the mountain was going to swallow them whole. Was this what it had been like, to be raised as a Deepground SOLDIER? If so, small wonder they were all insane.

Chris sat at a desk in the far corner of the room, a pair of large headphones over her ears. She was twisting the dial on an old radio transmitter, listening closely. Cissnei stepped forward, and she looked up as she approached, instantly alert. Cissnei sat down on the stool next to her, resting her left arm on the table to take some pressure off her shoulder as Chris powered down the whole system and peeled her headphones off her head, setting them aside.

"Your friends made it to the camp," she said, gesturing at the radio. "It's all anyone can talk about up there. No outgoing transmissions to Shinra, thankfully, but I'd be very surprised if there were. Though, people ain't too happy to see Wallace again."

"Barret?" asked Cissnei, a slightly confused frown on her face.

Chris waved a hand dismissively. "Long story. What's the verdict?"

"Shalua says my shoulder's healing much faster than it should be without help. It's still not responding to Materia. She ran an energy detector around the area and thought she saw a strange spike, but it wasn't there when she went to get a second look."

Chris snorted, gesturing up at the wires that ran through the roof. "Mako power, from the reactor," she said. "Too much of the damn stuff here. Shalua complains it interferes with her measurements all the time. Scientists. They're all the same. Slightly cracked in the head." Cissnei smiled. She was inclined to agree, of course, but they weren't exactly one to talk. "Did she tell you about her sister?" continued Chris.

"The gist of it," said Cissnei, nodding. The two of them had talked a little bit during Shalua's quick examination of her injury. Shalua had explained that she hadn't trained as a doctor—her specialty was in engineering, but the medicine had come out of necessity after she started working with AVALANCHE. She quit, finding the organization too extreme for her, and had ended up in Corel Prison. The reason she'd joined up with AVALANCHE in the first place was to find her sister, who had been taken to Shinra as a SOLDIER candidate a little over seven years ago. "She says the Turks took her sister."

"Not us," said Chris, leaning back in her chair.

"No," agreed Cissnei. "Not us. Tseng?"

"My money's on Shion," said Chris, twirling something around in her hand. Cissnei spared it a quick glance and noticed that it was a knife. "Man's like a shadow. He slips right through the cracks and you have no idea what he's up to. I'm surprised Veld picked Tseng over him."

"I'm not," said Cissnei. "Shion hates the company. Always has. He followed orders because he respected Veld, but if Veld put him in command, he'd have found a way to destroy Shinra from the inside."

Chris snorted, giving the knife a final twirl before stabbing it point down on the table between her fingers. "Too late for that," she said.

Something in the way she said it implied knowledge, in a way that made Cissnei look up. "You were saying about some of us being involved in a side project?" she asked.

"I was getting to that," said Chris, nodding. She leaned back in her chair. "I'm just thinking of where to start."

"How about from the beginning?" The sound of another voice made the two of them look up. Shalua stood behind them, a chair in her human hand. She set it down on the ground next to them, taking a seat. Chris glanced at her.

"This was supposed to be a private conversation," she said.

"Then find a smaller room," said Shalua, folding her arms. Chris stared at her for a moment, then rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever," she said. "You've figured out most of this already anyway." She looked back at Cissnei, ignoring the scientist for the moment. "I don't have anything concrete. Just some weird things I've noticed. I guess the easiest place to start is with Nico. You know what he's been up to?"

She nodded, with a glance at Shalua to gauge how much the scientist knew. "He's pulled together a gang of his own, operating out of Gold Saucer," she said. Nico had been the Turk that had lent her the car, the first time she and Sephiroth had crossed the continent after Zack. He'd been Don Corneo's bodyguard before joining the Turks, and from what she understood, he'd taken the skills he'd learned from both sides to run an operation of his own.

"But what's he been _up to_?" pressed Chris. "What's he doing?"

Cissnei shrugged. That part of the deal had never mattered to her as much. "I don't know," she said. "I always thought he was just running some sort of smuggling deal. It's Nico, so it's not going to be drugs or women—he always talked about how he hated that part of working with Corneo."

A smile tugged at Chris's lips. "_Arms, _Ciss. _Arms. _He's dealing in arms."

Cissnei blinked, unsure what she was supposed to make of that. Was she supposed to find that surprising? Nico was a little gun crazy as it was, she wouldn't be surprised to find out that he was in the black market weapons trade. She waited for Chris to elaborate, and when she didn't, prompted her. "And?" she asked. "Nico doing weapon deals isn't exactly groundbreaking news."

"There's an awful lot of weapons trading hands under the Saucer," said Chris. "And more coming in than are going out."

Cissnei frowned, realizing where she was going with this. She ran a finger down a groove in the table, one that had probably been made by a knife. "You think he's stockpiling them?" she asked.

"That's my guess," said Chris with a shrug. "The area's got an impressive underground. I mean, a literal underground. You're sitting in part of it. It wouldn't be hard to make a weapons cache here and there. But, 'course, I don't know for sure. I ain't dumb enough to walk up to Nico and ask him where he keeps his guns. Either way, Nico runs a tight ship. And there's a lot of money changing hands."

"Where's he getting the money?" asked Cissnei. It had been one of the things that had been nagging at her since she first started keeping tabs on the Turks in exile, a month or so after Veld's death. Nico had criminal experience, sure, but she knew he wasn't running anything on the side while acting as a Turk, and while they were paid well, they weren't paid _that _well. Even with followers from Corneo's organization, a gang would have taken some sort of capital to set up.

"The name Echelon Electronics ring any bells?" asked Chris.

She thought about it, frowned, and shook her head. "No," she finally said. "Should it?"

"Successful tech company, operating out of Junon," supplied Shalua, looking up. "Or at least it was, before Shinra absorbed it and hired their president to work as a manager. You can still find their logo on some old lab equipment, like the sort AVALANCHE had."

"They still exist," said Chris, wiggling the hilt of the knife back and forth and creating a groove in the table. "They're completely under the Shinra Group now—you won't see much but their name on the equipment they sell, usually under the Shinra logo in fine print. Unfortunately, they're under new management. Turns out, the old man retired and moved back to Bone Village, leaving the company to his son. But hey, you know, transitions of power like that can be problematic. Heard a chunk of money went missing sometime in that first year."

The pieces clicked into place. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she looked up sharply. "Ivan?" she asked. Chris nodded in response. Ivan and Nico working together. She couldn't think of a more unlikely partnership. But then again, Ivan had changed since she'd seen him last. The sunny Turk she had partnered with briefly, during her last year of active duty wasn't the same as the slightly cynical man that had attacked her in Junon. She wondered if the change had occurred in him after Veld's death, or if it began earlier…after her defection. The thought made her stomach churn uncomfortably. She still remembered the last mission they'd gone on together, three months before the fateful day she, Zack, Cloud, and Sephiroth had all wound up in Nibelheim.

It had been in Bone Village. Since then, he'd requested to work alone.

"Is that all?" she asked.

Chris frowned deeply, as though she were thinking about something. She leaned back, releasing the knife to drum her fingers on the tabletop. "Ivan was here last fall, chatting with Nico at one of his bars," said Chris. "I came over to say hi. The two of them were friendly, but they were talking about girls when I got there, and they sure as hell weren't talking about no girls before they saw me. Not unless the 'girl' they were talkin' about was in his thirties, with glasses, and a sword with a pretty Wutaiian name."

"You think they were talking about Shion," said Cissnei.

"I _know _they were talking about Shion," corrected Chris, her eyes narrowing. "Who the hell does Nico think he's trying to kid, telling me he was actually talking about some Wutai chick named Ame. I was partnered up to that walking bag of issues for _five years_, not even counting the one year he was stuck babysitting you. I know the name of his damn sword."

"And what's going on with Shion?" she asked.

Chris's shoulders slumped as she leaned back in her seat. She glanced at her radio, and when she spoke, her voice sounded slightly bitter. "Who the hell knows?" she asked. "Can't even get a straight answer from the man. Says he's retired, and just wants to tend to his garden." She snorted. "Bull. Crap."

Cissnei found herself agreeing with that statement. From what she had seen of Shion's hideaway during the months that they had stayed in Kalm, it was obvious that he was more involved than he wanted to appear.

"It's what he's not saying that's telling," said Chris with a shrug. "Shion hasn't been sighted in Midgar since we left. Eira would know if he was. According to her, as far as she knows, he's never left Kalm. But there's someone that _has _been leaving Midgar and heading out in that direction. Someone who's been trying really hard not to get seen."

"Who?" asked Cissnei.

Chris grinned. "Reeve Tuesti."

XxXxX

The streets of the Gold Saucer were alive and bright, men and women of all ages traveling through the streets in a constant stream, chatting loudly and ooh'ing and ah'ing at the attractions and the spectacles. Down one street, near one of the chutes that some people used to navigate the town stood a little girl, chewing her lip nervously as she waited for the contraption in front of her to spit out a sheet of paper. The large Moogle did so, and before she could reach it, it was quickly snatched up by the cat riding on its back, the cat taking a quick glance at it.

"Ah, here you go!" he said, handing it to her between two fingers. He smiled broadly. "Excellent luck. The best kind of fortune. Now, remember. Don't do anything your mom and dad wouldn't want you to do with that, okay?"

The girl looked up at the cat with wide eyes. "I won't," she promised. "Thanks, mister!"

She ran off, following a harried looking man that must have been her father, judging from the way she took his hand and let him lead her back down the street. The cat smiled from his perch atop the Moogle, swinging himself back onto the area near the creature's head and waiting for someone else to stop by. A cable car whistled overhead, sweeping down towards the station. There were always people arriving in the Gold Saucer. It was a lively place, filled with people of all kinds.

But he had an especially good feeling about that cable car, and the group of people that were coming through.

Cait Sith turned away from the sight, turning towards a young woman that had just walked up to him, holding out a handful of gil for a fortune. He swooped down theatrically, scooping the coins out of her hand, and tipping an imaginary hat towards her. "One moment, m'lady," he said, waiting for the Moogle to print the fortune. Once it was printed, he handed the strip of paper to her, reading it out loud.

"Times are changing. You may soon find you've taken on more than you bargained for…"

**END FILE**


	66. File 020: Ill Fortune pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **For those of you hoping for some silly Interlude-style shenanigans at the Gold Saucer, the Gold Saucer Interlude will come later in the story, I promise. For now, though, this chapter is going to focus more on plot, although some fun will be touched on. You'll also get Seph's POV and his opinion on the issues really soon, I promise.

Glad to see you guys got a kick out of my April Fool's status. Don't worry, I'm not actually doing things like that, lol. (And it was intended to seem over the top. I didn't want to scare off too many people. That said, I DID lose a follower, which has just reminded me how strange fanfiction is, since someone clearly thought I was serious.) For those of you who want to see it and missed out on the fun, the chapter is posted up on my bio.

Thanks go to **Gohan Roxas, Furionknight, Roza Anne, Irish-Brigid, JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Erilin-chan, Draconic, K, Leon Kaye, **and **Kurogane7** for your reviews and support. And everyone who reviewed the April Fool's chapter too, of course! (**PerfectLove88, SubZeroChimera, HeartofFyrwinde, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Mata Nui, City of Dis, haitechan, ryuukoshi, **and **CSKazaam**) Couldn't do it without you!

**Erilin-chan**, she was referring to Sephiroth in that opening line, reminiscing on their four years in Modeoheim. As for Chris's name, when I said "English" I was actually thinking more American Western mining town style—names that would be listed as English in a name directory. Sorry for the confusion!

**Draconic, **I didn't even mean to do it, but it looks like Cissnei's turned into my whipping post for Disc One. Don't worry, she'll have an easier time of it in Disc Two, when I set my sights on Sephiroth and Aerith. MWA HA HA.

**Kurogane7, **Corneo dies? What do you mean?

**Leon Kaye, **ha! I like the way you think! (Also, I wouldn't worry too much about Cait Sith~ Just saying…you'll see.)

XxXxX

**File 020: Ill Fortune**

The streets of Junon stretched on endlessly in the distance beneath the Shinra building, the city's bright streetlights stretching on until the sea. Like Midgar, Junon never slept, however, Tseng had always felt as though Shinra's Junon branch had a slightly different air to it than the Midgar one. The Midgar branch was about power—both military power and mako power. The Shinra Building in Midgar was a structure that towered over the entire city, ringed by Mako Reactors on all sides and boasting the Shinra logo lit bright for all to see. It was about keeping up appearances, about keeping a tight hold on the population. Shinra ruled in Midgar. It was all about control.

In Junon, it was just business. Shinra still ruled the world, but the Junon branch seemed more concerned with the actual bills and logistics and less concerned with the show. Nobody needed proof of Shinra's power in Junon. All they needed to do was look at the money—and perhaps at the cannon. Even today, just a few weeks after President Shinra's inauguration, in the streets below the building, life went on.

Tseng's attention, however, was focused not on the streets or on the people, but on the man leaning against the window, scarlet eyes fixed on him from beneath a face wrapped in what looked like bandages. His hair was dark and unkempt, falling down his back, and his gray and blue Deepground uniform had been adjusted so that his arms were strapped close against his chest, preventing him from moving them. A pair of black metallic wings were pulled snug against his back, and although the Turk couldn't see his mouth, he could see the smile in Nero's eyes, the sudden flickering of the man's attention towards him. It made him feel as though the tables had turned, as though he had gone from being the hunter to being the prey.

As a Turk, it wasn't a feeling he was particularly accustomed to, or one he liked. He met Nero's eyes coolly, his expression unchanging as he lowered his hand to his side, discreetly concealing the name of the file he had pulled by turning the folder so that it rested against his side.

Nero hadn't been who he'd expected to find out here.

"Why are you here?" asked Tseng.

Amusement flashed in Nero's eyes. "You aren't pleased by my presence?"

"I was told that you would be in Midgar."

"Plans change," said Nero. He straightened up from against the wall, his wings scraping lightly against the glass of the window as he turned towards Tseng. "My brother goes to hunt at the President's behest. I am here in his place."

Weiss. Tseng should have known. Rufus had ordered Weiss to send someone after Sephiroth and the others, not to go after them himself. The fact that Weiss had gone and had sent Nero to Junon in his stead said something. A message. Tseng thought he knew what it was. He could almost hear Weiss's voice, as clearly as if the man were standing in front of him now. _You do not control me. _

Something of his thoughts must have showed on his face, because Nero chuckled low in his throat. "So you begin to understand."

Tseng kept his eyes fixed on the Tsviet in front of him, his expression smooth. He reminded himself that Nero had no power here. He, like all the other Tsviets, still had the same brain implants in place that allowed the Restrictors to control them in Deepground. If Nero tried to attack him or any other Shinra official, it would only cause him pain.

Still…that was something that hadn't been truly tested before…

"Who else is with him?" he asked.

Nero shrugged a shoulder absently. "Rosso. Shelke. Azul. It matters not."

Rosso, Shelke, Azul and Weiss. Tseng felt a shiver run down his spine in spite of himself. Save maybe Shelke, it wasn't the team he would have chosen. Not for stealth. But then again, it seemed like Weiss was past stealth. "And the other two?" he asked.

"Chasing after silver and gold?" asked Nero. "They go where they're bid. You should know that. After all, don't you do the same?"

"I usually know where my men are," said Tseng, coolly.

"Do you?" asked Nero. The look in his eyes shifted, becoming more knowing, more penetrating. "In more ways than one. Tell me, Tseng of the Turks. Where are your men?"

He recognized the beginnings of a verbal trap, but answered anyway, meeting Nero's eyes. He couldn't allow himself to show Nero that he was afraid. Even binding his arms and mouth didn't make Nero the Sable any less dangerous. "Elena is off-duty. Reno and Rude are guarding the President."

"And that's all your men?" asked Nero.

"Everyone on my payroll."

"I see," said Nero. "So the names Shion, Christina, Ivan, Cissnei, Lydia, Alexander, Nico, Eira—."

"—are no longer under my employ, and none of my concern," said Tseng, interrupting him.

"I see," said Nero, smiling. _I know their names, _he seemed to be saying. _Remember that. I know their names, and I know where they are. _

He felt a chill, and his right hand instinctively began inching towards his gun. The movement was slight, barely there, and yet Nero's eyes moved towards his hand anyway. "Do I scare you, Tseng of the Turks?" he asked.

His hand stopped its advance towards his gun, his fingers flattening against the side of his leg. "Yes," he said matter-of-factly, his expression unchanged.

"I see," said Nero again. "I've heard it said that you are a smart man. Perhaps the rumors are not so baseless after all." He took a step forward. Tseng remained where he stood, unmoving. "But you have nothing to fear from me. The master does not fear his dog…as long as he holds the leash. Who holds the controls, Tseng?" The way Nero asked the question made it sound like idle curiosity, but Tseng knew it was anything but.

"I don't know," he said. "That information wasn't given to me."

"They would not tell you who the Restrictor was?" asked Nero. "I find that hard to believe."

Tseng shrugged. "One of the board, maybe. It's not my place to question them." He forced himself to hold perfectly still as Nero stepped forward. One metal wing extended, the tips of one clawed hand resting on Tseng's shoulder. Every muscle in his body tensed, but he did not move, keeping his eyes on Nero's and not looking away.

"If I were to…attack you," said Nero, testing the words as though he was considering it carefully. "Would it hurt?"

"Yes."

"Me?" asked Nero. "Or you?"

"You," replied Tseng.

"I see," said Nero, pulling his hand away. The wing retracted, folding against his back again. "Then I shall continue to be ever such a good dog, and you grateful for the leash." He turned away, walking past Tseng and back down the hallway. Tseng exhaled, but did not relax fully, waiting until the last of Nero's footsteps had faded away. Right before it seemed as though the Tsviet was about to turn the corner, he paused, looking back at Tseng.

"Something to think about, Tseng," said Nero. "My brother and I know where our chains are. Tell me. Where is yours?"

Nero continued to walk, disappearing down the hallway.

Tseng didn't fully relax until he was in his office, the door closed behind him. He sat behind his desk and exhaled slowly, drawing something out of the inside pocket of his suit—a single card, colored white, with the Deepground logo etched on it. Tseng held it between two fingers, turning it around in his hand. He ran his thumb lightly over the button as he considered Nero's words, his hand curling around the card as he prepared to press.

No. Troublesome, dangerous as the Tsviets might be, they still needed them.

For now.

His finger lifted off of the card and he shook his head, sliding it back into his pocket and out of sight.

XxXxX

Even from a distance, the sights and sounds of the Gold Saucer were immediately recognizable. Zack had been here exactly once before, on an ill-advised road trip with Kunsel and the other guys the first time they had gotten leave since officially joining SOLDIER, but even though that was almost eight years ago, the place seemed much the same. The same bright lights and flashy signs lined the walls as the nine of them entered the main room with the chutes that lined the squares, music blaring from the overhead speakers. In a sense, the Saucer was almost like a flashier, more fun version of Midgar. He spared a glance for Aerith at his side, a grin on his face. She was looking around with wide eyes, and he realized that most of this would probably be new to her. He thought of a few places he could take her that she'd probably enjoy.

They stopped walking a little further up when Sephiroth stopped, turning to face them. Zack folded his arms, turning towards him. "We'll wait here for Cissnei," he said. "Try not to cause any trouble."

With that, he strode off, heading back out the door and into the station street. Zack frowned, tilting his head slightly to watch him leave. He glanced back and saw that Aerith was watching him as well, a concerned expression on her face.

"I'll be right back," he told her.

She nodded, giving him an encouraging smile, and by the time he was at the door, she was already over with Tifa and the others, trying to goad Barret into conversation. Zack sighed, glancing back at her from the door. He was lucky that Aerith was so patient with him.

_The things I put her through…_

He put the thought out of his mind for now and headed back out the door into the street. He slipped his hands into his pockets, scanning the street outside for the silver-haired First. He found Sephiroth leaning against the wall of one of the buildings. He was glancing down at his PHS, a replacement they bought in Junon for the one Nero had destroyed, idly scrolling through the menus. Zack glanced up and saw that from where Sephiroth was standing, he had a clear view of the gate and the ticket counter.

He shook his head, glancing away from the ticket counter and back at his friend. _Man, Seph. You've got it bad…_

"You know, you're acting just like I did in Midgar," said Zack when he reached him, coming to stand next to him and looking out at the gate.

Sephiroth glanced up from his phone, shooting him a look of brief annoyance. "I'm not drunk," he said. "And the situation's hardly the same."

"Isn't it?" asked Zack with a shrug, gesturing at the phone in his hand.

"It's my job to make sure everyone is accounted for," said Sephiroth, lowering his phone.

Zack glanced at him, wondering how long Sephiroth could continue to make excuses. "Would you act like this if any one of us were missing?" he asked.

"No," said Sephiroth, glancing back at him. "But some of us would fare better than others."

Zack unfolded his arms, resting his hands on his waist. "Not many of us would do better out there than Cissnei," he said. In their group, maybe only himself, Sephiroth, or Kunsel would have been better off. He frowned, wondering if he could count himself in that number. Stealth wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"She's injured."

"Then you should have gone back for her," said Zack.

Sephiroth snorted softly. "Not as injured as that," he said. Zack glanced at him. Sephiroth was standing there, glaring at the gate as though it was somehow the gate's fault that he hadn't been able to go back at the bridge, and not his own decision. He frowned as things started to click into place.

"So that's your problem, isn't it?" he asked. "You didn't have a good enough reason to go back for her…but you still wanted to."

Sephiroth's silence was answer enough. It was a basic situational assessment, a scenario they'd come across in training often enough. One member of their group had gone missing in action after a battle. She was fairly capable and by all accounts appeared to be in good health when she'd gone missing, which couldn't be said for all of the team. Protocol demanded that the rest of the group press on to their next destination, maybe regrouping at a known rendezvous point. A while back, he might have thought that Sephiroth was just being stuffy. Now, he knew better. Sephiroth didn't hold so strictly to his training just because of some odd personality quirk. He did it because it was all he knew. Logic, efficiency, training.

These weren't things that left very much room for emotion. No wonder he was confused. Zack sighed, wondering how best to bring up the issue that had been staring him in the face since he'd first seen the two of them interact, in Shion's backyard what felt like forever ago.

"Seph…" he began. "Haven't you ever…you know, considered…that you might be in love with her?"

"Don't be stupid, Zack," said Sephiroth curtly.

"I'm not," said Zack. "I'm dead serious here. The two of you have lived together for what…four years? Alone? That's a _long _time. A lot of relationships don't even last that long. And I've seen the way you act around her. You always know where she is in a room, and when we're all together, she's the first person you see. You care a lot about her."

"We have a good working relationship."

"No," said Zack, turning towards him. "Cissnei and _I_ have a good working relationship. You and I have a good working relationship. There's a difference."

"You care about her too," said Sephiroth, glancing at him coolly.

"Yeah, like a sister," said Zack, shrugging. "That's not what I—."

"Who's to say I don't feel the same way?" asked Sephiroth, cutting him off. Zack stared at Sephiroth for a moment, then slowly closed his mouth, not having anything to say to that. Sephiroth glanced away, looking back at the gates. "We're both professionals. Stop being absurd. You can't pretend to know how I feel."

_No, I can't…_thought Zack. _Because you don't even know, do you_?

But Sephiroth had already turned away, signaling an end to the conversation. Zack sighed, shaking his head and pushing himself back against the wall. "Fine," he said. "But for the record, I wasn't saying that you were in love with her. I was only asking if you _considered _it. Think about it, that's all. It's a possibility."

Sephiroth said nothing. Zack folded his arms. "Whatever. Be that way, then," he said, turning away from him and walking back towards the station. He glanced over his shoulder as he reached the door, but Sephiroth gave no sign that he had heard, his eyes fixed straight ahead of him. Zack ran a hand through his hair. Sephiroth was nothing if not stubborn, and it was an exercise in impossibility to get him to see something he didn't want to see.

He stepped back inside, just in time to see Barret jump down a chute and disappear, heading off towards some area of the Saucer. He sighed, watching Barret go. There was another person being stubborn. He could just imagine the glares he would get from both sides if he ever mentioned to the two of them that they could act so much alike. The others watched Barret go, some of them giving him guilty looks, and Zack wondered what had happened while he'd been outside.

He found Aerith and placed a hand on her arm, tugging her towards him. She looked back at him, a questioning look in his eye, and he shook his head.

"He'll be out there for a while, I think. Barret?"

Aerith's response was to look back at the chute. "He's…probably going to go clear his head," she said.

Zack looked down at her, finding himself possessed by the sudden urge to spend the rest of the evening with someone who _didn't _make talking an emotional minefield. He pulled Aerith away from the group, catching Kunsel's eye as he saw Tifa and Yuffie start walking towards her. Kunsel nodded, and Zack saw him move to intercept them. He mentally thanked his friend, looking back at Aerith.

"You wanna go exploring?" he asked, gesturing at the chutes. He gave her a look that said: _I could really go for some sanity right now. _

Aerith smiled in understanding, her hand slipping into his. Gaia, he loved this woman. Already he could feel the edge starting to come off of his frayed nerves. "Sure, Zack," she said. "I'd love to."

XxXxX

The three of them talked for a little longer about other matters, some of them related to Shinra, some of them not. Cissnei learned from Shalua that the Deepground SOLDIERs were chosen in much the same way as regular SOLDIER candidates—by the Turks. The difference was that for most of the regular SOLDIERs, selection was considered an honor. For Deepground, it wasn't so much. Shelke had been chosen for unique abilities of her own, something to do with the way she processed information. The way Shalua described it almost made her sound like a machine, someone with the innate ability to access information stored remotely.

Chris told her about her recent encounters with some of the other Turks, and in return, Cissnei told her what she could spare about Sephiroth, and about the real events behind the Nibelheim Incident. Chris had seemed a little surprised to hear the full story behind Cissnei's defection—she knew that it was something the other Turks must have talked about a lot, but only a few of them knew the real truth.

"So you took him down from the mountain…by yourself?" asked Chris. "A city girl like you? And then what? Took him all the way to Modeoheim in that ratty little motorcycle of yours?"

"Stole a car eventually," said Cissnei with a faint smile, as she remembered. "It wasn't too hard."

"Damn," said Chris, shaking her head. "See, when you left, we were too busy with the situation in Nibelheim to deal with it. By the time we noticed, it was a little too late. Tseng wanted to go after you, but Veld told him to leave it, and that was that."

Veld. Her stomach churned as she thought about the events that had happened after. He was probably already considering his own defection. She changed the subject, and the conversation gradually turned back towards other things. When it had devolved to the point where they were making jokes and telling Shalua funny stories about their days as Turks instead of actually giving out any information, she asked Chris if there was a place where she could send a message. Chris scowled at her, looking at her from over the table.

"You're not sending any damn message from in here," she said. "Come with me."

Cissnei nodded, standing up to leave. She followed Chris through a winding trail of passages leading through the mountain, twisting and turning enough times that even she lost count of what direction she was facing and had to trust that Chris's intuition was enough. When they were far enough away from the hideout, and had walked what felt like half the mountain, Chris turned towards her, a deep frown on her face.

"Okay," she said. "We're far enough out. What did you want to say that you didn't want Shalua to hear?"

Cissnei took a deep breath, turning towards the other woman.

"I know where her sister is."

XxXxX

Somehow or another, he had ended up with Tifa and Yuffie. 

Cloud sighed, stepping back from the chute in Wonder Square and helping Yuffie out of it. She groaned as he pulled her up, complaining loudly about how slow he was being before running off to inspect something on the street. He turned to watch her, a frown on his face. Cloud supposed he shouldn't really complain. He was with Tifa after all. That had to count for something. He glanced back at his childhood friend. She stood next to him with her arms folded, watching Yuffie with the same concerned expression that he was sure was on his face as well.

"She's…uh…definitely full of energy," commented Tifa.

"Yeah…" agreed Cloud, nodding once.

He wondered, and not for the first time, why Kunsel hadn't just taken her on. Cloud placed a hand on the back of his neck, sighing.

"Hey, you!" shouted a voice, causing the both of them to look up. "What are you lookin' so down for?"

Tifa nudged his arm, and Cloud glanced to the right, seeing some sort of creature walking over to them. He blinked, turning towards it. It was a Moogle, with what looked like a black cat in a cape and crown riding on its back. The cat straightened up from his perch, holding out a hand. "How 'bout it?" he asked. "Want me to read your fortune? A bright future! A happy future!"

The cat grinned. "Oh, but don't hold it against me if it's not a great prediction!" he said.

Tifa frowned. "A fortune?" she asked.

"That's right, lass!" said the cat, nodding in her direction before glancing back at Cloud. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm a fortune-telling machine. The name's Cait Sith." He pronounced it odd, like 'ket shee'. The cat straightened up, bowing towards Cloud with a flourish.

"At your service."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	67. File 020: Ill Fortune pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Sooo…I've been playing a lot of Skyrim lately, and for some reason, my brain keeps trying to make Cait Sith talk like a Khajiit. It's sooooo wrong. (Also, Reeve would totally play Skyrim as a Khajiit.) Anyway, enjoy this chapter! Thanks go to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, SapphyreMyst, Riku Uzumaki, random-k, **and **SOLDIERsStory13** for reviewing as well as to** Irish-Brigid, PerfectLove88**, and anyone else who PMed in their review! Your support is always appreciated!

**SapphyreMyst, **the Restrictors were those people in Deepground who controlled the Deepground SOLDIERs. Nero, Weiss, Rosso and the others all had a brain chip implanted that stopped them from attacking the Restrictor. Now that they're working for Shinra, someone else has the controls. In that chapter, it was implied to be Tseng, although he told Nero that he didn't know who it was, because that isn't the sort of thing Tseng would want Nero to know. Thanks for the review!

XxXxX

**File 020: Ill Fortune**

Cloud stared at the cat-like machine in front of him, a skeptical expression on his face. He exchanged a glance with Tifa. "You can read the future?" he asked.

"Not just that!" said Cait Sith, spreading his arms out expansively. "You kidding me?! I can find missing things, missing people, anything!"

Cloud doubted that very much, but it was the Gold Saucer. From what he'd seen, this sort of attraction was just par for the course. He folded his arms, looking at Tifa again. She shrugged her shoulders, an amused smile on her face. Cloud nodded, looking back at Cait Sith. Sure, why not? "Then can you tell me where a woman named Cissnei is?" He didn't really have any pressing questions on his mind at the moment.

"You said Cissnei, right?" asked Cait Sith. He bent over, pressing some buttons on the Moogle-like machine in front of him. "Okay, here goes!" A whirring sound followed his statement, and both he and the Moogle began to shake. After a few shakes, the Moogle pulled a piece of paper out of nowhere, handing it to Cloud. Cloud frowned, taking it from him and opening it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tifa step forward, reading over his shoulder.

"Ordinary luck," he read aloud. "It will be an active fortune. Give into the good will of others, and something big will happen after summer…wait, what is this?"

"Huh?" He had to give credit to whoever had built the cat. Cait Sith looked genuinely puzzled. "Let me try that again," he said.

"Sure," said Cloud, folding up the fortune and holding it in his hand. He watched as Cait Sith began shaking again, before producing a second fortune. He picked it up and opened it, his eyes quickly moving over the words. Cloud sighed inwardly.

"What?" asked Tifa. "What does it say?"

He read it out loud, unenthusiastically. "Be careful of forgetfulness…" he said. "Your lucky color is blue."

"Well, you always did like blue," commented Tifa.

"Yeah, but this has nothing to do with my question," said Cloud, looking up at Cait Sith.

"Uh…maybe ask another question?" suggested Cait Sith.

"Okay then," said Cloud, feeling a small smile come onto his face. "Where is Genesis?" It was the exact same type of question. Cait Sith flailed his arms, looking distressed.

"Alright," he said. "Alright, just give me one chance!" The Moogle began to shake again, more frantically than it had before. Cloud folded his arms as he waited, casting a glance over Cait Sith's shoulder to see Yuffie running over to them, coming to a stop beside Tifa. She was waving around a stick of bright blue cotton candy.

"Hey guys! Got some food. What are you doing?"

"Cloud's getting his fortune told," replied Tifa.

"Huh? Cool. Can I go next?"

"If you think you'll have better luck," replied Cloud, glancing back at Yuffie.

Cait Sith finally finished his shaking, handing out a third piece of paper towards Cloud. He picked it up, unfolding it and glancing down at it. Cloud paused. Whereas before, the other fortunes had been printed in a generic fortune cookie style format, in block letters, this one was printed in some sort of script, and consisted of only a single line. The message it contained was also far more ominous than the previous ones.

"What?" asked Tifa, frowning at his change of expression.

He shook his head, looking up and reading it out loud. "What you pursue will be yours," he said. "But you will lose something dear." He shook his head. "That makes no sense," he said. "I'm not pursuing anything."

"Aren't you?" asked Cait Sith, frowning. "Everyone pursues something, lad. That's just the way of it. That sort of fortune…to be honest, I can't tell you if it's good _or _bad. This is the first time I ever got something like _this_."

"Oh, come on!" said Yuffie, "That could mean anything! Cloud, you don't believe that, do you?"

He shook his head, sliding the piece of paper into his pocket. "It's just a fortune," he said, looking back at Tifa and Yuffie. He said that much, but considering the nature of the question, he couldn't shake the odd feeling. What _did _he pursue? "Come on, let's go," he said, shaking his head and starting off down the street.

"Yeah," said Tifa, following him.

"There's some games over there!" said Yuffie pointing. "I wonder if we can enter Cloud in the chocobo race!"

"_Yuffie…" _said Cloud and Tifa at the same time, giving her a look.

"What?" asked Yuffie, jogging to catch up with them. "I meant as a _rider_! Sheesh, Spike, you're _sensitive_."

"Wait!" said Cait Sith. Cloud paused in the middle of turning to answer Yuffie, glancing back at the cat. The Moogle was already moving forward, hurrying to catch up.

"What?" asked Cloud.

"I'm coming with you!" said Cait Sith.

"Excuse me?" asked Tifa, folding her arms. Cait Sith stopped in front of them, inclining his head towards her apologetically.

"Look, as a fortune-teller, I can't help but think about this. If I don't see what it leads to, I won't be able to relax…"

Cloud paused, glancing at Yuffie and Tifa. The two of them were watching him expectantly, Tifa's expression concerned, and Yuffie's confused. Yuffie shrugged. "Hey, I guess it'll be okay," she said.

He looked back at Cait Sith, studying the cat. The machine looked dead serious. Cloud tried to think of how he would explain to Sephiroth that they would traveling with a robot cat that told fortunes and failed miserably. "Look…" he began.

"I'm coming with you no matter _what _you say!" said Cait Sith. "Now come on! Lead the way!"

Cait Sith folded his arms, as though daring Cloud to disagree with him. Cloud sighed in defeat, recognizing that he wasn't going to be getting anywhere today. Come to think of it, considering the make-up of their team, a mechanical cat probably wouldn't even be that out of place. "Fine," he said. "Sure. Do whatever you want."

XxXxX

Sephiroth felt…odd. Not worried, exactly—he wouldn't say that, but restless. He felt as though he couldn't sit still, like he needed to get up, move, watch, be ready. It wasn't just Cissnei, although perhaps that might have been part of it. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something in this place was wrong. He didn't know how to describe it, except that it was the same sort of feeling he would get before a battle would break out back in the war, or before they'd walk into an ambush. A quiet tense feeling that told him everything was not as it appeared, that beneath the surface, trouble was brewing.

It was this same sort of restless energy that had caused him to move from his spot against the wall of Station Square, and wander into the streets. He glanced down at his phone before flicking it closed another time. He'd put it back in his pocket after Zack left, more to prove him wrong than anything else, but after twenty minutes, he pulled it out again. It wasn't just Cissnei, he told himself. He needed to be alert, in case anything happened. And something would. He was sure of it.

He didn't particularly see what sort of trouble might occur in a place like this, but his years in the war had taught him to trust his instincts. He remained on his guard, occasionally glancing around him and taking note of the crowd. The Speed Square wasn't as crowded as some of the other areas of the Saucer, but it was still filled with people. They pressed in on all sides, only serving to further put him on edge. Everywhere he looked, there were bright lights and bright colors, advertising the various attractions of the place.

"Step right up!" a man was shouting into the crowd. "Come play our turret shooting game! Win an authentic replica of Sephiroth's Masamune and other awesome prizes!"

He cringed, stepping away from the sound of that voice. Sephiroth resisted the urge to reach up and make sure his own Masamune was still there. He'd never liked the various paraphernalia Shinra had put out at the height of his popularity. Genesis had loved the replicas and the posters and the costumes, predictably, but it had always made him feel uncomfortable. He was a private person by nature, and had never really been able to get used to the knowledge that there were posters or unauthorized pictures of him out there, replicas of his sword and his uniform and even his _hair_. He hadn't even bothered with the photoshoots Shinra tried to force on them—the posters of him were made using pictures from the training room or news reports. He worried for a moment that someone might notice him moving through the crowd, but thankfully no one did, or if they did, they probably thought he was in costume for some attraction. Just to be sure, he moved into the shadow of the buildings on the other side, walking quickly and not stopping to linger. The sooner they were out of here, he decided, the better.

He turned away from the Speed Square, walking briskly back towards the station. The idiot at the turret shooting game was still shouting. If he remained here, he was bound to get noticed for sure. He had almost made it to the chute when a man standing by the steps called out to him, shouting in a loud voice.

"Hey there!" he said, pointing. "You!"

Sephiroth froze, torn between stopping and speeding up. The moment of hesitation was all the man needed, because just as Sephiroth started walking again, he was already there, standing next to him and staring at him with a peculiar expression on his face. The man was tall and muscular, with dark brown hair and a mustache, and dressed in a yellow swimsuit for no reason Sephiroth could name. At least, he hoped it was a swimsuit. The only other option was that the man was in his underwear. Sephiroth kept most of the irritation off of his own face, but he did make a small shuffling step to the side, to put some distance between him and the man.

"Hmm…" said the man, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward. He studied Sephiroth closer. "Hmm…" Sephiroth took another step back.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

The man grinned, straightening up. "How is it?" he asked. "You having fun? Hmm—I'm sure you are! You _are _having fun, aren't you, boy?"

Inwardly, he cringed again. Boy? He was thirty years old! "Don't call me that," he said, folding his arms. Apparently, the man seemed to hear that as 'please tell me your name', because he spun around, striking a bodybuilder's pose. Sephiroth took another step away.

"Mmm, me?" asked the man. "I'm the owner of the Gold Saucer! The name's Dio! Just call me Dio!"

_What else would I call you…? _thought Sephiroth, frowning.

"Anyway, boy," said Dio, turning around. He grinned at Sephiroth. "Do you know what a Black Materia is?"

"…A what?" repeated Sephiroth.

"A Black Materia," said Dio. "A boy a little younger than you was walking around asking for one. You were dressed the same way and you had the same eyes, so I thought you might know what it is."

"The same…_eyes_?"

His own eyes weren't the same mako blue that most regular SOLDIERs obtained. Instead they were bright green and catlike, with slitted pupils. In the past, the scientists had told him that it had been some anomaly with the mako, because he had been very young when he first received it. Now, Sephiroth wasn't sure. Jenova—the version of her they'd encountered on the cargo ship—had the same green eyes.

"Why yes indeed," said Dio. "Bright green, just like yours. He wore a black cape, with a tattoo on his hand that said '1'."

_Tattoo…_

He thought back to his time spent in the Shinra Mansion basement, to the files that were scattered around on the table, on the floor, on every available surface. The Files that had to do with Project S. There was a photograph stuck in one of them. A man's hand, with a tattoo…His head spun with a sudden influx of memory. S Cells. The Jenova Project. Sephiroth clones…

He squeezed his eyes shut, dispelling the memories, and opened them again. "Where is this man?" he asked. He refused to use the term 'boy'.

Dio laughed heartily, shaking his head. "I have no idea!" he said. "You sure you don't know what a Black Materia is?"

"No," said Sephiroth, curtly. "I have no idea. There are only five colors of Materia."

"Huh. Well, I wonder what that is then." Dio walked off, grinning. "I say, stop by the Battle Arena if you like, boy. You'll probably like it. Many of my collections are on display there." He laughed, then walked off towards the chute that led to the Station. Sephiroth frowned, watching him go before walking away. Normally, he would have been quick to dismiss the man's ramblings, but…that image of the hand with the tattoo on it was still stuck in his mind, and something in the man's words…

_Black Materia…_

He felt as though he'd heard the term before, but he couldn't figure out where. Such a thing didn't exist…did it? There were only five colors of Materia—red, green, purple, yellow, and blue, each with a different purpose. But then, if it didn't exist, why…did he suddenly feel drawn to it?

He shook his head. There must have been something wrong with him. He had never found himself drawn to idle fancy before. He put the thought from his mind, walking back through the streets. He still didn't have a destination in mind, but he wasn't heading back to the Station now, not with that man heading in that direction. He turned away from the turret shooting game, making his way past the crowds and into an area of the Speed Square where the noise had lessened slightly, and the crowds had eased up.

And it was there that he realized he was being watched.

Sephiroth tensed, stopping in his walk. He raised his head, looking around. This area's attractions were undergoing renovations, and because of that, the crowds here had thinned, leaving him standing in the center of the street amidst a sparse group of the people. Of the people that were standing here, none of them seemed to really be looking at him. He gave the crowd a quick sweep, but nobody in particular stood out—they were all just ordinary people, walking around, chatting with each other, hurrying from one attraction to the next.

It was a sound that alerted him, the soft, barely there whisper of a sword being pulled from its sheath.

Sephiroth turned, quickly pulling Masamune from his back and sweeping it to the side. The clash of steel on steel echoed through the square.

The other sword's wielder didn't blink, simply stared at Sephiroth calmly. He had another sword in his left hand, a katana with what looked like the barrel of a gun fused to the top of it. It was identical to the blade that was facing Sephiroth now. His eyes were bright blue, his pupils ringed with yellow. The man's torso was completely bare—but he wore white pants tied with a black belt, and boots the same color as the Deepground uniform. His hair was pure silver, the first Sephiroth had seen besides his own, and it stood up in all directions.

He met Sephiroth's eyes, and the hint of a smile appeared on his face. He took a step back, lowering his sword to his side, his eyes fixed on Sephiroth the entire while as if to remind him that he was not yielding because he was afraid, but because he was perfectly in control. In that instant, Sephiroth knew who he was looking at. The man he and Cissnei had been talking about in Junon.

The leader of the Tsviets.

"So you are Sephiroth," he said.

XxXxX

Going to the Battle Square had been Yuffie's idea. The four of them had spent enough time in the Wonder Square, and after losing to both Cloud and Tifa a handful of times in the snowboarding game, the young ninja had decided that she wanted to do something more interesting. Tifa had tried to talk her down to something a little less dangerous, but once Yuffie had an idea in her mind, it was impossible to get her to change it.

"_Cloud'll win, won't you, Cloud?" _she'd asked, grinning at him.

He was about to tell her that he wasn't really interested in doing any more fighting, but the next thing he knew, Tifa was looking at him too, with a concerned frown on her face and a questioning look in her deep, wine-colored eyes what came out of his mouth instead was a very different "Uh…sure. No problem."

The next thing he knew, the four of them were jumping down a chute to the Battle Square, and Cloud was wondering why on earth he didn't keep his mouth shut.

The Battle Arena consisted a big, medieval style castle, with two crossed swords on the shield in front of it. The idea behind the Arena was fairly simple—defeat eight monsters and win a prize. By the time Cloud got to the Arena itself, he was starting to feel good about his chances. After all, he'd defeated monsters before, it shouldn't be too hard to beat eight. As long as he didn't embarrass himself in front of Tifa, at any rate.

"Come on!" said Yuffie with a grin, running off ahead of them. "Right this way!"

Cloud sighed, following Yuffie out of the chute as she ran towards the building. The ninja suddenly drew to a stop, stepping back, and Cloud nearly crashed into her. Tifa _did _crash into him, letting out an 'oof' as she stumbled back. Cloud looked back at her. "Sorry," he said, as she straightened up. "Yuffie, what—?"

"Shh," said Yuffie, interrupting him.

He looked over at her. She was crouched down, every muscle in her body tense and her eyes narrowed. Cloud looked over her shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw why she had stopped. A Shinra infantryman was standing guard outside of the entrance to the Battle Square, leaning against one of the pillars.

"Why'd we sto-mmpphmph?" asked Cait Sith, coming up to them. Whatever he was about to say was drowned out as Tifa reached out, plucking the cat from his perch and covering his mouth with her hand.

Cloud crouched down, reaching for his sword just in case, but the infantryman didn't seem to notice them, continuing to stare straight ahead. As Cloud watched, he pitched forward, and then fell face down on the ground. It was only then that Cloud noticed the patch of red coming out of the back of his uniform.

"What the…?" he heard Tifa say.

Cloud straightened up, running out from their hiding place and over to the infantryman. The wound looked like a spray of gunshot wounds to the back, a shot pattern that Cloud had seen before. Cloud knelt down, feeling for a pulse. The skin beneath his fingers didn't move. The wounds weren't bleeding anymore—whoever this soldier was, he had been dead for a while already.

"Dead," he said, looking up at the others.

"What?!" said Tifa, her eyes widening as she ran over to him.

Yuffie followed, looking over his shoulder. "Hey, that wound…" she began.

Cloud ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach that told him where he had seen that pattern before. "He was shot," he said, getting to his feet. He looked up at the building above, taking a deep breath. He began running, taking the stairs two at a time. Behind him, he heard Tifa shout. "Wa-wait!" she said. _"Cloud!" _

He ignored her, bursting through the doors. The tiled floor at his feet was stained red with blood, and bullet holes peppered the walls. Cloud froze in place, looking around.

Four dead infantrymen and two staff members lay scattered on the ground. All of them had been killed with a gun.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	68. File 020: Ill Fortune pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Cissnei's portion of the story is full of so much irony. See if you can spot it. The next file is, as you can probably tell from this chapter, going to be rather action-packed *flexes fingers and pulls on fight scene writing gloves* Let's see if I'm up to the challenge.

Thanks go to **DarkSeraphim1, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Gohan Roxas, K, SapphyreMyst, Irish-Brigid, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, PerfectLove88, Guest, **and **Riku Uzumaki **for your reviews and support! We're at 600 reviews! That's so awesome. I really appreciate all the support you guys give me for this story!

**DarkSeraphim1, JazzQueen, Leon Kaye, ryuukoshi, **and **Riku Uzumaki**, yeah, I couldn't resist having a Weiss vs. Sephiroth fight. It's been playing in my head for far too long. Unfortunately, since this is so early in the game, it won't be a decisive battle, but still, maybe it will be a little taste for later on. ^^

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero**, I'm guessing it's because Seph gets defeated for real in Advent Children, and DoC is set after that. By this time they'd revived Sephiroth about three times already, so they probably figured they didn't want to do it again. Not sure though.

**Gohan Roxas, **yes, they still do. I've tried not to change anything in this story that isn't directly connected to Genesis (tried being the operative word, the timeline screw-up was my fault.) They might have a lesser role than in the game though—I just wanted to bring the Black Materia to Sephy's attention.

**Sapphyre Myst, **sounds interesting. Don't worry, I like speculation. I've been speculating about Cait Sith's fortunes myself. Not to mention…well, there's a certain pseudo-prophecy in this game that might be coming to light in later parts of this story…

**Irish-Brigid, **maybe he took the name himself? Who knows.

**Leon Kaye, **I won't be pairing Kunsel with Yuffie because Yuffentine won (but they can be friends!). I do have plans for Kunsel, but they probably won't be coming to light until the end of this Disc/start of Disc Two, so I'll keep quiet about them until then. Cloti will become more and more prominent as the game goes on. In the canon they didn't really come to anything up until the end, so the order of pairings for this one will actually be: Zerith (already together), Sephissnei, Cloti, and Yuffentine/Tselena all the way in the epilogue.

**PerfectLove88**, haha yeah. I know you guys know it isn't Barret, but the writer in me insists on writing as if nobody's played the game, and that would be a perfect cliffhanger sequence if you didn't already know the story.

XxXxX

**File 020: Ill Fortune**

The doors of the turret shooter game opened, the last round of players walking out onto the street. Zack grinned, glancing at the prize that Aerith carried in her other hand, the one that wasn't holding onto his. "And they say I can't shoot," he said.

"Yes, but…I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do with this umbrella," said Aerith. She tapped the bright purple umbrella across her shoulder, giving Zack an uncertain look. The two of them had spent the past hour or so wandering around the Gold Saucer, trying out attractions and just generally enjoying each other's company. They didn't get nearly enough time alone while traveling, Zack decided, not with the others always in close proximity.

"You could fight with it," suggested Zack. He let go of her hand to bring his hands up, miming whacking something with a staff. "Wham!" He paused, studying the look Aerith gave him. "No?"

Aerith smiled at him, shaking her head and resting her free hand on her waist. "Don't be silly, Zack," she said.

"Hey, don't knock it," said Zack. "An umbrella saved my life once, you know. Fought off three Genesis copies with it."

Aerith giggled. "I think you're making that up," she said.

Zack's face fell. "I'm serious!" he said. "Ask Cissnei if you don't believe me. She was there."

"If I didn't know any better, Zack, I'd say you were trying to impress me," said Aerith, a sly smile spreading over her face.

"Well that depends," said Zack, grinning. He turned around and placed his hands on her waist, lifting her up off the ground and standing her with her back against the nearest wall. They were in the space between two buildings, partly hidden in the shadows, and if anyone saw, they left them alone. This _was _the Gold Saucer, after all. He rested his arm on the wall above her head, leaning in playfully. "Are you impressed?" he asked.

Aerith stared up at him, her green eyes gleaming in the bright lights that flooded the Speed Square. She tilted her head to the side, her expression pure mischief as she pretended to consider Zack's words. "Hmm…I don't know," she said finally, rising up on her tiptoes and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think I might need a little more..._convincing_."

Zack obligingly leaned in, keeping his eyes on hers. Her eyes seemed to draw him in, pulling him closer and trapping him so that he couldn't escape, even if he wanted to. Not that he ever wanted to. His hands still rested on her waist, and he could feel the tension, once present even underneath her outward playfulness, starting to slip away. They were all tense lately—had been since leaving Midgar. They needed more moments like this—more Costa del Sols and less Junon cargo ships. _He_ needed more moments like this.

_When this is all over…one of these days…_

He didn't get to finish the thought. Aerith's breath was warm against his lips and her free hand was resting on his neck, and she was so close…too close, but not close enough. He leaned into her, closing his eyes…

The kiss was short and sweet, a brush of her lips against his. Zack felt the hand that was on his neck slide down to his shoulder, her fingers trembling slightly as they curled inward. He pulled back, opening his eyes. Her own eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, a troubled expression on her face. "Aerith, what...?" he began.

"I'm scared…" Aerith admitted. She opened her eyes, although she didn't look at him. "All of these things that are happening—my mother—Zack…I don't know if I—."

Zack reached up, resting a hand on her cheek and turning her to face him. "It's going to be alright," he said, meeting her eyes. "I won't let anyone hurt you." He meant it. He might not have understood the entire situation—things might have been happening that were beyond his power, but there wasn't anyone he wouldn't fight to keep her safe. She looked up at him uncertainly, and he felt her relax in his arms. He leaned down to kiss her again—

—and saw something out of the corner of his eye at the last moment. A flash of red.

He moved quickly, pulling away from Aerith and pulling her behind him as he whirled around to face the mouth of the alley. He heard Aerith gasp in surprise, stumbling back as he grabbed onto the hilt of his sword with one hand, drawing it and pointing it at the woman standing in front of them. Rosso tilted her head back, an amused smirk on her face.

"How _sweet_," she said, lifting the disc-like form of her weapon from her back. The blades sprang free with a hiss, popping up on either side of the disc. "Young love…"

Zack's grip tightened on his sword. Behind him, Aerith recovered, having dropped the umbrella in favor of her staff. He could feel her standing ready behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off Rosso, even for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, angrily.

"Why, I'm here for the girl, of course," said Rosso, continuing to walk forward.

Zack's eyes narrowed. "What do you want with Aerith?" he demanded.

"Nothing," said Rosso. Her eyes moved past Zack, fixing on Aerith instead. "The company wants her alive," she said. "Unfortunately, darling…" She raised her weapon-hand, one of the blades pointing towards Zack. Her smirk widened.

"They said nothing about you."

XxXxX

The mine was a twisted network of tunnels and paths, burrowing deep underneath the mountain. Cissnei gave up on orienting herself, instead choosing to follow along beside Chris, who seemed to know the way. Although there were some portions of the mine that had been lit by electric lights, the majority of it, especially the parts that didn't look inhabited by either Shalua or Chris, was still dark. Cissnei cast a glance at some old wiring running along the corner where the wall of the shaft met its roof. It might have been functional at one point, but now it looked like even attempting to run a charge across it would be more likely to electrocute you than anything else. She considered that for a moment, then glanced away, her attention turning towards Zack and the others. They would be in the Gold Saucer by now, probably waiting for her to catch up. She would have sent a message if she could, but down here, so far underground, her phone was all but useless. She couldn't linger here. She had to hurry and catch up with them.

At least, she hoped that they had decided to go onto the Saucer, instead of doing something reckless, like doubling back and looking for her. There was no telling whether or not that army was still waiting. Zack would do it in a heartbeat, she knew. He wasn't the type of person to leave a man behind. But Sephiroth…Sephiroth would talk some sense into him. He wouldn't let himself be so rash.

"Tell me about Shelke," said Chris, her voice cutting through Cissnei's thoughts and bringing her back to the present.

Cissnei glanced at her. "There's not much to say," she said. She lowered her voice, but even then, it still echoed against the walls. "They call her Shelke the Transparent now. She's a Tsviet, working with Deepground. But—." She paused, thinking of how best to phrase this. The way Shalua described it, Shelke had been taken seven years ago, when she was nine.

Chris glanced over at her. "But what?" she asked, frowning.

"…But whatever happened to her down there…it's done something to her. She…she still looks like a nine-year-old girl. But the way she talks…"

"Tch," said Chris. "Shalua's not gonna like that."

"Are you going to tell her?" asked Cissnei, looking over at her.

Chris shrugged. "Maybe," she said. "I'm still thinking about it. The woman's driven herself half-crazy looking for this kid. Thing's cost her an eye and an arm and who knows what else. If her sister's out there, she probably should know, but—."

"You're worried she might do something reckless?" finished Cissnei.

"No telling how she'll react," said Chris. "But I guess she oughta know. If it was my sister…" She trailed off, waving her hand in the air. Cissnei frowned, hugging her arms close to her chest. The air in the tunnel had suddenly grown heavy, and Chris wasn't looking at her. She was looking at something far off, as if she was thinking about something that had happened a long time ago. Cissnei glanced away. She knew that Chris had been living on her own before joining the Turks, her parents having died before in some skirmish involving Shinra. She never asked which side her father had fought on. Things like that weren't so important in the Turks. She wondered if Chris was thinking of them now.

It wasn't as if she would know what that felt like. She didn't have any family.

"_Don't you?" _She heard Shion's voice in the back of her mind, as clearly as if he had only spoken to her yesterday. Her stomach churned in memory, their faces passing through her mind. Veld, Tseng, Reno, Rude, Shion, Chris, Nico and Ivan, Lydia…The Turks had always been her family. And now…

"When you were in Kalm," said Chris, glancing back at her. "You talked to Shion?"

"Mm," said Cissnei, nodding.

Chris looked at her. "How is he, Ciss?" she asked. "Honestly?" Cissnei stared at her. The dim light of the flashlight softened her features, making her look much younger than she was. Her expression was no longer quite so confident, instead it looked openly unsure, despite the frown on her face and her eyes were searching, imploring. It suddenly hit her that this was a question Chris had been waiting this entire time to ask, and had probably been wrestling with, uncertain as to whether it truly needed to be brought up.

_She's worried about him…_said a voice at the back of her mind. An image flashed through her mind, the last time she had seen Shion and Chris together, both of them in their suits and grabbing a cup of coffee in the break room after a training session. There had been an easy, companionable bond between them, one that was plain to see if anyone knew what they were looking for. Chris's words from earlier came back to her, and now she heard the bitterness she hadn't noticed then.

"_I was partnered up to that walking bag of issues for five years…I know the name of his damn sword…" _

The truth of the matter suddenly became as clear as day.

_She's in love with him…_

Cissnei wondered if Chris knew it herself.

Maybe she did.

"He's—," she began.

The sound of an alarm echoed through the tunnels, a high-pitched trilling noise. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she glanced at Chris, who was suddenly alert. All traces of her previous concern were gone. Now, she was all business. "Shalua," she said.

The two of them took off down the path without another word, running back along the path towards the lab. Chris burst into the lit corridor first, Cissnei at her heels. The entrance to Shalua's lab was narrow compared to the rest of the room, but Cissnei could see the scientist standing braced against the wall, a pistol in her human hand. There was a determined look in her eye, but she was obviously tense, and seemed partly afraid.

"Shalua, what—?!" began Chris, running ahead.

Shalua jumped, turning her head towards them. "Don't come any closer!" she shouted.

A blast suddenly tore through the air, a loud booming sound like cannon fire. Chris and Cissnei immediately jumped back and out of the way. The blast struck the stone wall of the lab, tearing a deep hole in it and sending chunks of stone flying everywhere. Cissnei slid back as she landed on the ground, her right hand sweeping Rekka from her back and swinging it in front of her in one quick motion. The shuriken's points caught a stone that was coming from her head-on, sending it flying. She deflected a second one from her side, switching Rekka to her other hand and completing the spin before straightening up. Her eyes narrowed.

A hulking giant of a man appeared in the doorway, turning towards them. He must have been over nine feet tall, and walked stooped, his head barely brushing against the ceiling. His hair was bright blue, and spiked, and his eyes were completely black, with bright yellow irises. He wore a blue scarf around his neck, and in one hand, he carried the biggest gun Cissnei had ever seen not mounted on a piece of artillery. The tip of the cannon was smoking. The man's eyes fixed on them, and his lips spread apart in a shark-like grin.

Cissnei tensed, her grip tightening on Rekka. Beside her, she saw Chris reaching for her knives.

XxXxX

Cloud stared at the carnage in front of him, stunned. For a moment, he didn't speak, didn't move, the only thing he did was look at the wreckage and at the gunshots on the wall. His mind raced. It couldn't be…could it? No, there were a lot of people who used guns. It could even have been one of the infantrymen, for all he knew…

He heard footsteps behind him as Yuffie burst into the room.

"Cloud!" shouted Yuffie. "What the hell—?" She froze, skidding to a stop. Behind her, Tifa and Cait Sith stopped as well. Tifa looked around, her eyes widening.

"This is…" she said.

"Did Barret do this?" asked Yuffie, eyes wide. Tifa turned towards her, eyes wide.

"What are you saying?" she asked. "Barret would never—."

Whatever she was about to say was cut off as a low moan echoed through the empty room. Cloud's eyes widened and he scanned the room, his eyes landing on a pink-haired woman lying facedown over the counter. She was moving slightly, attempting to raise her head. The woman was covered in blood, and from the looks of it, it was mostly her own. He quickly moved towards her.

"Hey!" he said, "Hey, what happened here?"

The woman took shallow breaths, her face contorting in pain. "Ugh…a man…with a gun on his arm…" she gasped.

A man with a gun on his arm. No. No, it couldn't be. Cloud took a step back, shaking his head. "Tifa!" he said, looking back at her. Tifa and Yuffie were watching, Tifa looking stunned, Yuffie worried. "You have the Cure Materia?"

"Uh—y-yeah!" said Tifa quickly, stepping forward. Her hands began to glow with a warm light. Just before she reached the woman, a loud shout echoed through the room.

"Hold it right there! And stay quiet!"

Tifa froze. The four of them turned towards the door. Two guards walked in, flanking a muscular man dressed in what appeared to be a bright yellow swimsuit. He stopped in front of them, his expression furious. "Did you do this?" he demanded.

"N—no, it wasn't us!" said Cloud.

The two guards reached for guns. Yuffie's eyes widened, and she stepped back, reaching for her shuriken. Cloud glanced at her, quickly placing a hand on her arm to stop her as the man and the guards tensed. Cait Sith turned towards them.

"Hurry and run," he said, "It's gonna get ugly."

He turned, the Moogle bounding off towards the stairs. The guards turned towards him, firing. Gunshots echoed through the air. Tifa jumped, and Yuffie let out a small shriek, covering her ears.

"Hey, what the hell?" she shouted. "We told you it wasn't us, idiots!"

The guards turned towards her, expressions murderous. Cloud shoved at her, pushing her in the direction Cait Sith had run. "Yuffie, go!" he said, letting go of her and reaching for his sword.

"But—," began Yuffie.

"_Go!_" repeated Cloud. "Tifa!"

Tifa nodded, grabbing Yuffie by the arm and running. "H-Hey!" shouted Yuffie. She stumbled, then quickly caught up, running behind Tifa. The guards turned towards them, raising their guns. Cloud moved forward, stepping between the guards and them and drawing his sword. The bullets slammed off the side of the Force Stealer, the impact causing Cloud to grit his teeth. He swept the sword through the air, turning and running after them.

"Stop them!" he heard the man in the swimsuit shout as they ran into the next room. This room was an arena, with a red circle painted on the floor, presumably where the battle was supposed to take place. There was a gate at the other end, but it was barred, a heavy metal portcullis blocking the way. Cait Sith skidded to a stop in front of the door.

"There's no way out!" he said, as Tifa and Yuffie drew to a stop as well.

Cloud tensed, standing between the two of them and the guards and holding his sword at the ready. The man in the swimsuit walked forward calmly, glaring at them.

"That's as far as you go," he said.

"Wait!" said Cloud, lowering his sword slightly. "Listen to me!"

There was a loud groaning sound of metal on stone. "Cloud…" began Cait Sith from behind him, sounding nervous. Cloud turned. The portcullis was rising, and behind it, a large machine waited. It looked almost like the Shinra artillery machines, but less sophisticated. That didn't mean the guns on it were any less of a threat. Cait Sith stumbled back from it, standing with his back towards them.

"Uh…Cloud," said Yuffie, turning to the side.

Cloud and Tifa whirled around as two more machines jumped into view, standing at the corners of the arena. All three machines moved forward, boxing them in. Cloud took a step back, walking backwards until his back touched someone else's. He looked up, but the man was watching them, stony-faced. He grit his teeth, tightening his hold on his sword.

XxXxX

The Chocobo Square was charged with excitement, a crowd gathering at the edge of the raceway and shouting encouragement to their favorite chocobos and jockeys, but where Kunsel and Red stood, on a walkway overlooking the crowd below, it was almost deserted. Kunsel leaned against the wall of one of the nearby buildings as they watched the race from the screen. His companion lay on the ground, relaxing. He'd invited Red to come along with him to kill some time, after seeing that they were the only two left in the Station, and Red didn't particularly like crowds. He could imagine why. With Red's ears and nose, a crowd such as the one cheering on the chocobos would probably be overwhelming.

"You didn't bet on the black chocobo?" asked Red as the birds went by on the screen.

Kunsel shook his head. "The race is fixed," he said. "The black chocobo has a bad leg. That yellow bird, second from the left, that's the one to watch."

"And you know this by sight?" asked Red, lifting his head and turning towards him.

Kunsel shook his head. "I saw the jockeys exercising the chocobos before the race," he said. "That's why I thought to bet on it. If I lose, I'm out a few gil. But if I win…" He shrugged. He wasn't any stranger to betting. Back in training, and even throughout the earlier part of their SOLDIER career, some of them had an ongoing betting pool, usually regarding some of the more prominent or troublesome members of the SOLDIER program. Zack had won him quite a few gil back in the day, without knowing it.

Red regarded him coolly for a moment, before turning his attention back to the race. He shook his head. "You are an interesting human, Kunsel Harringer," he said.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant as such," said Red. "I'm not sure what I should make of you."

"How about we decide that after we see if my chocobo wins?" asked Kunsel.

Red snorted, appearing amused as he looked back up at the screen. "Fair enough," he said. "The black bird is in the lead," he added.

_Not for long_…thought Kunsel. _The yellow one's still biding his time. _And indeed, it was true. The black chocobo seemed to be slowing down, while the yellow one didn't quite look tired yet. The bird would probably pick up speed towards the end, outsprinting its opponent in a dash to the finish line. Or at least, he hoped. Otherwise he was going to end up looking very stupid.

Red suddenly sprang up, drawing his attention away from the race. Kunsel turned as his companion stared at something at the end of the walkway, his hackles raised and his ears turned towards the source of the disturbance. Kunsel heard him growl softly under his breath.

"What's up?" he asked Red.

"Trouble," was the guttural reply.

Kunsel tensed, reaching up and closing a hand around the hilt of his sword as he watched and waited. A small figure appeared at the end of the road, walking towards them. Small. Like a child.

He drew his sword.

Shelke the Transparent came to a stop in front of them, her sabers in her hands. As he watched, they began to glow, humming with a bright orange light. Her eyes met his, completely impassive. Red growled low, and Shelke's eyes drifted towards him for a moment before looking back at Kunsel.

"Where is the Cetra?" she asked.

Aerith. Of course. Kunsel's grip tightened on his sword.

"I don't know," he said. "And I wouldn't tell you even if I did."

"I see," said Shelke. She raised her sabers, holding them at the ready. "Then you have to die."

XxXxX

Sephiroth remained where he stood, staring at the man. He didn't lower his sword, keeping Masamune's tip pointed at his throat. The man seemed unfazed, continuing to stare at Sephiroth with an amused expression on his face. "Who are you?" asked Sephiroth.

"Weiss," said the man. "the Immaculate."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?" he asked.

Weiss snorted, pacing off to the side. Sephiroth turned, keeping the point of his blade towards him. "You have something Shinra wants," said Weiss in explanation. "They want it back."

Something Shinra wants. He thought through all of the things they had in their group, all of the things Shinra could possibly want. Cissnei, wanted by the Turks. Zack and Cloud, escaped from Hojo's experiments. Himself. Red XIII. Yuffie Kisaragi. Barret and Tifa, for their crimes. Aerith.

Aerith.

"You're looking for Aerith," he said.

Weiss smirked. "The sole survivor of the Cetra," he said. "You do not even know her worth. Who knows what secrets she possesses, what lost power lurks within?"

Sephiroth thought of the uncertain girl that had spoken to him at the beach, the look in her eye as she admitted her fears. She stood staring at the sea, her hand curled up close to her chest and her eyes fixed on the waves. He tightened his grip on his sword, pointing it at Weiss. He said nothing, his eyes narrowing. Weiss turned towards him, staring down Masamune's length to meet his eyes.

"You protect the girl," he said. "Why? What is she to you?"

Sephiroth grit his teeth. Her words from back then still rang in his mind, seeming to overlap with his own. His own words, at the Nibelheim Reactor, so long ago.

"_I've always known—ever since I was little…"_

**"…_I knew, ever since I was a child…"_**

"…_I've known that I'm not normal…"_

**"…_I was not like the others…"_**

"_I pretended at it well enough, but I knew it wasn't the same…"_

**"…_I knew mine was a special existence." _**

"_I still don't know what it means to be a Cetra…" _

**"_But this—." _**

"…_sometimes I wish it wasn't me." _

**"_This was not what I meant." _**

"That is none of your concern," said Sephiroth vehemently. "Leave. Now, and I will let you go."

"You're not in a position to give orders anymore," said Weiss, turning towards him. Off in the distance, gunfire echoed. People screamed. The blast was followed by another, more distant. Alarms began to ring, one after another. Sephiroth and Weiss stood alone in the chaos, facing each other. "Besides," said Weiss, raising his swords. "I believe it's already begun."

"Then so be it," said Sephiroth, tightening his grip on Masamune.

Weiss charged, rushing towards him.

**END FILE**


	69. File 021: Fragments of Memory pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **So, in my notes, I have the fights listed as Barret v. Dyne, Sephiroth v. Weiss, Kunsel and Red v. Shelke, Cissnei and co. v. Azul, and Rosso v. **Zerith**. Yes, Zack and Aerith have become one entity, apparently.

This file is going to have four chapters. Because there are so many subplots running simultaneously, I decided that each chapter will further everyone's story, but the majority of the chapter will be devoted to one or two, to not break up the flow. So don't worry about Seph vs. Weiss (for example) not taking center stage in this chapter. There will be a chapter that will be mostly devoted to them. As usual, we're playing Spot the Limit Breaks!

And on the subject of fights: djaltlbjlytojvncxy—DUAL WIELDERS! Mako-enhanced sword fights are hard enough to block as it is without people having two of the damn things.

Thanks go to **DarkSeraphim1, JazzQueen, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, K, Leon Kaye, Roza Anne, IzumiYukimura, **and **ryuukoshi** for your reviews and support!

**DarkSeraphim1, **I hate writing accents out. I figure if you guys have heard her voice, you can imagine her accent. ^^

**JazzQueen, **well, right now it's Shinra that wants Aerith back, but…you're not _wrong _about Genesis. Just saying.

**Riku Uzumaki, **Nero is too busy making Tseng sweat, haha. (see scene from the previous file)

**Leon Kaye, **regarding your realization…you're getting warmer, but you're not there yet. ^^ I'll reveal it before this "Disc" ends though, so it shouldn't be TOO much longer…I'm thinking of speeding things up a little bit once we get past Cosmo, although meeting Vincent and Yuffie's little character arc will probably take up some time.

**IzumiYukimura, **it's actually the name of the minigame (the turret shooting game) that you can play in Gold Saucer. Portal didn't cross my mind, but now I see it, lol.

XxXxX

**File 021: Fragments of Memory**

_Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at!_

The man stumbled back from the sudden barrage of bullets, his eyes widening in shock as he fell to the ground. The knife in his hand tumbled from his grip, landing on the sands of the desert prison. In an instant, all was still. There were no more sounds. Barret stared at the dead man for a long moment before lowering his gun arm, the tip of it still smoking. He let out a slow breath, then walked forward. The man's free hand was resting across his chest—this close, Barret noticed that he had been reaching for his gun.

_He was after me…_Barret thought. _One of Dyne's—or—?_

It didn't matter now. He stared down at the man, a scowl on his face. He hadn't even been here an hour yet and already they were trying to kill him. Was it because of what he'd done? Or was it what he was here to do?

His human hand tightened around the red orb he was holding. The Materia's core was dull, showing only the barest flicker of light. He'd tried to use the Materia upon seeing Dyne, but it hadn't worked. He'd tried to use it again here, and even then, it didn't respond. He clenched his fist around it.

"Stupid thing…" he muttered under his breath. What was the point of a Materia that didn't work?

He shook his head, staring down at the dead prisoner, at the pool of blood blossoming across his chest. Dyne. He still felt hollow inside, thinking about it. What had happened had been his fault then. Biggs, Wedge, Jessie…that had been his fault too. He was supposed to be AVALANCHE's leader, but he couldn't even lead anything. Not even a Materia would listen to him.

"Barret!" shouted a voice, causing him to look up.

He turned his head, looking off to the side. Cloud stood there, staring at him with wide eyes. His SOLDIER uniform was stained with dirt from where he'd fallen, and he had a bruise across his face, probably from a fight.

"Huh, wha—," began Yuffie, walking up behind him. Her eyes widened as she saw Barret. "Hey!" she said, pointing.

"Barret, did they catch you too?" asked Tifa, coming to stand on Cloud's other side. Her eyes darkened as they landed on him. She looked concerned. He scowled at her. He didn't need her trying to mother him. Not right now.

Cloud wasn't looking at him. Instead, his eyes were on the prisoner's body, disbelieving. "Barret…" Cloud began. "Did you really…?" Barret's eyes widened, and he took a step back. Cloud hesitated, then stepped forward, walking towards him.

"Stay back!" shouted Barret, sweeping his gun arm in front of him. Cloud stopped in his tracks, his hand freezing in the air just above his waist. He lowered it quickly, trying to make it look like he hadn't been reaching for his sword, but Barret wasn't that stupid. "This is something I gotta deal with," he said. He turned away. "Jus' leave me alone."

He turned, running off. He couldn't take it anymore. Cloud's uncertainty, Tifa's concern, Yuffie's puzzled stare. He just needed to get away. He needed to finish this. Now. Alone.

He ran as fast as he could, towards the interior of the prison.

Towards Dyne.

XxXxX

Cissnei's fingers closed tightly around Rekka, her heart feeling like it had jumped in her throat. She took deep breaths to calm herself down, keeping her eyes fixed on the giant in front of her as she held her shuriken out in front of her. Her eyes drifted to the hole in the wall where the cannon blast had struck. A direct hit from a blast like that would have ripped a normal human being apart. She glanced at Chris. The other ex-Turk had three knives in each hand, held between her fingers. Her eyes were constantly moving, scanning the area around them, and Cissnei could tell that she was looking for an escape.

_I have to distract him…_she realized. _We need time. _

She looked back up at the man. "You're a Tsviet," she said.

His eyes fixed on hers and his grin widened. As a Turk, she had been exposed to many horrors, but there was something about that grin that unsettled her, the same way she had felt when looking into Rosso or Nero's eyes. "I am Azul the Cerulean," he said.

_There's only madness there…_she realized. It was the same for all the Tsviets she had met, except for Shelke. In Shelke's eyes, there was nothing, only perfect restraint.

_That's what happens to men when you break them…_she realized. _They either snap or they hide themselves away…_

"Why are you here?" asked Cissnei.

Azul grinned, looking at her as though she was the subject of a joke that only he knew about. Her grip tightened on Rekka. She wouldn't be afraid, she told herself. She was many things, but she wasn't afraid. "Someone," said Azul, "has been asking entirely the wrong questions." He raised his cannon, pointing it at her. Cissnei went rigid, staring down the barrel of it. She heard something click within the weapon, something sliding into place.

_He's after me…_she thought. _Because of what I know. _

She'd have to move quickly to get away. There was a passage behind her. If she made for that…if she _managed _to make for that, she might have time. She—.

Azul pulled the trigger. Cissnei's eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat. The blast went right past her, right over her shoulder on her right side, close enough that she could feel the heat and the force of it. She heard the impact strike rock, heard the sound of rocks breaking off to her right, accompanied by an explosion. It had missed her completely, but why—.

_Chris?!_

She turned her head to the side, alarmed. For a moment, the right side of the passage was nothing more than smoke, rocks and gravel falling down from the ceiling. But then, three knives sailed out from the smoke in perfect formation, digging into Azul's skin. Two of them struck him in his shoulder, one on each side, and the last one struck him in the chest. He didn't even flinch, but he did look mildly surprised.

The dust cleared, revealing Chris. She was standing crouched on the ground a few feet away from where she had been, as though she had jumped back at the very last moment. Blood stained her shirt and pants leg, and she was bleeding from a scrape across her cheek, but her right hand still had all of its knives, and there was a hint of a smirk on her face. Azul let out a booming laugh, undeterred by the knives sticking out of his upper body.

"You think this _trick _can stop Azul the Cerulean?" he asked.

"No," said Chris, holding her hand up to her face. "I think this one can."

Electricity arced suddenly from the hilts of the three knives stuck in Azul's chest, jagged bolts of lightning connecting one to the other. There was a bright flash and an explosion as the light flared, followed by a loud crash as Azul was thrown back. Cissnei turned her head away and shielded her eyes with her arm from the light. Chris ran forward, grabbing her by the arm and causing her to look up. When she did, she saw Azul was on the ground, seemingly pinned down by the triangle of lightning formed by the knives. He struggled fiercely to get up, his face contorted with rage.

"Come on!" said Chris, gesturing madly at Shalua for her to catch up. The scientist ran out of the lab quickly, a messenger bag slung over one shoulder. "We have to move! That won't hold him."

"Mm!" said Cissnei, tearing her eyes away from the sight and taking off down the hallway.

XxXxX

Weiss made the first attack, sweeping the sword in his left hand around towards his neck. Sephiroth responded by pivoting on one foot, steel clashing against steel as Masamune caught the sword and turned it aside. He moved quickly, jumping back to gain distance and sliding Masamune back the way it came with a flick of his wrist, turning a parry into a slash. Weiss blocked it with his other blade, raising the gunblade in his left hand and pointing it at Sephiroth's face. He squeezed the trigger. Sephiroth moved his head quickly to the side, feeling the bullet whiz past his ear. He jumped back, breaking the lock their swords were in and pushing off the ground as he landed.

Sephiroth shot towards Weiss like an arrow, sweeping Masamune from right to left in one deep cut. Weiss jumped back smoothly, avoiding the blow, but only barely. Masamune's tip came within inches from his bare chest and sliced a small gash in the fabric of his pants. Sephiroth quickly closed in, raising Masamune to his right side to block a blow from one of Weiss's blades before transitioning into a sweeping downward cut. Weiss blocked this one, but the power behind Masamune drove him back, and he jumped, his sword sliding out from under Masamune before the blade came sweeping through. Weiss raised his right hand blade to shoot, but Sephiroth darted just out of the path of the bullet, rushing in again. Weiss blocked with one blade and slashed out with the other, and Sephiroth twisted out of the way just in time, the blade coming dangerously close to his stomach as it swept on its path.

Their blades moved, almost too fast to see, as Weiss attacked and was parried again. Sephiroth kept close to him, driving him back with several quick, well-placed strikes, but Weiss blocked them all, and when he lost ground it seemed to be intentional. He was trying to gain distance on him, Sephiroth knew, and he also knew that he couldn't allow that to happen. Weiss had the advantage of distance. He did not. Up close, however, he could turn this into a battle of swords, and he'd lost precious few of those in his life. He moved his sword, stepping in close and slashing across himself to give the blade more power. It swept downward, and Weiss caught it, not directly, but by striking the flat of his blade with his own and pushing it aside. Sephiroth sidestepped out of the way of the resulting gunshot as Weiss raised his other sword, then slid Masamune out from under Weiss's right-hand blade to block the left-hand one as it came sweeping down.

Their swords clashed and came apart, trailing sparks. Sephiroth swept his sword out in front of him as he jumped back, taking note of Weiss's prepared stance.

_He's strong…_Sephiroth thought. _Stronger than Nero. _Whether Weiss was stronger than him, though, would remain to be seen.

"Not bad," commented Weiss. "I can see why they called you a hero." His tone sounded almost mocking, but Sephiroth could hear the weight of consideration behind it as well. Sephiroth said nothing, raising his sword. So he hadn't been the only one using that initial exchange to size up his opponent.

His eyes narrowed, and he charged in again.

XxXxX

Kunsel stared at the girl in front of him, holding his sword at the ready. Shelke watched him with the same impassive expression she always wore, so blank that it seemed like her face was nothing more than a mask. _Does she feel anything under that…_he wondered. _Or is that all there is? _

"You don't have to do this, Shelke," he said.

Shelke's eyes met his, a cool, crisp mako blue. "I have been ordered to destroy anyone who gets in my way," she said.

"Is that what you want to do?" asked Kunsel, his eyes narrowed.

"Irrelevant." Shelke darted forward quickly, swinging her sabers at him one after another. Kunsel jumped back, startled by the sudden attack, and raised his sword up in front of him to block her strikes. The sabers caught against the flat of his blade, one after another. The force behind the blow wasn't much—he had certainly blocked stronger, but the speed at which they came was another matter, and he had no doubt that if he found himself in contact with the edge of one of those sabers, the strength with which it hit him wouldn't matter.

He pushed back, lashing out with his sword. She jumped back, avoiding the sweeping blow and flipping over in the air. Shelke pushed herself up off of her hands to gain more distance, flipping back. When she landed on the ground, she pushed forward again, zigzagging towards Kunsel. Red snarled, bounding towards her from the sidelines as she neared. He saw Shelke turn her head, saw her notice him, but no surprise registered across her expression at all. She turned sharply, spinning around and slashing down. Red jumped away, but the tip of her saber caught his side, and there was a hiss as it drew blood. Kunsel took his chance while she was distracted, rushing forward and raising his sword over his head. She spun around quickly, blocking him with one blade before spinning again, thrusting the other at his side. He turned, but not quickly enough, he felt the blade sear through cloth and skin, tearing a gash in his left side as he spun out of the way. Behind her, Red landed on all fours, his tail raised high in the air as he fixed his eyes on her.

Shelke kept her eyes on him, her expression unchanged. He grit his teeth, tightening his hold on his sword and pointing it at her. It was clear that she felt nothing for the fight. How could anyone live such a life, without emotion? And who had done this such a thing to a child?

The answer came to him almost as soon as the question did. Shinra. Of course, it was always Shinra. And he had known, better than anyone, what they were capable of. He had known, and had chosen to work with them anyway. He'd helped them, maybe not in this, but in other things, knowing what they could do and what they had done. That made him just as responsible. He should have done something sooner, but then again, he'd never been a hero.

Shelke darted forward, slashing out with both sabers in rapid succession. Kunsel quickly stepped back and raised his sword to block it, the two strikes striking the flat of his blade. Sparks flew where Shelke's glowing swords struck steel—he could feel the heat coming off of her sabers from here. She spun around in midair, never missing a beat. The saber in her other hand came crashing down onto his sword, her body weight behind it. Kunsel swiveled out of the way, letting her momentum carry her forward as he slid his sword out from under hers. He turned to the side, slashing downward in a powerful cut.

Shelke jumped back, flipping over backwards and landing neatly on her feet, swords crossed in front of her. Kunsel rushed forward, pulling his sword back and thrusting it not at her heart but at her right shoulder. Shelke pivoted neatly out of the way, sweeping his sword aside with one of her sabers. The other, she spun around in her hand, reversing her grip. She lashed out with it, a backhanded slash at Kunsel's face. He ducked his head as he leaned back, her saber cutting through a few strands of brown hair and burning them to a crisp. Kunsel raised his sword in front of his chest, blocking her next strike as she moved forward, driving her body weight into him with all of her speed behind her. He let out a quick breath as he was pushed back, the force of impact shaking him. Kunsel quickly regained his footing, pushing back.

A flash of red appeared out of the corner of his eye. Red bounded into view, teeth bared. As Kunsel watched, he barreled into Shelke, crimson ribbons of light streaming from around him. The light struck her, the blow throwing her back into the railing. The force of the blow knocked her sabers out of her hands—they clattered to the ground beside her, bound by the cord that connected them, and went out. Kunsel heard her gasp softly as she struck the rail, sliding back onto the ground. Red let out a low growl, the crimson light around him vanishing.

Shelke raised her head, grabbing onto the railing with one hand and using it to pull herself shakily back to her feet. She raised one hand to her side, where Red's attack had hit. It came away wet with blood. She stared at it, her eyes calmly regarding the red that stained her fingers. If she thought anything about the injury, it never escaped past her eyes. As Kunsel watched, she straightened up, her expression never changing as she lowered her hand and grasped her sabers by the hilt.

They shone again.

XxXxX

Aerith stood back in the alley, holding her staff close to herself. In front of her, Zack and Rosso stood, facing each other. Zack had the Buster Sword in his hand, the tip pointed at her. Rosso smirked, and in an instant, the battle was joined. Faster than she could track, Rosso bounded forward, slashing out twice at Zack, both at his chest. Zack raised the Buster Sword, blocking both of them along the side of the Blade. Rosso slashed two more times, and Zack turned, catching both with the Buster Sword. He grit his teeth, sliding back along the ground of the alley. Zack slashed out with one powerful movement, breaking the lock.

Rosso grinned, flipping backwards in the air to avoid the blow. She shot at him twice as she jumped. Zack raised the Buster Sword in a block, both bullets pinging off the flat of his blade. Rosso landed neatly on the ground, her red cloak falling around her as she turned. She straightened up, pointing her weapon directly at him. Zack's eyes narrowed, and he blocked her first shot, running to the side and dodging her second. He raised his sword over his head, shouting as he slashed downward. Rosso blocked his blade, and then turned, seamlessly turning the block into a series of five strikes, her grin widening.

Zack moved quickly, blocking or dodging the first four strikes, but it wasn't enough. The fifth caught him just as he jerked his head back, and Aerith saw a line of bright red blood fly off the end of Rosso's blade, droplets of blood striking the ground of the alley as Zack stumbled back.

"_Zack_!" she shouted in alarm, running forward.

Zack thrust out his free hand, stopping her as he blocked Rosso's next strike one-handed. The blow had cut a scratch open on his face, blood trickling down his cheek just under his eye. "I'm alright!" he said, jumping back and parrying her next blow, this time with both hands. "Stay back!"

"Bleeding already, darling?" taunted Rosso as she rushed closer, slashing at him. "We've only just begun."

Zack blocked her strike, gritting his teeth. He pushed forward, driving her back with a powerful blow. Aerith's eyes narrowed, and she quickly raised her staff. She reached out to the Ice Materia inside the weapon, frost crystals forming around the tip of the metal. Aerith snatched it out of the air, pointing it at Rosso—

—and froze. The two of them turned suddenly, so that Zack was in the path of her spell instead of Rosso. She hesitated, her breath catching in her throat as she quickly shifted her staff to the side, where Rosso was, but the instant she did so, the two of them moved again, their blades clashing so that her spell was off-target. They moved quickly enough that she couldn't tell them apart, exchanging blows left and right. Zack, then Rosso, Zack, then Rosso.

Her grip on her staff faltered. She couldn't—

She couldn't risk hitting Zack, and at the same time—

A helplessness came over her, the same feeling she had felt when she was lying on the floor of the cargo ship, staring up at the creature that had taken her mother's face. Her own magic had failed. Her power.

Just like then. She couldn't fight. She couldn't do anything.

She took a step back, her eyes widening as the realization struck her. The two of them continued to move exchanging blows in an intricate dance of steel and blades. Rosso's expression was manic, Zack's determined. She stared at him, her breath catching in her throat. He was giving it his all to protect her, and she couldn't do anything for him.

Just like back then…just like in Midgar.

She took another step back, her back against the wall. The staff in her trembled. She couldn't do anything but watch. She couldn't protect him. She couldn't do anything at all.

And then suddenly a voice answered, images flashing through her mind one after another. A glowing green river of light, eyes as blue as the sky, golden hair streaming like sunlight, the sun glinting against armor, a mouth, moving. And a single voice in the back of her mind.

"_You can." _

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	70. File 021: Fragments of Memory pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **These battle scenes would not have been completed without some epic fantasy playlists courtesy of Spotify. Seriously, fights are about the _only _scenes I can use music to write with.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Furionknight, Gohan Roxas, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, DarkSeraphim1, damagectrl.07, Kurogane7, SubZeroChimera, **and **ryuukoshi **for your reviews and support.

**Irish-Brigid, **I have plans for Shelke, don't worry, but unfortunately it's too early in the story for them just yet. Disc/Book 2 is probably where we'll see the most of her. ^^

** 07**, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo won't appear because the circumstances for their creation aren't going to be fulfilled in this version of the story. As for Lazard, I imagine he's dead, but I'm going to reserve the right to pull him out of the blue if I can think of a good reason to include him.

**Kurogane7, **don't worry. I know how it is!

**Ryuukoshi, **yep. So much happening. It's dizzying.

XxXxX

**File 021: Fragments of Memory**

"Hey, wait! _Barret!_" shouted Yuffie, as Barret ran off. She frowned as he disappeared into the desert, resting her hands on her waist and looking back at the other three. This whole day had just gone down the drain. First it was Cissnei going missing, then Sephiroth taking a dose of emo, and now they were in _prison_. She wondered what her father would do if he found out, and her expression darkened. Great. Now she was thinking of Godo. As if her day wasn't already ruined enough.

_Well, nothing the Great Ninja Yuffie can't fix, _she thought to herself.

"Sheesh," she said. "What's _wrong _with him?"

Behind them, Cait Sith turned to watch Barret go, leaning forward from atop the Moogle. "Whew!" he said. "That's one of your friends? He sure looks dangerous…"

Yuffie glanced back at the cat, then leaned back further, turning towards Cloud. Once, she might have said that Barret was all bark and no bite, but after seeing what had happened upstairs, she wasn't too sure. And now they were the ones getting blamed for this mess. As if any of them even _had _a gun.

Cloud glanced at Tifa. The martial artist lowered her eyes to the ground, shaking her head. "I don't—," she began. "Barret didn't—."

"Do you think he killed those people?" asked Cloud.

"I…" Tifa shook her head. "I don't want to believe it," she said. "But you remember how he was in Midgar…"

Cloud nodded grimly. Yuffie stared between the two of them, lost. "Wait! What happened in Midgar?" she asked.

"Shinra happened," said Cloud, turning away. "Come on, let's go catch up with him."

Tifa nodded, hurrying to catch up. Yuffie's eyes widened. "Hey!" she said, jogging after them. "Wait up! You didn't even _answer _me!" Cait Sith followed behind, the four of them heading down the road and deeper into the Prison.

XxXxX

They'd gone a little way up the corridor when Shalua suddenly skidded to a stop behind Cissnei and Chris, looking back at the lab. Cissnei stopped as well, her eyes widening as she glanced back at the scientist. Shalua stared calmly down the path they had come from, and it was only then that Cissnei noticed the device clutched in the fingers of her human hand, a small metallic cylinder, with a button on the top. She pressed it, and it beeped.

A series of explosions sounded from the room below, accompanied by the sound of falling rock and crunching metal. Cissnei placed a hand out against the wall to steady herself as the whole mine seemed to shake, a deep rumbling echoing from the earth. As soon as it had come, it was suddenly still. She turned towards Shalua. "You caused a cave in?" she asked.

"It's not like we weren't prepared for the possibility of an attack," said Shalua. She tossed the detonator onto the ground. It rolled down the incline, disappearing into the darkness. The scientist pushed her hair back from her face, her expression solemn, and reached for her gun. "One of the first things we did was set up that entire ceiling to blow. That's several hundred tons of granite coming down at once. Not even a SOLDIER could survive that."

"Let's keep moving anyway," said Chris, casting the passage a baleful look before turning back to the road ahead. "I have a bad feeling."

Privately, Cissnei agreed. It seemed like that should have been the end of the story. Shalua was right—she wasn't sure even Sephiroth would be able to survive getting trapped under a mountain, and yet—The ending seemed so _neat_. Azul was a Tsviet and a giant besides. She knew better than to think it was over. Men usually died when they thought they'd won.

"I agree," said Cissnei. "The sooner we're out of here, the better. Is there another way out of this mine?"

"There's several ways out of this mine," said Chris. "But I know the one you'll want. Come on." She moved forward, holding up the flashlight. Cissnei let Shalua move in front of her, bringing up the rear. The scientist was clutching at the junction where her human arm met her prosthetic limb, a troubled expression on her face. Cissnei watched her, her frown deepening. Shalua still carried her gun loosely in one hand, but her prosthetic arm hung limp at her side. Come to think of it, Cissnei had never seen her move it. Was it purely cosmetic?

"Your arm…" Cissnei began.

"It's nothing," said Shalua, offering her a pained smile. "Phantom pains, that's all. Don't worry about it."

Chris looked back at that, but if she thought anything about Shalua's answer, she didn't say it. Instead she said, "Your friends will be in the Saucer by now. I'll go with you that far. If that freak was here…"

"Then there's probably more," finished Cissnei, nodding once. She glanced at Shalua. If there were more Tsviets in the area, then there was a good chance Shelke would be there. If the sisters encountered each other, Cissnei had no idea how things would turn out. But that was out of her hands now. She wondered if the others were fighting, and if Sephiroth was, but put that thought out of her mind. There was nothing she could do for them here, except stay alive. "What will you two do?" she asked. "Will you come back here?"

"No chance, not to live," said Chris, shaking her head. "Not if it's already been discovered. The last thing I need is Shinra poking around. Although I'm curious how they found it in the first place. We can figure that out later." She frowned, leading them down a side passage. "I'll probably meet up with Nico, mooch off him for a while till I can figure out what to do next." She shrugged. "Maybe he'll get me in whatever scheme he and Ivan are hatching. Or, maybe Eira could use a partner. Mercenary work don't sound too bad."

_And Midgar is close to Kalm. _Cissnei kept that particular thought to herself, turning towards Shalua. "And you, Shalua?" she asked.

"No clue," said Shalua, folding her arms so that her prosthetic was cradled by her natural arm. She'd placed her gun back into its holster. "I suppose I'll keep searching."

"For your sister?" asked Cissnei.

"For my…" Shalua paused, shaking her head. "No. Never mind. It's not important. I'll find something to do with myself. Doctors are always welcome, and always needed. Engineers too."

"That's true," said Cissnei, nodding once. She thought of Shelke, and felt a pang of guilt run through her. It was immediately followed by a hint of dry amusement. It had been a while since withholding information had made her feel guilty. The passage widened beneath them, bottoming out into a more spacious tunnel. This one was filled with storage boxes and barrels. She looked around. This must have been where they kept their supplies, in the mine's heyday.

"It's not much farther," said Chris. "There's a mine shaft up here. The exit's a floor down. It pops out right next to one of the Saucer's chutes. Any idea where your friends will be?"

She thought about it. "All over the place, probably. I'll bet anything that Sephiroth's pacing." He did that, when he was bothered by something and didn't want to admit it. She remembered him pacing back and forth around the main room of their Modeoheim hideout. He didn't much appreciate her amused smile, and she didn't have the heart to tell him it made him look like a restless cat.

_If we could go back to those days…_

She never thought she'd miss those days when they were alone in the mountains. Just the two of them…

The sound of claws against rock chased away the memories, bringing her back into the present. Cissnei's eyes widened and she spun around, grabbing hold of her shuriken. Behind her, Chris had more knives in her hands, and Shalua was reaching for her gun. The sound came closer, accompanied by a crashing, as if whatever was making that was jumping along the path instead of running.

"What—?" she began.

"No…" she heard Shalua say. "There's no way…"

Chris alone appeared to know what was going on. She stared at the passage in front of them, her eyes wide, not with confusion, but with barely restrained panic.

"_Run_," she said, her voice slightly higher-pitched than normal. "Now!"

Cissnei looked behind her, about to ask her what was going on, when a shape bounded out of the shadows, rushing towards them. Cissnei stared at it as it landed on the ground, eyeing them. The creature looked almost like a Behemoth, and was about the same size, except for the fact that every inch of its body appeared to be covered by some sort of metal plate. It had two horns on its head, and a large scaled tail, a mane of blue hair traveling down its back. Only its eyes were familiar to her. They were completely black, with yellow irises. The creature was wounded—she could see where its scales were dented in places, sometimes even with blood seeping through, but it was very much alive.

_Azul? _she thought.

Azul snorted, pawing at the ground. She took a step back as his great tail swished from side to side, her grin on her shuriken faltering. Her heart thudded in her chest.

The creature that had once been Azul lunged, leaping towards them.

XxXxX

"_You can…"_

The voice echoed in the back of her mind, sweet and soft as music. Aerith felt the echo of a presence larger than herself touch her, leaving trails of light even as it faded away. Her eyes widened. It wasn't a voice she had ever heard before—not the voice of the Planet she was used to, but she felt as though she knew it somehow. She looked around frantically, but there was nobody standing at the end of the alley but herself, no sound except for her own frantic heartbeat, and the clashing of Zack and Rosso's blades against each other.

_I can?! _she wanted to scream. _What can I do? What do you want me to do? _

Another heartbeat. She could feel the magic coursing through her, through her staff even as she held it. The Ice spell still waited, the air around her staff condensing into a cold mist. The metal felt twice as heavy in her grasp, and twice as cold. Zack and Rosso clashed and came together again, a flash of light, but Aerith was standing in a world of her own, lost in time.

"_You can…" _answered the voice, an echo of the first. She felt the presence withdraw, felt it leaving her. It withdrew its light, the last remnants of its presence seeming to trail across her skin as it pulled away.

_What do you want me to do?, _she asked again. _What __**can **__I do? Don't leave me! _

"_You can…" _

Zack and Rosso's blades crashed again, the sound louder than before. The clang seemed to tear through her, rippling through her like a blast of wind. Aerith grasped her staff with both hands. She heard the sound of ragged breathing, and realized it was her own.

_Can __**what**__?!_

The answer came to her, one last faint echo. She caught sight of armor again, glittering. A spear, catching the sunlight.

"_Fight." _

And then it was gone.

Fight. Aerith's other hand tightened around the grip of her staff, her eyes fixing on the battle. Zack and Rosso were moving fast, almost impossibly fast. Her eyes could barely track them. Zack was backing up, his sword out in front of him, and Rosso was driving back, her crimson blade leaving slashes across the Buster Sword's front. How could she fight? She couldn't even keep up?

And then suddenly, her heart beat, and the world seemed flooded with light. She saw it. Her opening. Rosso swung around, a crazed grin on her face. Her foot caught the flat of Zack's blade as she spun, and she kicked hard, throwing him back against the wall. She threw back and laughed, her crimson eyes blazing. The sound echoed against the walls of the alley. Zack landed on the ground, Rosso's sword tipped with blood. Zack's blood. Zack was bleeding on the ground, a gash in his chest.

The world came to a standstill. Her staff was still in her hands, pulsing of magic. Aerith ran forward before she could think of what she was doing, feeling the metal between her fingers. She raised it over her head as Rosso _laughed _and swung, letting out a loud shout. Aerith turned and swung, pivoting around on one heel.

The spell exploded from the end of the staff with a crack as it struck Rosso's side, crystals of ice shooting from the end of the staff and lending it power as it swung in a circle. She saw Rosso's eyes widen, felt the staff strike home, and then the spell kicked in and Rosso was flying, crashing into one of the alley walls. She barely gave the Tsviet another glance, ice crystals tinkling to the ground at her feet as she ran towards Zack. Aerith quickly extended her hands, reaching for her natural healing ability. She held them an inch from Zack's chest, the wound closing.

Zack's eyes met hers, one of his hands closing around hers. He smiled. She smiled back, but her hands were cold. She was so afraid, but she managed to keep her hands from shaking. Just barely.

She didn't see the blast coming until it hit, a crimson blast of concussive force that slammed into her side and threw her back into the alley like a rag doll. Aerith's eyes widened, and she gasped as she landed on the ground and bounced, the impact knocking the wind out of her. Her staff struck the ground and snagged onto a stone, stopping her fall. It felt like it was going to wrench her arm from its socket, but she held on, sucking in a breath of air as she landed on her side. Her entire right side felt as though it had been hit by a bag of bricks.

A pair of Deepground boots appeared in her field of vision. She raised her head, drawing on her staff for support. Rosso stood over her, a furious scowl on her face. She held her weapon in one hand, her other curled slightly close to her face, the fingers upturned. Her gauntlets made the fingers look like claws. She was bleeding, Aerith realized, a patchwork of cuts and bruises on her skin where the icy staff had struck her.

"Alive, they said. Not _unhurt_."

She kicked at Aerith's right shoulder, the point of her boot slamming into the flesh. Aerith let out a cry of pain as the blow threw her back, slamming her into the wall. The blow knocked the staff from her hand. Before Aerith could react, Rosso's hand had fisted in her hair, pulling her up. She gasped as white-hot pain shot through her scalp, her hands reaching for Rosso's wrist and attempting to pull her off. The Tsviet sneered down at her, tilting her head to the side…

And froze.

Aerith grit her teeth and forced herself to open her eyes, seeing past the pain. Zack stood behind Rosso, his eyes narrowed in anger. The Buster Sword's tip was just above her back, inches from her neck.

"Let her go," said Zack. "Now."

Rosso's eyes flickered from Aerith's face, to the side, then back to Aerith again. Aerith felt her grip tighten for just a moment before it went slack suddenly, sending Aerith tumbling to the ground. Rosso spun to the right, one of her blades knocking the Buster Sword aside. A shot fired as swords clashed again.

XxXxX

There was a house in the middle of the prison, one of the few structures left intact. Tifa followed Cloud as he ran towards it, following him through the door. Behind her, Yuffie and Cait Sith struggled to catch up. The inside of the house was broken and beat up, a fine layer of sand covering everything. Some of the beams from the ceiling had caved in, and there were scorch marks on every available surface, but the couch still looked usable, along with some of the other things. Tifa didn't like the way the prisoners eyed them as they passed, nor did she like the feeling this place gave her. She drew up to a stop beside Cloud, grabbing onto his wrist.

"Cloud—," she said, tugging him towards the direction of the door.

One of the doors leading away from the living room opened, Barret bursting through. His expression was furious. "Didn't I tell you not to come here?" he asked.

"Barret…" began Tifa, turning towards him.

Barret's eyes narrowed, and he raised his gun arm, bracing it with his human hand. Cloud immediately tensed, throwing an arm out in front of her and stepping forward as Barret pointed it at them. His free hand was on the hilt of his sword. Behind her, she could hear Yuffie reaching for her weapon.

"Ju—just hold on a second!" shouted Cait Sith. "We just want to talk! You'll understand if you just hear us out!"

Barret ignored Cait Sith, firing. Tifa immediately crouched down, shielding her face with her arm and bracing herself for impact. It never came. Instead, the bullets went right over their heads, and behind her, she heard someone gasp, a wet sound. She looked up. Behind the couch, a man thudded to the ground, a knife in his hand. Cloud stared at him as well, then relaxed visibly, returning his sword to his back. Tifa straightened up, her eyes wide.

Barret stared at them for a moment before lowering his gun arm, turning away. "Didn't want none of ya to get involved," he said.

Silence fell over the room as the four of them exchanged glances with each other. It was Tifa who spoke first, her hand still on Cloud's arm. "Barret…" she said. "We're already involved."

"Y-Yeah!" said Yuffie. She pointed at Barret accusingly. "We wouldn't be down here if we weren't, you jerk!"

"We're in this together," said Cloud. "Just tell us what's going on. Please."

Barret's looked between the four of them, seeming conflicted. "You guys…" he began.

"What happened up there, in the Battle Arena?" asked Cloud, stepping forward. "Did you kill those people?"

Barret shook his head, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I—no. No. There's another…another man that got a gun grafted into one of his arms. It was four years ago…I remember. I was on my way home from visiting a Mako Reactor being built when Shinra attacked…"

He told the story of how he and Dyne had been on their way back to the village when Scarlet appeared, along with Shinra's forces. They shot at them, but Barret and Dyne managed to escape, up until Dyne ended up nearly falling off a cliff. Barret had grabbed onto him with his right arm, Barret's right to Dyne's left. The infantry shot at them, one of the bullets striking Barret's right hand. The pain had made him let go, and Dyne fell into the abyss.

"From then on, I couldn't use my right arm no more…" said Barret. "I was depressed for a while. But then, I threw away my artificial arm and got this gun grafted in. Got a new right arm to get revenge on the Shinra, who took everything away…" He shook his head, looking back at them. "Back then, I heard the doc say there was another man who got the same operation as me. But his was the left arm."

"So…you think it's Dyne?" asked Yuffie.

Barret lowered his eyes to the ground. His silence was answer enough.

"He was hurt by Shinra too, wasn't he?" asked Tifa. "He'll probably join us in the fight against Shinra."

Barret sighed. "Wouldn't bet on it," he said. "I gotta apologize to Dyne…before I can rest in peace. An' that's why I gotta go alone."

Cloud stared at the ground, not saying anything. He looked up then, his eyes fixing Barret. "Do what you want…" he said calmly. "Is that what you want to hear?" His eyes narrowed. "Well, I can't let you do it. Because if you die on me, I'm the one that's going to have nightmares."

_Cloud…_thought Tifa, glancing at him. Cloud wasn't looking at her, instead he was holding Barret's gaze, his expression unchanging. She stared. When did Cloud become this strong? She shook her head, tearing her eyes away and turning towards Barret.

"Cloud's right," she said. "We're in this together. Besides, didn't you tell me you were going to save the Planet?"

Barret turned towards her. "Shit, Tifa. You oughtta know by now."

Tifa shook her head. "I'm not that different from you," she said.

"So there it is," said Cloud. "We're going with you, whether you like it or not."

Barret stared at them, before shaking his head, lowering his hands to the ground. "Guess I can't stop you," he said. "But we ain't all going. Three of us. You an' me, Cloud, an' someone else. You pick."

"Tifa," said Cloud, without hesitation. Tifa's eyes widened, and she stared at him. "Yuffie and Cait Sith, watch our backs."

"Mm-hmm," said Yuffie knowingly, smirking and folding her arms. 'I _see_…"

Tifa looked down, realizing she was still holding onto Cloud's arm. She flinched and pulled back, her face reddening. Cloud turned towards her, seeming not to notice. "If that's alright…" he began.

"Mm, that's fine," said Tifa, nodding quickly. Her heart thudded in her chest. "I'll go with you." _Anywhere_.

"Then let's get moving," said Cloud, turning towards Barret. Barret nodded.

XxXxX

Swords clashed again as Sephiroth and Weiss came together, Masamune sliding between Weiss's twin gunblades as the other man attempted a cross slash. Sephiroth whirled smoothly to the side, sliding Masamune out from the two and slashing down at Weiss's shoulder. Weiss moved quickly, blocking them with one blade and shooting at Sephiroth with the other. He saw the bullet coming towards him out of the corner of his eye and turned, his eyes narrowed as he cut through it with Masamune. He moved forward as Weiss jumped back, cutting through the next three shots. Metal clanked uselessly at his feet as he aimed his next slash at Weiss's chest. All around them, people screamed, running for cover as somewhere in the distance, similar blasts echoed as well.

The Tsviet landed on the ground, using his footing to whirl around and knock Masamune straight from the air. The second blade he moved as he spun in, reversing his grip. He moved like a dancer, sliding just inside Masamune's reach and striking upward, across Sephiroth's chest. Sephiroth stepped back, narrowly avoiding the blade, and bringing Masamune up to his shoulder as he readied a thrust. He thrust forward, aiming a blow at Weiss's heart. Weiss moved one gunblade up immediately, blocking him, but Sephiroth changed direction at the last moment, spinning around and slashing instead for his other side. Weiss jumped out of the way as the sword came, pushing off the ground with one hand and flipping neatly out of reach. He raised his free sword, shooting twice, but Sephiroth wasn't there by the time the bullets struck.

He launched himself into the air so that he was above Weiss, falling down towards the man with Masamune closed in his grip. Weiss twisted out of the way just in time so that the sword stabbed into the ground where he had just been. Sephiroth swept his blade up, Masamune cutting through the earth and metal as if it were butter, and Weiss rolled out of the way quickly, pushing himself up to his feet as Sephiroth raised Masamune again. He brought it up to a guard, blocking both of Weiss's strikes as the other man rushed to slash at his side.

Weiss smiled, jumping back. He parried the next pair of thrusts Sephiroth sent at him, swatting them aside first with one blade then the other. The sound of swords clashing echoed through the empty square.

"You're wasted on them, Sephiroth," he heard Weiss say. "Can't you feel it? You're not human. Why protect them?"

Sephiroth ignored him, twisting aside and aiming a diagonal blow at his chest. Weiss stepped back just in time, Masamune cutting through the empty air. "You're different from them," he said. "You have _her _blood. Join us. We'll create a new world. One where _we _rule."

"I don't want any part of a world ruled by you," said Sephiroth, raising his sword to block Weiss again. He lashed out in a circular slash, deflecting Weiss's swords and opening him up. Sephiroth stepped in and drew Masamune diagonally upward, but Weiss had already moved, regaining his footing and knocking the blow aside. Sephiroth spun, driving him back as he pushed himself forward.

"Is it the human?" asked Weiss as their swords clashed again. "The one my brother shot? Shall I save her for you?" There was a sinister mocking tone to his words. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward, slashing at Weiss. Weiss blocked his blow, his blade sliding against Masamune's length as he scraped forward. He looked up, meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"You don't even know where she is, do you?" he asked, his smirk widening. "Shall I tell you?"

Sephiroth stepped forward, slashing horizontally. Weiss jumped back, the smirk never leaving his face.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	71. File 021: Fragments of Memory pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **As wonderful as these fights are being for character development, I can't say I won't be glad to be done with this file. Fight scenes are exhausting to write, especially if you want them to be any good.

This is a long one. Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Furionknight, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, Roza Anne, Gohan Roxas, Riku Uzumaki, damagectrl.07, PerfectLove88, ryuukoshi, **and **Leon Kaye** for all your reviews and support!

**Gohan Roxas, **sorry, forgot to answer you last time. Yes, it's Minerva.

**Leon Kaye, **you're getting warm enough that I'd like to ask that you make your next guess via PM, in case you get it right and end up accidentally spoiling it for other readers~ But you're not _quite _there.^^

XxXxX

**File 021: Fragments of Memory**

Their swords scraped against each other, sparks scattering onto the metal ground of the Gold Saucer floor. Sephiroth twisted nimbly out of the way as Weiss brought his right-hand gunblade down over his head, his fingertips lightly brushing the ground as he pushed off. He twisted around, landing neatly on the ground and sweeping Masamune in front of him to clear the area around him. Weiss rushed in instantly, jumping in the air with both swords outstretched. He landed quickly, aiming first one slash with the right-hand sword and another slash with the left. Sephiroth backed up, blocking each blade.

"Aren't you even a little curious?" asked Weiss as their swords came together again. "Don't you want to know?"

Sephiroth said nothing, holding Masamune out in front of him as Weiss swung in again. He caught the blade just underneath Masamune's hilt, sweeping out to the side. The powerful swing caused Weiss to jump back, flipping over in the air. As he jumped, he slid one gunblade back into its sheath behind him, reaching into his pocket. He flung something underhand at Sephiroth—a flat metallic device. It clattered to the ground at his feet.

Sephiroth glanced down as Weiss landed on the ground. It was a screen, its mirrored surface showing a single pre-recorded video. A creature standing on the ground outside a mountain, tall enough to dwarf the vehicle that lay on the ground beside it. Its eyes were black with yellow irises, its teeth bared. The creature's skin was covered in metallic scales, a blue mane stretching down its back to its tail. Its claws gleamed in the sunlight, black and sharp. The background of the picture could only be the Corel Desert. He looked up at Weiss, who was standing on top of a neon sign, looking down at him.

"What is this?" asked Sephiroth.

"In that form? He calls himself Arch Azul," said Weiss, sounding almost bored. He waved a hand in the air lazily, as though he was flicking away dust. "As a man, he's a giant. As that creature, he's near unstoppable. I've never met a man who survived a fight with him…one that isn't one of us, at any rate. If you were at all curious as to where that little Turk is…" He gestured at the image.

Sephiroth said nothing. His eyes drifted back down to the image on the screen. It flickered as the creature ran, running at a group of rebels. A few of them bravely started shooting. Most broke and ran. The creature chased them down first, pouncing on them and crushing them easily. Bones and flesh crunched beneath claws and fangs, blood spattering the desert sands as bullets pinged uselessly off of the creature's skin. Weiss's voice seemed to echo in the background as he stared down at the footage.

"You see now?" asked Weiss. "She won't survive. She has no chance. Unless…I were to stop Azul."

He looked back up at Weiss, his green eyes cool. The Tsviet smirked, meeting his gaze from his glowing perch. "Here are my terms," said Weiss. "Sheathe your sword. There is no reason for you to fight us. Join us or not, that's your choice, but let us leave with the Cetra, and I'll call off Azul. Think about it, Sephiroth. Those fangs in her neck, those claws _ripping_, tearing. She's so small. It won't take more than one bite, I think. You've seen men die. You know what it's like, don't you…?"

He exhaled slowly, his grip on his sword shifting. The breath rippled across his shoulders and back, his whole body relaxing. He lowered his eyes back towards the video, his expression unchanging.

"She lives or dies by your word," said Weiss, holding out a hand towards him. The smirk on his face widened. "What do you say?"

The whole world paused for the span of a breath. Sephiroth raised his eyes, took in the smug expression on Weiss's face…

…and leapt into the air, Masamune in both hands. Feathers fluttered behind him as his wing burst from his back, a sudden flap sending him rocketing towards Weiss. He gripped his sword in both hands, swinging it at the Tsviet in a powerful blow. Weiss's eyes widened in shock, and he jumped back, but not soon enough—the tip of Masamune opened a line across his bare chest, a diagonal line from his right shoulder to his left side. He sprang back, trailing blood in front of him as he landed on the roof. Sephiroth pulled his wing close to his back, pressing forward and slamming his sword down a second time. Weiss managed to block it this time, but only barely. His gunblade trembled under the force of the blow, and he was forced to jump back again as Masamune swept through.

He landed neatly on the ground, glaring at Sephiroth. Sephiroth stared down at him from where he hovered in the air, holding his blade in his left hand. The tip of it glittered with blood.

"If you thought that would work," he said coldly. "Then you don't understand Cissnei. And, you don't understand me."

He flew towards Weiss, Masamune glowing a faint light.

XxXxX

Cissnei stared at the creature in front of her, her heart feeling as though it had jumped into her throat. She fought down a wave of panic, taking in a deep slow breath as her hand tightened on her shuriken. _Think_, she told herself. _Assess the situation. Don't panic. You know better than that. _Azul bounded forward, dangerously quick, and she tensed, crouching down as he sailed clearly over her head, landing neatly on the ground beside the mine shaft. He paced forward like a cat, growling at them.

Assess the situation. What was there to assess? Her eyes moved around the room briefly, taking in the details. Their way forward was blocked by Azul, the way back was a dead end. Chris took a step back, cursing under her breath. On her other side, Shalua raised her gun, firing twice. The bullets pinged uselessly off of Azul's metal hide, ricocheting to the ground. Shalua stepped back, her eyes wide as she lowered her gun. Azul bared his fangs, his claws leaving deep gouges into the earth as he bounded towards her.

Chris moved immediately, leaping to the side. She grabbed Shalua by the waist, tackling the scientist to the ground and out of the way as Azul pounced. Cissnei spun around as the creature moved past her, her eyes wide. She ran forward, throwing Rekka at his side, but all it did was bounce off the metal plating, causing her to jump into the air to retrieve it. The sound of the clang made him look up, his eyes fixing on her. He growled, running towards her. Cissnei quickly darted out of the way, rolling to the side as he swiped a paw through the air where she had just been. It sailed over her head, missing her by inches. She grit her teeth as she landed on her bad shoulder, pushing herself up off the ground as Chris darted forward, her knives glowing. She threw four, one towards each leg. They trailed a faint light through the air, one of them sliding through a gap in the plate.

_She's looking for an opening_, Cissnei realized as Chris jumped out of the way, avoiding an attack. Azul roared as one of the knives slid past the plate, striking skin. It glowed a bright red, trailing fire. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she jumped out of the way as he brought a paw down where she had just been, slamming it into the ground. It crashed into the storage barrels behind her, the sound of splintering wood filling the cave.

_Magic_. _Magic works against it. _

A pity she didn't carry that much Materia with her. She grit her teeth, reaching for the Bolt Materia inside her and pointing her hand at Azul. Electricity crackled from it, striking the creature in the left flank. He growled, stumbling forward. The attack hadn't done much, but it had done something. Azul's head whipped around towards her, and she ran, jumping out of the way. She landed on a pile of barrels just as he swept his hand out across them, sending shards of wood and fine powder everywhere. She tumbled through the haze, landing on her back on the ground and jumping up.

"Chris!" she yelled, towards the Turk who was running towards Azul again. "Magic works on him! Use magic!"

"I know!" barked Chris from across the cavern at her. She threw six knives at Azul in quick succession, each one of them trailing shards of ice. The knives struck him in the side, peppering the creature's right side. He shook his head, an angry ripple traveling from his head to the rest of his body as he turned around to face her.

Cissnei turned her head, catching sight of something glowing out of the corner of her eye. Shalua stood beside her, wreathed in light. She took a step forward, her eyes narrowed, and the earth began to shake, causing both Chris and Cissnei to stumble. Chris lost her footing, tumbling to the ground, but so did Azul, his feet sliding out from under him as he tumbled towards the ground. He crashed to the ground, slamming against several of the storage barrels and breaking them beneath him. An acrid smell filled the air. Chris immediately jumped up, moving in and throwing three more knives. Cissnei joined in, pulling Rekka out from behind her as she darted in towards Azul. Rekka trailed flames, fire engulfing the points of the shuriken as she ducked underneath the paw Azul sent at her, slashing at the flesh underneath. He snarled, jumping back as Cissnei rolled out of the way, avoiding the paw coming down above her head.

She didn't see the swipe of his tail until it was too late. The strike caught her in the side, flinging her toward the wall like a ragdoll. She crashed another stack of barrels, her breath catching in her throat as wood splintered and snapped beneath her. Cissnei gasped, her vision blurring as she slid to the ground in a pool of liquid. She forced her eyes open, gritting her teeth against the pain. Chris and Shalua were surrounding Azul, their attacks causing him to rear and shift from foot to foot, but it was like baiting a very large, very angry bear. They weren't doing any real damage, just staying out of reach. If he got to them, they'd be finished.

She had to think of something. She had to do something, otherwise they would die here. And she would never get back to the others. Never get a chance to finish what she started. Never get a chance to fulfill her promises.

Never see him again.

She sucked in a breath, sliding a hand under her and trying to push herself up. Her hand slipped in something wet, causing her to come crashing back down to the ground. An familiar acrid smell met her nose and her eyes widened, the room suddenly coming into sharp focus. She raised her hand, holding it in front of her face. It was coated with an amber liquid, the source of the smell. All of the barrels in the room contained it, she realized—it was spilled everywhere, even coating Azul. She sniffed her hand, her eyes widening in recognition.

Gasoline.

This was a storage room for gasoline.

Azul was rushing towards Shalua and Chris again. Cissnei jumped to her feet, ignoring the pain as she grabbed hold of her shuriken. She darted forward, grabbing both Shalua and Chris by the arms and ducking underneath Azul's attack. Chris's eyes widened, and she looked back at her.

"Cissnei, what—?" she began.

"Run," said Cissnei, tightening her grip. She released her hold on Shalua just long enough to turn her head, throwing Rekka behind her. The shuriken burst into flames as soon as it left her grasp, becoming a spinning wheel of fire as it rushed towards one of the barrels. She ducked her head and jumped, dragging the two of them behind her into the mine shaft. They tumbled together into the dark.

Above them, there was a sudden flash, followed by an explosion of flame. Rekka tumbled into the shaft, thrown back by the explosion. It pinged against the walls of the shaft, a bright flash in the dark.

XxXxX

Zack took a step back as Rosso's blade crashed against his, the edge of her blade sliding down the length the Buster Sword as she drove herself forward. He brought the sword crashing down, but she pivoted neatly out of the way, a crazed look in her eye. Behind her, Aerith struggled to pull herself up, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath. She gripped her staff loosely in one hand, propping her back up against the wall of the alley. Her scalp felt like it was on fire, and the shoulder where Rosso had kicked her throbbed painfully. She took in a sharp breath as pain lanced through the side where she had been struck by that attack, her free hand wrapping around her waist. Rosso would have done worse, she knew, if it wasn't for Zack.

But she hadn't gotten the chance. The battle wasn't over yet, and she was still alive.

She was…alive.

Her heart thudded in her chest, loud enough for her to hear it as she watched the battle unfold. The two of them were evenly matched again, Rosso and Zack, their blades crashing and clanging against each other as the battle resumed in earnest. She took a breath, and her eyes narrowed in determination, her hand tightening its grip on her staff.

"Zack!" she called out as Rosso swung at his head. He ducked, jumping back, and his eyes found hers from across the alley. She gripped her staff in both hands, holding it vertically in front of her before raising it up around her head. Lightning crashed down, electricity arcing from above down towards the ground in time with her heartbeat. She swung around, pointing the staff at him, and a warm golden glow rose up around the both of them like fire, enveloping them and surrounding them.

Zack grinned as the glow faded, disappearing almost as quickly as it had come. It seemed as though all the light of it had returned to Zack's eyes—they shone brightly, _glowing. _"Thanks, Aerith," he said, returning the Buster Sword to his back as he jumped back. He landed on the ground and _launched _himself towards Rosso, his body trailing light. He pulled his fists back, and before she could react, he drove one across her chest, the other slamming into her chin from below. He spun and kicked twice to her chest, one foot and then another. His movements were quick and furious—a fifth kick towards her jaw, another punch towards her chest. She blocked some of the blows with her sword, but not all—she saw Rosso's head swing back from one blow, stumbling on another. He finished the movement by flipping backwards to gain distance, his hands glowing as he launched himself at her again, both fists in front of him. The final attack slammed into her, throwing her into the wall as Zack rolled nimbly out of the way, reaching up and drawing his sword as he rose.

Rosso slammed into the alley wall, the force of her impact cracking the bricks and forming a crater around her. The attack would have stopped almost anyone else, but by the time Zack turned around, Rosso's eyes were open, and she was grinning. It was a manic grin, no trace of sanity left in her expression. Her eyes glowed, and she wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand as she straightened up.

"So you _do _have some fight in you…" she said.

Zack's only response was to point the sword at her, his blue eyes serious. They moved towards Aerith as she stood there, meeting her eyes once before moving back towards Rosso. "Aerith," he said.

"Mm," said Aerith, nodding. She gripped her staff in both hands, straightening up. "I'm with you."

Zack lifted the Buster Sword, rushing towards Rosso again. She twisted out of the way, blocking his blade with hers. As soon as their blades touched, he spun away, leaving an opening. Aerith quickly stepped forward, raising her staff and pointing it at Rosso. Lightning crackled from the tip of the staff, a blast striking her in the chest just as she turned. She spun, eyeing Aerith, but before she could react, Zack had already moved, crouching down under the lightning bolt and swinging the Buster Sword at her waist. Rosso blocked it, but just barely—the force of the blow threw her back, and she flipped over to keep from being knocked back completely. She landed on her feet, only to find herself in the center of three spinning shards of ice. Aerith raised her staff high and the pieces came together, careening towards Rosso at the center. Rosso scowled, spinning around in one sweeping motion. Flames trailed around her in a ring, sizzling where they made contact with the ice. A gout of fire sprang forth, heading straight towards Aerith, but Zack was there in an instant, leaping in front of her with the Buster Sword drawn to block the flames. Aerith raised her hand, a green glow traveling from her to him and healing his injuries and wounds.

Zack looked up as the flames faded, his eyes glowing again as he rushed towards Rosso, the sword outstretched.

XxXxX

Barret lowered his gun arm as the last monster fell, scowling as smoke curled from the gun barrels at the end. Behind him, Cloud sheathed his sword, letting out a breath as Tifa rubbed at a sore arm. He looked back at them, squinting against the glare of the sun. "You guys okay?" he asked.

"Fine," said Cloud, rubbing at his shoulder. "Tifa?"

"I'm alright," said Tifa. She shielded her eyes from the sun, looking ahead. All around them, there was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see. "Should we keep moving?"

"Yeah," said Barret, looking ahead of him. "It ain't much further."

Above them rose a hill, a mound of earth overlooking the desert. Although they hadn't yet seen any sign of him, Barret knew what waited for them up there. He turned away from Tifa and Cloud, starting the climb.

At the top of the hill, he found Dyne, sitting on the ground in front of a grave. He was cradling his gun arm in his human hand, the barrel propped up against his knees. Barret thrust out a hand to stop Cloud and Tifa as they made to move forward and they stopped, Cloud glancing at him uncertainly. Barret ignored them, walking forward and facing Dyne. His friend was thinner than he had been the last time Barret had seen him, older too, but there was no mistaking the man he'd grown up with. He could see a little bit of Marlene, in his face and the shape and color of his eyes.

But that was all there was of her. When Dyne raised his head, his eyes were crazed.

"Dyne?" asked Barret. "Dyne, is that you?"

Dyne got to his feet, grinning. "Now that's a voice I haven't heard in years," he said, leaning back and placing one hand on the grave for support. He pushed himself forward, straightening up. "A voice I'll never forget." He limped forward, coming to stand in front of Barret.

"I always hoped I'd be able to see you again someday," said Barret. "I knew you were alive somewhere. We had the same operation…Listen to me, Dyne. I want to…"

Barret stepped forward, extending his human hand towards him. A shot from Dyne's gun arm stopped him. It went clear over his shoulder, Dyne having pulled his arm away at the last moment, but it had first been aimed at his head.

"What's that?" asked Dyne, looking around. "I hear…her voice."

"What?" asked Barret.

"_Eleanor's _voice," said Dyne. "Begging me not to hate your rotten guts. That's why I didn't hunt you down."

"I know I was stupid," said Barret. "I'm not asking you to forgive me. But…what're you doing in a place like this?! Why you wanna kill those that ain't even involved? Why?"

"_Why_?!" repeated Dyne angrily. "The hell do you care for?! Are the people killed going to understand 'why'? Are the people of Corel going to understand just hearing Shinra's excuses? I don't _CARE _what the reason is! All they give us are artillery and stupid excuses! What's left is a world of despair and emptiness!" Barret lowered his head, his shoulders slumping. Dyne must have caught the expression on his face, because he turned, his gun arm at his side. "You still want to know _why_?" he asked. "Alright, I'll tell you. Cause I want to destroy everything." He raised his gun arm, shooting casually into the distance. "The people of this city."_ Bang._ "The city itself." _Bang_. "The whole world!"

The last three shots went over his shoulder again, and Dyne turned away. "I've got nothing left," he said. "Corel, Eleanor, Marlene…"

Marlene. Barret stepped forward, holding out a hand towards him. "Dyne," he said. "Marlene…Marlene's still alive."

Dyne's eyes widened at Barret's words, and he looked back.

"I went back into town," explained Barret. "I thought Myrna was gone for sure. That is why I wanted to be by her side till the end. That's when I found her…found Marlene."

Dyne turned away.

"She's in Kalm!" said Barret, pleading. "Let's go see her together, alright?"

For a moment it seemed as though Dyne didn't hear him. And then he sighed, raising his eyes up to the sky. "So…" he said. "she's still alive." He straightened up. "Alright, Barret. I guess this means you and I gotta fight."

Barret's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Eleanor's alone all by herself," said Dyne, turning to face him. "I've got to take Marlene to her."

"Dyne, are you insane?!" asked Barret.

"Marlene wants to see her Mom," said Dyne, smiling. "Don't she?"

Barret's eyes narrowed in anger. He raised his arm to guard himself as Dyne shot at him, gritting his teeth as the bullets pinged off the metal. "Stop it, Dyne!" he said. "I can't die yet!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Dyne. "Well my life's been over ever since then!" He started shooting again.

"Stop it!" yelled Barret. "I don't want to fight you!"

"Barret!" shouted Cloud, stepping forward. Barret glanced back at him, his eyes narrowed as he turned towards Dyne.

"Cloud, you stay the hell out of it!" he shouted. "This is _my _problem!"

He took a step back as Dyne continued to shoot, raising his gun arm and firing back.

XxXxX

Kunsel raised his sword, blocking Shelke's strikes. He grunted with the effort, the blade resounding with each hit. She attacked with a flurry, a rapid set of blows that slammed into the side of his blade and seemed to resonate throughout his entire body. In another opponent, he would have called it fury, but Shelke's eyes were as cold as ever. They were fixed on his, an icy mako blue. He jumped back as she made to slash again, breaking the gridlock, but only serving to reestablish it as she quickly caught up, her sabers humming as they slashed at him. He raised his sword in time, blocking her.

He glanced behind him. They were nearing the edge of the walkway now. Eventually, he was going to hit the wall, and run out of room to move back. She must have noticed it too, because he saw her eyes flick once to the wall and back towards him, before she picked up the pace with her strikes. Behind her, Red growled and paced, looking for an opening. The fur on his left side was singed and matted with blood, a gift from one of Shelke's sabers. He wanted to help, Kunsel could see, but he didn't have an opening. His eyes moved back towards Shelke's—empty, cold, and shockingly blue. _There has to be something there. Somewhere. _

"Stop this," he said through gritted teeth, throwing his shoulder into the block and giving himself more leverage. "This is pointless. You have nothing to gain here."

"These are my orders," said Shelke automatically.

"Why do you fight?" asked Kunsel. "Tell me that, Shelke!"

He jumped back as she struck again, breaking away. This time, she did not follow, letting him go. She held her sabers in both hands, staring calmly at him. "Because I am a Tsviet," she said.

"And why are you a Tsviet?" demanded Kunsel. "Who made you that way?!"

The barest flicker of something crossed her face. It might have been doubt, he wasn't sure. It was gone as soon as it came, but it had definitely been there. _There is a person in there. Somewhere. _

"…I don't…" Shelke shook her head. "Such things do not matter."

"You don't _what_?" asked Kunsel. "You don't _remember_? Is that what you wanted to say?"

Shelke said nothing, raising her sabers again. "It's irrelevant," she said. "How I came to be what I am does not change what I am now."

"It changes who you can be!" said Kunsel. "Who says what you are? Shinra? What do _you _want? Who do _you _want to be?" _I didn't do anything. I didn't stand up. I didn't fight against Shinra…_

For half a moment, he thought he saw her grip on her sabers falter. But then it was back again, just as before. Her eyes narrowed, and once again, he thought he saw something there. A brief flicker that might have been anger.

"That is—," began Shelke.

"_Irrelevant_?!" asked Kunsel, sweeping his blade out in front of him. "Are you going to say that to every question you don't know the answer to?!" _I knew who they were—what they were. And I let them continue…_

Shelke shook her head. "You don't know anything. I am what I am."

"Why?" he asked. "What do you fight for?"

_I let them kill Angeal. I let Sector 7 fall. I let them capture Aerith. _

_I didn't do anything._

"Why does it matter?" asked Shelke coolly.

_Because everyone needs something to fight for._

The words were on the tip of his tongue. He glanced down at his sword, his grip tightening on the hilt. _Everyone needs something to fight for…_Shelke raised her sabers again, the blades glowing a bright orange.

_I didn't do anything. I'm doing something now. _

He raised his head, meeting her eyes. "Red," he said. Red's ears perked up, and he looked up at him. Kunsel glanced away, meeting his eyes. "Go help the others. I'll handle this."

Red held his gaze, and for a moment, Kunsel thought that he was going to argue. But instead he simply lowered his head in acknowledgement, turning and bounding down the walkway. Kunsel watched him go, then turned towards Shelke. He held his blade out in front of him in both hands, the tip of the sword pointed at her.

_I'll right my mistakes. _

The blade began to glow, a bright amber.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	72. File 021: Fragments of Memory pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **There's going to be a really short File after this that's just going to be for "housekeeping" issues—getting Cloud and company out of Corel Prison, getting the buggy…etc. I don't expect it'll last more than one or two chapters if that, and then we'll have Gongaga.

**BEFORE** we get to Gongaga, I have a really important question for you guys. Auriel. When I first invented him, I was in an OC-crazed mode in my life, and now I'm not entirely sure he still fits the story. I did have a subplot in mind involving him and Cissnei, but now it doesn't seem really necessary. So, I wanted to ask you guys. What should I do with Auriel? Yes, I'm letting you decide right now if a villain lives, dies, or even existed in the first place.

**THERE'S A NEW POLL UP ON MY PROFILE PAGE. **Go vote in it. Your choices are basically: Keep him in the story but kill him off early, pretend he never existed and never mention him again, or keep him in the story and attempt to flesh out his character/plot, until he meets a natural end. Let me know what you think! Hope to hear from you!

Dissidia players might recognize Sephy's fighting style. Oh, Weiss…meet Oblivion (with a Godspeed thrown in there for good measure)~

Thanks go to **ryuukoshi, JazzQueen, Leon Kaye, Irish-Brigid, SubZeroChimera, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, DarkSeraphim1, HeartofFyrwinde, Kurogane7, Taquiner, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero** and **Roza Anne** for your reviews and support! I'm glad you like the fights and the chapter!

**Irish-Brigid, **Dyne got both. Square confirmed that it was Shalua that built Barret's gun arm. XD

**SubZeroChimera, **thanks! I try to keep up, but…meh, senior year of college is hard.

**HeartofFyrwinde, **oh yes…Weiss made a serious miscalculation with that one.

**Taquiner, **soon. Very soon, I promise. Cloti moments will come, but at the moment, they're just not…_at _the level they need to be yet to have any serious romantic scenes yet. Remember, the Cloud/Tifa pairing was designed to last the entire length of the game, so they'll be a little slow to develop. But the scenes will come.

XxXxX

**File 021: Fragments of Memory**

Sephiroth shot towards Weiss, feathers trailing in his wake. He pulled his sword back, sending a series of eight slashes Weiss's way. Masamune left trails of light in its wake as the blades crashed down, one after another. Weiss took a step back, turning and raising his gunblades to parry the blows. Masamune clashed against the swords, the force of the blows enough to cause Weiss to stumble back, eyes wide. At the last slash, Sephiroth suddenly pulled up, flapping his wing once and shooting straight up into the air. He flipped over backwards, swinging his sword three times in the air in front of him. Violet light trailed from the edge of his blade, three cuts rending the air and shooting straight towards Weiss. The Tsviet jumped away from one and rushed to pivot away from the other, raising his swords above his head to block the third. It slammed into him, forcing him down into the ground and causing the ground to buckle and crack around his feet.

Sephiroth tucked his wing against his back and dove in after the slash, pulling Masamune up in front of him and cutting down. The sword caught against Weiss's gunblade, metal clanging against metal. Weiss jerked back at the force of the blow, but managed to hold his ground, glaring angrily at Sephiroth. Sephiroth used his wing as balance, pivoting around in the air. His boot caught Weiss's side, and he kicked hard, the force of the blow knocking the Tsviet clear off his feet and off the rooftop. Weiss flew back, striking the wall of the building next door and punching straight through it, leaving a gaping hole in his wake. Bricks clattered to the ground, smashing against the street below. Sephiroth followed, flying up to the hole in the wall.

Three shots echoed from within. He pushed back, moving Masamune quickly through the air. The sword cut easily through the bullets, the metal clanging uselessly to the ground. He peered inside. The building was dusty and dark, a storage room. Weiss lay on his side at the foot of the far wall, propped up on one arm. He had a gunblade raised, the barrel of the gun pointing at him. His eyes were narrowed in hatred. Weiss pushed himself up off the ground, launching himself at Sephiroth. Sephiroth raised Masamune in a guard as Weiss came barreling through, pushing the both of them back out the hole in the wall and into the air. Weiss turned around, raising his second gunblade. The slide pulled back with a hiss, and Sephiroth suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of the gun, Weiss having raised the gunblade over their crossed swords. He heard the shot and jerked his head back just in time, but he felt something slice into the skin of his cheek, barely missing his ear as it sailed past over his shoulder.

His eyes narrowed and he flipped over in the air, pulling back towards Weiss to gain distance. He pulled Masamune close to his chest, his eyes narrowing as the blade began to glow. With one flap of wing, he shot past Weiss, holding Masamune out to the side. A line of light tore through the air, and in an instant, he was hovering in the air on Weiss's other side. Weiss froze in the air for a moment, before a series of crisscrossing white lines appeared across his body, the force behind the blows sending him crashing towards the ground. He hit the ground once, bounced, and landed again, this time on his back. Sephiroth spared him a glance, his eyes narrowed, and extended his wing, taking flight and gaining height. He flew so that he was directly above Weiss, the light glinting against the edge of his sword.

Sephiroth plummeted, tucking his wing against his back and shooting straight down. As he fell, he raised his sword. Weiss raised his head, meeting his eyes as he neared and grinned. He saw Weiss lean over as he plummeted, reaching for something at his side. He pressed a button.

The earth around him exploded in a flurry of smoke, dirt, and fire. Sephiroth quickly pulled out of his dive, spreading his wing and jerking back. He raised his arm up to his face to guard against the dust and heat of the explosion, then tucked his wing against back, landing lightly on his feet on the ground.

The ground of the Speed Square was cracked and broken, a crater where Weiss had been. Sephiroth stepped forward, his frown deepening.

There was no sign of the Tsviet. Anywhere. He slowly lowered his sword.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and Sephiroth turned his head. He caught sight of Weiss on the rooftop, a brief flash of white before he disappeared around the corner. He had some sort of communication device—not quite a phone, but close enough—to his ear, and was speaking into it, but when he saw Sephiroth looking, he looked back, his eyes narrowed in a glare before he disappeared from sight, one hand curled around the ragged wounds on his chest.

XxXxX

After the blast, it was blessedly dark and still, the wind cool and wet against her skin. Her ears still rang with the force of the explosion, and the sudden quiet made her worry that she had been somehow driven deaf, but then Chris disentangled herself from her side, jumping to the ground, and Cissnei definitely heard the grunt the other Turk made as she landed. She let Shalua slip from her other side, taking a deep breath before releasing her hold on the rope.

The ground was farther away than she estimated, and she grunted as her feet struck it, her knees bent. Her arms ached from the sudden weight as her grappling hook stopped the fall, and she was sure she would be discovering a whole host of aches and pains if she had a moment to think. There was a pause, followed by the sound of Chris rummaging through her pack and then a crack, and a deep red light filled the room, coming from a glowing stick in Chris's hand. Cissnei looked up at the dizzying height of the mine shaft, high enough that the light barely saw to the top of it. If she had been able to see the distance, she never would have jumped. Chris reached out a hand, passing her Rekka, and she accepted it numbly, placing it at her back without really seeing it. Then the three of them were running again, jogging through the passages and twists and turns in the rock too narrow for Azul, before bursting out into sudden bright sunlight and heat.

Cissnei leaned against the rock of the mountain once they were out, taking deep breaths as Chris collapsed the entrance behind them. She raised a hand to her head, feeling dizzy. _We made it out…_she thought. _I actually made it out…_

She wondered if she was going to be sick and nearly laughed at the thought. When was the last time she had been sick on the job? She couldn't even remember. Chris turned towards her once the last of the rocks came tumbling down, her eyes wide. Her face was pale, and soot streaked a line across her cheek. Over her shoulder, Cissnei saw Shalua surveying the rocks, her face pale as well.

_They're shaken too…_she realized.

Chris took a deep breath to calm herself, looking her into the eye. Her mouth opened, then shut, then opened again, as though she was looking for the words.

"_Never_ do that again," she said.

Cissnei managed a weary smile. "No promises," she said.

Chris blinked at her, then cuffed her lightly on the back of the head. "C'mon," she said, pulling away. "Let's get out of here, fast."

"You have a ride?" asked Cissnei, hurrying to catch up.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" asked Chris, looking back. "Of _course _I have a ride."

XxXxX

In that instant, the world seemed to slow down. Shelke rushed towards him, her eyes narrowed and her sabers outstretched to either side of her. He could see the blades trailing motes of orange light in the air behind them, could see her eyes glowing bright, could see Red's tale trailing a streak of fire as he darted through the door and out of sight. He could see the glow of his own sword, a bright amber light, could feel his heart beating in his chest, his eyes fixed on her. Then the world returned to normal speed again, and Kunsel moved.

He darted underneath her as she came bounding towards him and swung his sword. The light trailed behind it, a curved slash of amber appearing in the air just below her and shooting upwards. It knocked her back, propelling her into the air. Kunsel followed it, jumping into the air after it, and then suddenly he was rising, shooting straight up into the air, higher and higher. He slashed three more times as he rose. The first, she succeeded in blocking, his blade humming as it clashed against hers. The second slammed down between where her swords were crossed, breaking her defense and sending her stumbling back into the air. The third missed completely, but trailed light, the blast catching her in the chest and knocking her back. Kunsel slid out from under her so that he was rising beside her, spinning around in the air and swinging his sword downward, at her back. He flipped the blade around at the last moment, striking her with the flat instead of the blade. The blow was still enough to send her plummeting back to the ground like a rocket, slamming onto the concrete and steel of the walkway.

Shelke bounded up as she hit the ground, cracks appearing on the ground beneath her from the impact as she flipped over in the air, landing back on her feet. Kunsel landed on the ground of the walkway across from her, pointing his sword at her. She raised her own blades in turn, looking as though she might attack, before she stumbled back, wrapping an arm around her middle in pain. The other hand, the one still holding a sword, she raised in front of her, guarding.

Kunsel stared at her, concerned. "Shelke, stop it," he said. "You're done."

"I'm not done…" she said under her breath. "I'm not finished yet."

He looked at her, meeting her eyes. Kunsel sighed, stepping back. He lifted his sword over his shoulder, replacing at his back. "I am," he said, turning away.

"You should kill me," said Shelke as he turned to leave. Kunsel paused, looking back over his shoulder.

"Why?" he asked.

Her eyes hardened. "Because I am your enemy. That is the logical thing to do."

Kunsel looked over her. She really didn't know, did she? What she was fighting for, or why she was even fighting at all. He lowered his eyes to the ground. "I'm not in the habit of killing innocents," he said turning away. "Come back when you've found a reason to fight."

He walked forward again. The sound of footsteps made him stop, and he whipped around. Shelke was running towards him, her eyes narrowed and swords outstretched. He jumped back, reaching for his sword—

She stopped suddenly, her saber freezing in the air in a downward swing. One of her hands rested over her ear, and she was looking away. Her eyes flashed towards Kunsel once, before she lowered her head. "Understood," she said into the earpiece. She pulled back sheathing her sabers in one fluid motion. Her eyes met his one last time as she turned away.

XxXxX

_How did things end up this way? _

Barret grit his teeth as Dyne fired at him again, raising his gun arm for protection. The bullets pinged off the metal of the arm, and Barret moved to the side quickly, raising his arm and firing back. His gun arm rattled, and he could feel the force of the recoil as the bullets tore through the air, three or four of them shooting towards Dyne. Dyne raised his gun arm and swatted two out of the air angrily, but one of them caught him in the shoulder and he stumbled back, blood welling up from underneath the wound.

_This wasn't how it was supposed to end…_

Dyne's eyes narrowed in hatred and anger, and he looked up through a curtain of hair, firing wildly. Two of the bullets struck home, one of them grazing his left arm, the other striking him in the leg and forcing him down to one knee. Barret grit his teeth, staring as green light surrounded the wounds, the result of the Restore Materia inside his gun arm.

"_Barret!" _he heard Tifa shriek from behind him. Barret ignored her, his jaw clenched shut against the pain as he jumped and rolled to the side, avoiding the next few shots. He sprang up, pointing his arm at Dyne. He fired three shots. One went wild and missed, one was blocked, but the third ricocheted off the ground and grazed Dyne's leg, letting loose another trail of blood. Still, Dyne didn't stop, raising his gun and firing madly at Barret. The look in his eyes was crazed, as if he didn't feel the pain.

An image flashed through his mind, that of Dyne when they were kids, the grin he had had on his face back then. He remembered standing there at Dyne's wedding, remembered Dyne being his best man when he married Myrna, remembered the look on Dyne's face when he first held Marlene.

_Dyne…_

Barret heard the sound of metal ringing as he sprang up and away from the blasts, firing two shots at Dyne. He looked back to see Cloud standing in front of Tifa, his sword drawn and his eyes narrowed. The bullets pinged against his sword, clattering harmlessly to the ground. For a moment, he thought Cloud was going to jump into the fight, but Cloud only met his eyes, his expression stern as he nodded once. Barret dropped to one knee and raised his gun arm, firing off another blast.

"Dyne, stop it!" he yelled. "I don't want to do this!"

"Shut up!" snarled Dyne. "You'll die too! You'll die just like they all did!"

He fired off another shot. Barret ducked behind a rock, avoiding the blast. He heard a click, and saw Dyne unhooking something from his belt. Barret's eyes widened.

"_DYNE!" _he shouted, even as he turned to run for cover. The grenade's pin clattered to the ground as Dyne threw, the small explosive barreling through the air. Barret ran, doing his best to throw himself to the ground and away out of the blast range. He saw Cloud back up, driving Tifa back with him as the grenade landed on the ground. Barret saw the crazed look on Dyne's face, saw the ground coming up to meet him.

His hand closed around the Materia he still held with him as he struck the ground.

The blast went off with a loud bang, and the center of the Materia glowed a bright red light, light spilling between his fingers.

For a moment, there was nothing, just dust and heat. A cloud of dust swept over the battlefield, and Dyne laughed. Tifa gasped.

"Barret!" shouted Cloud.

"He's dead," said Dyne. "He's dead and you're next!"

Cloud stepped forward in front of Tifa, using one hand to hold her back as he pointed the sword at Dyne. Light gleamed down the length of the blade. The dust cleared.

And Dyne's laughter died. Barret was standing in the center of what had been the blast site, in the center of a ring of fire. Blood streamed freely from a cut on his forehead, and his gun arm was pointed at Dyne. The earth cracked beneath him, the Materia in his hand glowing. He raised it.

"_Ifrit!" _he bellowed.

The ground beneath him cracked and splintered, fire rising up from the earth. A creature twisted up, rising from the flames. He glared at Dyne, his clawed hands curled as he hovered in the air before him. Dyne's eyes widened, and he took a step back as fire appeared in the creature's mouth, running for cover. A blast of flame shot from the Summon's mouth, gouts of fire scratching the ground. Dyne ran for a rock to scramble behind, but he was just a little too late. The fire caught his gun arm, the blast knocking him back and sending him sprawling against the scorched earth. He hit the ground and rolled, one of the graves breaking his fall and keeping him from tumbling right off the cliff. Ifrit vanished in a gout of flames, the fire around him dying. Barret kept his gun arm raised, breathing hard as Dyne slid a hand underneath him to try to get up. His hand slipped and he failed, crashing back down towards the ground and breathing heavily.

Barret's eyes widened and he lowered his gun arm, running forward. Dyne stretched out a hand towards him.

"Back!" he snarled, glaring. Barret froze, watching as Dyne reached up onto the wooden cross that marked the grave, grabbing onto it with one hand and pulling himself to his feeet. He took a deep breath.

"…It wasn't just my arm back then," he said, as if each word pained him. "I lost something irreplaceable. I don't know where I went wrong."

"Dyne…" said Barret. "I don't know either, man…" He shook his head, lowering his arm. "Is this the only way we can resolve this?"

"I told you…" gasped Dyne. "I want…to destroy everything." He shook his head, struggling. "This crazy world…even me…"

"An' what about Marlene?!" asked Barret, shaking his head. "What's gonna happen to her?!"

"Think about it, Barret…" said Dyne, looking away. "How old was Marlene back then? Even if I did go to her now, she wouldn't know me." He sighed, staring down at his hand. "…And what's more, Barret…these hands are a little too stained to carry Marlene anymore…" He looked up, lowering his hand to his side. "Barret."

Barret looked up at him. Dyne was reaching with his human hand for something around his neck, pulling at a chain. He tossed it towards Barret underhand. He caught it, snatching the necklace straight out of the air.

"Give that pendant to Marlene…" he gasped out. "It was Eleanor's…my wife's…memento…"

"Alright," said Barret, nodding. "I will."

A faint smile came onto Dyne's face, and he turned away, leaning against the grave fully for support. "I can't believe…she's already four…" he said. He grit his teeth, pulling himself up and letting go of the grave. "Barret. Don't ever…make…Marlene cry…"

Barret blinked, staring at him. "Dyne?" he asked.

Dyne looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He spread his arms wide, then fell backwards, tumbling over the edge of the cliff. Barret stared.

"Dyne!" he shouted, running forward. _"DYNE!" _

A crash at the end was his only answer, followed by the sound of whistling wind.

XxXxX

Zack's sword slammed into Rosso's blade, the force of the blow knocking her back and throwing her against the wall. Behind him, Aerith was moving, muttering under her breath. He saw a bolt of lightning flash over his left side, streaking straight towards her. She blocked it, but just barely—electricity crackled up the length of her blade as she turned towards Aerith, eyes narrowed. She fired twice. Zack blocked both with his sword, but Rosso jumped clear over his head, shooting towards Aerith. Zack's eyes widened, and he turned back, but not fast enough. Rosso's blade caught Aerith's staff as she tried to raise it to protect herself, the blow sending her sprawling back onto the ground. Aerith shrieked as she fell, and Rosso quickly turned around, parrying Zack's strike.

He saw Aerith try and pick herself up out of the corner of his eye, only to hiss and stumble as her ankle gave out beneath her. She propped herself up with her staff for support, breathing hard and glaring at Rosso on her knees. Zack swung the Buster Sword around, bringing it clashing down on Rosso's blade as the Tsviet jumped back, breathing heavily. Her eyes narrowed, and she slashed her blade twice towards Zack, two crimson blasts shooting towards him. He grit his teeth, bracing his hand on the side of the Buster Sword as the first came in and holding his ground as the shock of impact slammed into him. The second blast struck him, and Zack's eyes widened as the force of the blow pulled him from his feet, sending him slamming into the wall of the alley. He let out a shout as his back struck the wall, feeling it crack and buckle beneath him.

He slumped to the ground, quickly opening his eyes and preparing his sword for another attack, but it never came. Rosso was gone, the alley empty besides him and Aerith. Zack stared, then exhaled slowly, shaking his head and getting to his feet. He looked around to see if Rosso was planning another attack, but when nothing came, he ran a hand through his hair, replacing the Buster Sword at his back and turning towards Aerith. She was kneeling on the ground, her hands wrapped around her ankle. Green light spilled from her fingers.

He walked over to her, extending a hand. "You alright?"

Aerith nodded, unwrapping her hands from around her ankle. The wound had been healed, mostly, but the flesh was still tender, and it stung. She hissed as Zack pulled her to her feet, and she tried to put weight on it. He frowned at her, adjusting his arm to bear the most of her weight. "You wanna take care of that?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "The others…" Aerith trailed off. The others would probably be hurt too, and if they were, they'd need her. Zack stared at her for a moment before nodding in understanding, wrapping an arm around her waist and slinging the other across his shoulders.

"Alright," he said. "Hang in there."

They found Sephiroth standing in the Speed Square next to a crater in the ground, Red standing next to him. Cissnei stood against the wall, her arms folded and a tired look on her face. She looked tired, but alive, and none the worse for wear. Zack's eyes widened in surprise as he saw her.

"Cissnei, you're back!" he said.

She smiled, looking up at him. "Mm," she said, nodding. "Sorry to worry you."

Sephiroth paused, looking back at them. His eyes passed over Zack's state, and Aerith's injury, before looking back at him. "You made it," he said.

"C'mon, Seph," said Zack, grinning. "No need to sound so surprised."

Sephiroth snorted softly, turning away.

"Sephiroth," said Aerith getting his attention again. He paused, turning his head and looking back at her, brows raised. She took a deep breath. "I want to learn." Sephiroth stared at her, holding her gaze for a moment before slowly nodding.

XxXxX

Shalua Rui ran her human hand through her hair, adjusting her glasses as she walked down the street. Christina had gone off to meet her associate, with a promise to come back for her eventually. All around her, security guards and frightened guests were wandering around, assessing the damage. It didn't look like too many people had been hurt, despite the ferocity of the fights each battle had been relatively well-contained. Still, she was determined to help where she could. She turned around, walking back and away from a cordon of guards that were closing off an area of the street, deciding to make her way back to the Speed Square where the fighting had been heaviest. She would help whoever she could until Chris came back for her, she decided, and from there…

She supposed she'd continue searching.

For her reason to live.

She shook her head, putting the thought out of her mind and making her way back up the street.

The sight of someone running across the rooftops made her freeze, her eyes widening as she looked up to face the person fully. The person was wearing a gray and blue uniform, her eyes shining a bright mako blue and her expression impassive. She carried weapons at her side and jumped from roof to roof with a speed and dexterity that was almost inhuman, but there was no mistaking her. Shalua stared, feeling her heart jump up into her throat.

_Shelke…? _

**END FILE**

XxXxX

**NOTES: **

**Limit: **Rising Triumph

**Wielder**: Kunsel Harringer

**Effect**: A series of four slashes, each driving the opponent steadily upward. The slashes form concussive shockwave blasts. A fifth slash finishes the series, towards the opponent's back. This drives them back to the ground.

I don't own the idea for this limit break. It goes to a friend of mine who goes by many names, but I think he most recently reviewed a story of mine as Storm King. Thanks!


	73. Interlude 003: Aftermath

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Really quick interlude here, and a lead-in to the second half of the story. After Cosmo Canyon, I'm going to speed things up a bit, grab Vincent and Cid, and then head on to Wutai.

I took some liberties with the 'assistant manager' who gives them the buggy, since he's never actually shown in the game. I just thought it would be funny to make him drastically different from Dio. Warning: mood whiplash and some bait and switches ahead.

Thanks go to **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Leon Kaye, Riku Uzumaki, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, Roza Anne, DarkSeraphim1, HeartofFyrwinde, PerfectLove88, K, ryuukoshi, JazzQueen, Eavenne, **and **Kurogane7** for your reviews and support! It's much appreciated!

**Leon Kaye, **Oblivion is to be _one _of his limits, with Octaslash being his basic one and so on and so forth. It hit me as I was puzzling over limits for the characters that Seph has an entire set of special moves from Dissidia that I hadn't even looked at, haha.

**Irish-Brigid**, really? It was on the wiki…I don't know if it meant she designed the original one or the new one from Advent Children, but I took it to mean the original one because she would have been in Corel at the time. Oh well.

**HeartofFyrwinde, **because Sephiroth offered in the last Interlude. She's just responding to that open offer. Although yes, she may soon come to regret it, lol.

**Eavenne, **everything I put up here is first draft, so it would surprise me more if there weren't little ticks like that.^^ I'm glad to see people taking up writing at 13, reminds me of myself at that age. The only advice I can give is to stick with it, and don't worry so much about writing style up until you get to the end. It will get better and better the more you read and the more you write, and you can always fix the structure once you get to the end, but if you keep editing, you'll start losing the story. I had to learn that the hard way when I realized that in my quest to make fantasy novels that were original and stylistically perfect, I was getting very, very bored in the writing. (I do the same thing with my fantasy novels, although those DON'T get posted anywhere until I'm 100% done with them.)

XxXxX

**Interlude 003: Aftermath**

"_Whoo! _Go Cloud!"

The chocobos raced around the brightly lit track below them, kicking up dust as they ran. Sephiroth saw Cloud lean forward in the saddle, his eyes narrowing as he adjusted his grip on the reins and spurred his chocobo on. The yellow chocobo took off with a sudden burst of speed, narrowly edging past the racer in the lead. From the other side of the viewing platform, across from them, Zack let out a whoop of triumph, punching his fist into the air. Beside him, Kunsel braced his hands on the railing and grinned, leaning forward, while Aerith clapped her hands and bounced. Red paced, watching the chocobos with caution.

Sephiroth's eyes fixed on the fifth person with them, a young woman with glasses, and her brown hair pulled back. She was leaning against the wall, her arms folded, and hardly seemed to be watching the race at all, a contemplative frown on her face. A scientist, she called herself, and he had no reason to doubt it, but he had still been surprised when she approached them earlier.

He and Cissnei were discussing the incident with Cloud, Barret and the others in Corel Prison when she appeared almost out of nowhere, grabbing Cissnei by the arm from behind. He'd turned, already reaching for Masamune, but when Cissnei only blinked in surprise and turned to face her fully, he relaxed, releasing the sword and stepping back to observe the conversation.

"_I want to come with you." The woman's eyes were, wide, desperate. Cissnei saw it too. She stepped back, gently lifting the scientist's hand from her arm._

"_Shalua, what—?" _

"_Please," said Shalua, interrupting her. "I saw Shelke. I need…I need to know…" _

_Cissnei trailed off, glancing back at him for guidance. He shrugged, and said that it didn't matter to him if they took one more, but it wasn't solely his decision. After that, Zack had taken to her, and the rest was history. _

Zack had never been able to turn anyone away.

He tore his eyes away from the group assembled on the other side of the platform, turning towards Cissnei. She was leaning over the railing, watching the race intently.

"What do you make of her?" he asked.

"Shalua?" she asked, without looking up.

"Hn."

"Headstrong, willful, determined, and just a little insane," she responded. She smiled. "She'll fit right in."

"Can we trust her?" asked Sephiroth.

"Mm. Probably. She's worked for AVALANCHE before. Not this one." Cissnei twiddled her fingers idly, keeping her eyes on the track. "I believe she didn't know anything about Shelke before today."

He sensed a 'but' somewhere in there. Sephiroth waited for her to continue, and when she didn't, he stepped forward, prompting her. "But?" he asked.

"…But we have clever enemies who like to play mind games," said Cissnei. "She knows about Shelke now. They'll use that. I'd watch her."

He nodded, turning his eyes back to the race. "Understood."

Adding a Tsviet's sister to their already mismatched group. He wondered if they'd collect any more. He almost smiled at the irony of the situation. He'd gone from leading SOLDIERs to leading this group of strays against—against what, exactly? Shinra? Jenova? The Tsviets? The ghost of the smile faded from his face. No, this was no army. They weren't marching into battle. At the most, they were…surviving, trekking through the wilderness, accumulating enemies and questions, and not nearly enough answers. And yet…they seemed to pull through, as if led by an invisible hand.

His eyes fixed on Aerith. She was the centerpiece of it all, somehow. Jenova, Shinra, the Tsviets. They were all after her. The last Cetra. But why? What did she have to offer that they wanted so badly? What could she do that they were so afraid of?

Cosmo Canyon. Perhaps the Canyon would reveal a little more of the truth.

"Excuse me, sir."

The sound of a voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he turned. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cissnei push herself up from the railing, turning around as well. A man stood behind them, dressed in business attire. He had a stiff, formal air about him, and was holding a piece of paper and an envelope in his hand. Sephiroth frowned.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm the assistant manager of the Gold Saucer," said the man. "Mr. Dio requested that I give your group his thanks for driving off the attackers. He regrets that he couldn't be here in person, but he is a busy man."

Sephiroth looked over the man, with his neat hair, crisp business-like demeanor and formal clothes and remembered the man he had spoken to in the Speed Square, dressed in that ridiculous orange swimsuit. "You…work for…him?" he asked.

"Yes," said the man, nodding. "Is there a problem with that?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No. Carry on."

"Mr. Dio has granted your friends a full pardon from the Corel Prison, and apologizes for their wrongful imprisonment. They are being brought up as we speak. He also asked me to give you this, as an apology." He handed the envelope over to him. Sephiroth took it, opening it carefully. A key slipped out, landing in the palm of his hand. Cissnei walked up to him, glancing down at it.

"Is that…for a buggy?" she asked.

"Yes," said the assistant manager, nodding. "The buggy is equipped to travel across deserts and rivers. It's waiting outside. Once you're ready to leave, simply inform the—."

Yuffie's voice cut him off. "Sweet! We get a car?" she asked, running forward and attempting to snatch up the key. He clasped his hand around it quickly, pulling it back. She stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back and pouting up at him. Behind her, he saw Tifa and Barret, both of them looking dusty, ragged, and slightly tan from their time in the prison. Barret had his hand clasped around something metallic and a scowl on his face, but he seemed to have regained some of his old fire. He looked up to see Zack, Kunsel, and the others approaching them now, Zack grinning.

"Who gets to drive?" he asked.

"I volunteer!" said Yuffie, raising her hand.

Sephiroth glanced at her. "You get motion sickness," he said flatly.

Yuffie blinked, as though she hadn't considered this. "Oh, right," she said. She immediately turned around, walking away. "See you in Cosmo Canyon!" Sephiroth reached back before she could get very far, grabbing onto the back of her shirt and holding her there. She struggled, kicking and trying to twist out of his grip. "Hey, Seph! Let go! C'mon! I'll totally make it!"

He ignored her, holding on as he looked back at the others. "I'll drive," he said.

Cissnei frowned, folding her arms. "I'd like to drive," she said.

"Me too," said Tifa, frowning.

"I'm out," said Barret, raising his gun arm for emphasis. He stepped back.

"Mm, same reason," said Shalua, raising her artificial arm. Barret blinked at her in surprise.

"_Doc_?!" he asked.

Shalua smiled. "Barret Wallace," she said. "It's been a while."

Zack stepped forward, ignoring the reunion. "Well, I'm in," he said.

"You'll drive?" asked Kunsel, glancing at him. He grinned. "I'd rather walk."

"Oh really," said Zack. He folded his arms. "Keep that up and you will."

"I should drive," said Kunsel. "I'm the one who drove us here last time."

"That was only because Essai and I were drunk, and Sebastian could never drive," said Zack.

"Well, there's only one way to settle this," said Tifa, smiling. As the four of them looked at her, she raised her hand, making three symbols for explanation. Rock. Paper. Scissors.

"So, do you think someone should tell Cloud?" asked Aerith, glancing back at the screens that displayed the contestants. Cloud was still in the lead, although he was fighting to hold onto it. The others exchanged glances, as if considering it.

Cissnei looked back at the screens. "Hmm…nah," she said, smiling. She placed her hand out, palm down. "I'm in," she said.

"Alright," said Zack, holding his hand out as well.

Sephiroth smiled slightly in amusement, holding his free hand out, the other still holding onto Yuffie (_"This is against the terms of our ceasefire!" she shrieked._) "Fine," he said. "If that's how you want to do it."

Kunsel nodded, holding his hand out as well.

"Ready?" asked Tifa. At everyone's nod, she began. _"Jan! Ken! Pon!" _The five of them shook their hands three times, picking a shape. Sephiroth looked around. He and Cissnei had both thrown scissors, Zack, rock, and Kunsel and Tifa, paper. A tie. Tifa shook her hand again.

"_Jan! Ken! Pon!" _

He threw rock. The group paused, and Sephiroth looked around, noticing that they were all eyeing him and grinning. He glanced down at the circle of hands, and noticed a ring of paper.

Four papers, one rock.

"…This is a juvenile way to decide this," he muttered a beat later, standing with his back to the group and his hair shadowing his eyes as the four of them began again.

"Someone's a sore loooossseeerr~," teased Yuffie, sticking her tongue out at him.

He glared at her.

It wasn't long until the game claimed its next victim. "Ah, I'm out," said Tifa, taking a step back as the round ended. "You three continue."

After another two rounds, it was Kunsel who left, looking dejected. "She cheats," he said to Sephiroth as Zack and Cissnei took up their places across from each other, grinning competitively. "I don't know how, but she does."

"Yes!" shouted Zack, after what seemed like forever. He thrust his hands into the air as Cissnei lowered hers, smiling slightly. "I won! Seph! Did you see that?!" He blinked, looking around. "Seph?" he asked, looking confused. "_Seph? _Where'd he go?_" _

"…I'll fly you to Cosmo Canyon," said Sephiroth from the other side of the walkway, leading Yuffie away.

"HEY!" shouted Zack, as the rest of the group laughed. On the track below, Cloud continued to race, unaware of the drama going on above as he finally, _finally_, crossed the finish line in first place.

XxXxX

She had been standing on the outskirts of the group when Tifa found her, placing a hand on her arm to get her attention. Cissnei turned towards the other woman, her eyes darkening as she noted the expression on her face. She could sense that Tifa wanted to talk to her alone, so she nodded, leading her away from the others and their assorted conversations until they came to the edge of the platform where she and Sephiroth had been standing earlier.

"What is it, Tifa?" she asked.

"It's…" began Tifa. "…There was someone with us in the prisons."

"I heard all about Dyne—," said Cissnei.

Tifa shook her head. "Not Dyne," she said. "It was a…fortune telling machine. He called himself Cait Sith. He left when they took us out, but he told me to give you this fortune. He said you would know him." She held out a small, folded piece of paper. Cissnei took it gingerly, holding it in her hand.

"Wait, you said his name was Cait Sith?" she asked.

Tifa nodded.

Reeve.

Cissnei unfolded the letter slowly, looking down at it. It was a regular fortune, written out like one might find inside a fortune cookie.

_Work hard and you will taste success. _

_**Lucky Numbers: **__14-03-01-20-19-26-05-23-08_

_**Lucky Color: **__Black_

She frowned. A useless fortune? No…Reeve wouldn't send her a message unless it was important. Her eyes landed on the numbers, her thumb running over each letter in the fortune as she counted them out. _14…U…03…R…_

_**U R WATCHED**_

_Lucky color, black…_she mused.

She crumpled up the fortune in her hand, lowering it to her side. Tifa stared at her questioningly. Cissnei put a smile on her face, looking up at her. "Nothing," she said. "Just a silly fortune."

Later, when no one was looking, she reached for her Fire Materia and cast it, the paper in her hand bursting into flames.

XxXxX

The casino was quiet at this time of day. The attack had driven out all but the most dedicated of gamblers, and they mostly sat in the corner, playing dice and card games and occasionally mumbling and cursing to themselves. They ignored Chris as she walked through the building, although some of the dealers looked up, giving her odd glances as she made her way over to the bar. She placed both hands on the countertop, catching the attention of the man behind it. His eyes moved towards her almost lazily, as though he had not been watching her since she first entered the room.

Nico looked much as she remembered him. Dark hair, slicked back to one side, cool gray eyes, a professional demeanor. Even his outfit was somewhat the same, a dark suit, although not the Turks' uniform, with the top unbuttoned. His signature twin guns were holstered to his side. She took note of them even in the gloom.

"What can I do for you, Chris?" he asked, setting down the glass he was cleaning. She saw him discreetly make a gesture with one hand, waving off the two guards who were closing in on her. Her eyes moved towards them for a moment, before looking back at him.

"Don't play dumb with me," said Chris. "Whatever little game you and Ivan are playing, I want in."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," said Chris.

"I wasn't saying no," said Nico, a faint smile appearing on his face. He took a step back, setting the glass upside down. "It's too crowded here," he said. "Let's talk downstairs. I might have something for you to do…"

XxXxX

Black feathers scattered the ground as Genesis touched down delicately, a smirk on his face as he held his sword out beside him. The wind of his passing scattered the feathers, sending them sweeping out in front of him like petals in the wind. He felt the dirt crunch beneath his boots as he put his full weight on the ground, shielding his eyes from the sun and surveying the area in front of him.

"That was unnecessary, don't you think?" asked a voice from behind him.

Genesis's smirk widened, and he glanced back at the Tsviet behind him. Auriel the Golden. He seemed uncomfortable in the heat and humidity of the jungle they were standing in, one hand on the hilt of his sword. "No flair for the dramatic?" he asked.

"Not as much as you," muttered Auriel, coming up to stand with him.

"I found it fitting," said Genesis. "Can't you feel it? They're getting close. Once we know where _that _is, our conquest can finally begin." He turned towards Auriel. "Weiss and the others failed. I trust you won't do the same?"

"I have a better plan," said Auriel, nodding.

"Good," said Genesis. "Then I leave this to you."

He glanced down at the town below them. Beneath the ledge they were standing on, the village of Gongaga stretched on, nestled within the jungle.

XxXxX

"_This is very sharp, and very dangerous," Shion was telling her_. _He was crouched down in front of her so that he was looking at her at eye-level, the curtains drawn and the doors locked as they stood in the living room._ _"I don't want you to ever use it unless you have to. But if someone tries to take you away, stab them and run. Run as fast as you can, as far as you can. Do you understand me?"_

Marlene sat in the dark in the secret room underneath Shion's house, her hands shaking in fear as she remembered his words. She clutched the knife close to her by its wooden sheath, one of her hands closed around the hilt. A Wutaian _tun-toe_, Shion had called it. She didn't know what that was, but she thought it was a kind of knife. At her height, she could almost imagine that it was a sword, like Zack's or Seph's or Cloud's. They wouldn't be scared. No, they'd be brave, and they'd beat up the bad guys. She had to be brave like them, but she was so scared. She let out a whimper, and Miss Elmyra immediately covered her mouth with one hand, the other stroking her hair.

"Shh…it's okay," she murmured softly. "Be quiet, Marlene. It's going to be okay."

_I'm not scared…_she wanted to tell her. _I'm brave like Daddy. _But Miss Elmyra's hand was covering her mouth, and she couldn't say anything.

Voices were coming from upstairs. One of them was a woman's, the dark-haired woman with the pretty eyes that Shion had seen coming from the window. She had a pretty name too—Argento—and a pretty crown, with a silver sword. He said she was the dangerous one. The other was Shion's voice. It was calm, as always. He never sounded upset, not even that day when she spilled flour all over the kitchen trying to make breakfast.

"I know you have them here," the woman was saying.

"And I'm telling you," said Shion. "There is no one here but me. Search the house if you have to."

Elmyra gripped her tighter. The voices moved, probably going into a different room, and she couldn't hear them anymore. Marlene took deep breaths. She wasn't scared. She was brave. Just like when the men in suits came for Aerith. She was brave. Like when the man with the cat came and told them they had to leave. She was brave too.

It would be okay. They wouldn't find them, and the woman would leave. Any minute now, Shion would come down and tell them it was safe, and they could come up.

The voices returned, coming closer.

Any minute now.

**END INTERLUDE**


	74. File 022: Silver and Gold pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **The next chapter of _Yuffie's Guide to Everything _will be coming soon, so watch out for it! It'll be _The Vincent_. Also, keep your eyes open for a fic entitled _Our Generation_. It'll be updated way more slowly than this, because it will be a side project, but it's a little idea I had in mind for a second generation ficlet for _Another Side. _Chapter 1 is still in the works.

As a slight personal announcement, I'm graduating college tomorrow with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry! Yay! Now I can join the ranks of…oh, crap besides Shalua and Gast (and to a certain extent, Lucrecia) there really aren't any good scientists here. Eep.

Thanks go to **Riku Uzumaki, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, Rookiek13, Xero the Pyro, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, K, Leon Kaye, DarkSeraphim1, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, **and **RedKaddict** for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid**, you're probably right. Oh well. You'd think as a scientist I'd know how to verify my information XD. Sorry about that. I'll still keep it though, because it makes things a little bit interesting.

**Rookiek13, **I'm imagining Gaia wouldn't really have an official drinking age, as they didn't seem to have an official 'join the army' age either—Zack and Cloud both joined at around 13.

**Xero the Pyro, **Lazard looks a lot like Rufus for a very good reason. He's Rufus's half-brother, and the late President Shinra's illegitimate child. I believe this information is posted in a guide somewhere. The newest FFVII novel has added a second Shinra bastard (literally, not figuratively, there's only one of those figuratively, and it's not the illegitimate sons…), Evan Townshend. (Lazard's last name is Deusericus, by the way).

**Leon Kaye, **Cait Sith couldn't join because in this part of the original game, he was joining as a spy. And well, Cissnei would have recognized him and outed him instantly. That's why I told you not to worry about him so much. Thought you'd like that. ^^

**RedKaddict, **you're going to have to PM me about that thing with Weiss, since I'm not sure what you're talking about, but if I can find a way to include it, I might. (If you're talking about the thing with Hojo though, the answer is no, because Hojo's not a computer virus yet canonically.) Thanks, and glad you like it! I'm glad the DoC characters are alright. I do try to get them as close to canon as possible, but I'm bound to slip up eventually.

XxXxX

**File 022: Silver and Gold**

The buggy slowly rolled to a stop underneath a tree in the Gongagan jungle. Sephiroth waited from his seat in the back until the others filed out of it, clambering out after Cissnei. He ducked his head to avoid striking it on the buggy's low roof. He paused, placing one hand on the roof of the buggy and peering back inside at where Yuffie lay sprawled out on the furthest back seat, a bag of ice on her head.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

She waved a hand through the air, letting out a low, piteous groan. "I can't," she said. "No more…"

"Suit yourself," said Sephiroth, turning away. "Zack, go ahead and park the car."

Yuffie shot out of the car like a rocket, streaking past him before he could blink. He lowered his head, hiding his smile as he rejoined the others. After the sheer emptiness and scope of the Corel Desert, the Gongagan jungle was startling. It had rained earlier that day, and the air carried with it a dampness that he remembered only from the summer months of the Wutai War, and the jungle was teeming with life, the sounds of frogs, insects, and other fauna blanketing them. Cloud swatted at a bug that ventured too close to him, and Red's tail swept back and forth through the air, warding off the insects with a streak of fire. Cissnei pushed her hair back from her face, watching Zack expectantly. He came to stand by her, turning towards Zack as well.

"There's a trail down there that leads to the village," he said, pointing off into the distance. "It's too narrow for the buggy, but it's not too bad of a walk."

"You grew up here, didn't you, Zack?" asked Tifa, as Zack led their way down the path. It was little more than a dirt trail, barely visible in places and nearly overgrown in others. Zack seemed completely at ease with the trail, and moved down the hill easily, leading Aerith by the hand. He glanced back at Tifa as she picked her way around a rock in the path, a grin on his face as he nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Born and raised. I used to drive my mom insane running up and down these paths."

Cloud stepped forward, holding onto Tifa by the elbow to steady her as she lost her footing, the rocks skittering away from under her feet. She smiled at him in thanks, placing her hand over his and stepping away once the path evened out. He looked up at Zack. "Isn't there a Mako Reactor out here?" he asked.

"What, you don't remember?" joked Zack, looking over his shoulder. "We were here last year."

Cloud blinked. "We were?" he asked.

"I remember," said Cissnei, "We were tracking you, trying to catch up. You'd left by the time we arrived. Shinra had set up a blockade around the area."

Sephiroth remembered it too. He and Cissnei had been travelling from Nibelheim, trying to stay on Zack and Cloud's trail, but they had lost some time after a stop at the Gold Saucer to find transportation. Zack had taken a zigzagging route across the entire continent, but it soon became clear that Midgar was his destination. Looking back, it was lucky they found Zack when they did. The Midgar Wasteland was vast. Even considering the sound of the gunfire, they could just have easily been so far away that they wouldn't have been able to hear it. Cloud frowned, shaking his head. He seemed to be straining to remember.

"I don't remember anything," he finally said.

"Well, you wouldn't have," said Zack. "You were still out of it. It was right after the Reactor blew up. Mom and Dad got out alright, though, from what I heard."

Sephiroth looked up. "Did you meet your parents?" he found himself asking.

Zack shook his head, turning back to help Aerith navigate a particularly tricky portion of the path. He placed both his hands on her waist, swinging her around and setting her down beside him. "The place was crawling with Turks," he said, with a glance at Cissnei. "We decided not to risk it."

Cissnei nodded. "Smart," she said.

"Can't wait to see them, though," said Zack. "Bet Mom's been worrying herself sick." He looked back at the others. "It's going to be kind of cramped, but if you don't mind camping out on the floors, we can all kinda fit," he said. "And Mom makes the best food, you guys'll love it."

"What are they like?" asked Shalua, out of curiosity. "Your parents?"

"Dad's kind of strict, but he means well," said Zack. "Not as bad as Seph though. And Mom's great. Really friendly. Loves having guests over, although back then, she never would shut up about finding me a girlfriend." He shook his head, as if remembering a fond memory.

"That's why you're bringing her Aerith, ain't it?" grumbled Barret from the back of the row.

"_Oooh~" _teased Yuffie. "That's right, _meeting the parents_! Zack and Aerith, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G~"

Aerith flushed. "Yuffie," she said.

"Wasn't your mom the one that kept asking when you were going to get married, Zack?" asked Kunsel, folding his arms and grinning.

"Hey," said Zack, looking back at him. "You stay out of it." There was no heat in his words though, and underneath all of that, he was smiling.

"Don't forget to invite us to the ceremony," joked Tifa.

"They should just take care of it now," said Cissnei, smiling. "I mean, we all know what's going to happen."

"Ooh, a spring wedding!" said Yuffie, grinning. "Can I be the maid of honor, Aerith? Can I?"

Aerith was flushed a bright pink that almost matched her dress. She turned around quickly, hiding her smile. "You're all horrible," she said, although Sephiroth noticed that her grip tightened on Zack's hand. He glanced away, suddenly finding himself uncomfortably aware of Cissnei's presence beside him. Her eyes were fixed on Zack and Aerith, and from the smile on her face, it was obvious that she had noticed.

"Just for that, you all get to sleep outside tonight," warned Zack. "And it looks like rain."

"That's fine," said Kunsel. "Wouldn't want to crash the honeymoon suite."

Zack made an irritated sound in his throat, turning away and pulling Aerith closer to him. To her, he said "Seriously, though. You'll like Mom. And she'll love you."

Aerith looked uncertain, glancing down at the ground. "But what if she doesn't?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" asked Zack. "What's there not to like?"

"Well, I don't know," said Aerith, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um…well, I'm wanted by Shinra."

Zack made a wide, sweeping gesture at the group. "You and everyone else," he said.

"I have strange powers?"

"Like they're going to care," said Zack. "That just makes you more special."

"I'm technically a terrorist," said Aerith.

Zack shot her a mischievous grin. "I'm a bad influence."

Aerith smiled back. "I'm just a flower girl from the slums," she said.

"She's not going to care, Aerith," said Cissnei, smiling. "Trust me. By the end of the day, the two of you are going to be sipping tea, and she'll be showing you Zack's baby pictures and her old wedding dress."

"_Hey_!" said Zack, flushing. He paused, then quickly turned towards Cissnei, his eyes wide. "Wait, how do _you _know that?" he asked.

"Hmm?" asked Cissnei, walking past him. She looked up. "Oh, I visited," she said. "Back when Veld had me observing you for the company, I came here to get a better feel for your background. Your mother's very nice, by the way."

"You _met_ _my mother_?" asked Zack.

"That's what I said," said Cissnei.

Zack seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, he settled for. "_When_?"

Cissnei gestured vaguely with a hand in the air. "Five, six years ago?" she asked. "It was early on, before Costa del Sol. She was really excited to see me, too, even though I was in uniform." She smiled faintly. "That didn't happen very often. I think I see the town up ahead."

She stepped forward, walking towards it. Zack quickly moved after her, releasing Aerith's hand to grab Cissnei by the arm. "Wait, back up a minute," he said. "What did you just say?"

She blinked up at him, confused. "…I think I see the town up ahead?" she repeated.

"No, not that," said Zack. "Go back to the part where you went to my parents' house, all the way across the world, while you were _stalking _me."

"Surveying, not stalking," corrected Cissnei, prying his fingers off of her arm and walking forward. "There's a difference."

"Oh, really?" asked Zack. "What is it, exactly?"

"Well, for starters," said Cissnei, smiling. "I was getting paid."

"To talk to my mother," said Zack. "About me. Without my knowing."

She stared at him. "Yes_…_," she said, drawing out the word as though she were talking to a small child.

"And you don't see anything wrong with that?" asked Zack.

"Beyond the obvious?" asked Cissnei. "Uh…invasion of privacy?"

Zack tried a different tack. "Don't you think that's just a little creepy?" he asked.

Cissnei folded her arms. "You just have a gender bias," she said, walking off. "If it was Reno, you wouldn't be freaking out so much."

Zack paused for a moment, staring after her. He blinked, shaking his head as he came to a realization, and looked up. "No, that's still freaking creepy!" he said, striding forward to where Cissnei was standing on a ledge overlooking the town. Cissnei paused, and Zack took the opportunity to catch up to her, reaching out. "Come on, Ciss," he said. "You can't tell me you don't think—."

She placed a hand up suddenly, cutting him off. Sephiroth immediately tensed, noticing the look on her face. He stopped walking.

"Something's wrong," said Cissnei, looking down at the town.

Zack blinked. "What?" he asked, coming to stand next to her. "What do you mean?"

Sephiroth stepped forward, coming up to them. The entire village of Gongaga, such as it was, was spread out beneath them, dominated by the large Mako Reactor that stood at the edge of the village. The Reactor was defunct now, nothing more than a smoldering wreck, but the sight of it was still enough to bring to mind what it once had been.

"Look at the village," said Cissnei. "Notice anything."

Zack spotted it almost instantly, his eyes darkening. "No people," he said.

The village of Gongaga had become a ghost town. The streets were completely devoid of people. Cars and trucks had been left by the side of the road, laundry still hung from lines behind houses, but the inhabitants of the village seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Zack stared at it, completely still. Without warning, he surged forward, jumping clear off the edge.

Sephiroth reached out to grab him just as Cissnei started forward. "Zack—!" she began. His hand closed on empty air. Zack slid down the slope, sending dirt and dust flying before hitting the ground running. Cissnei took a deep breath, then jumped down after him, sliding down the hill and hurrying to catch up. He followed, reaching for his sword as the others trailed along behind him. They caught up to Zack at the entrance of the town, but he barely seemed to see them. He continued to run, rushing right into the village. Zack darted through the streets, making his way towards a small house on the edge of town.

"Zack, wait—," Cissnei was saying as they reached it. "We should stop, look around, consider—."

Zack ignored her, rushing straight towards the door and pulling it open. It swung open easily on its hinges, unlocked. Sephiroth stopped. There were two figures in the living room inside, a man and a woman huddled on the ground. They were bound and gagged, but the woman's eyes widened as soon as she saw him, and she looked up. Her hair was a dark gray that might have once been black, pulled back into a bun. Her eyes were a dark brown, and there was fear in them, but surprise as well. She shook her head.

"Mom!" said Zack. He started forward.

A sword flashed in the dark, wreathed in bright gold light. It hummed faintly in the silence, and he stopped in his tracks. A man stepped forward into the light, his eyes glowing a bright gold. He looked towards the group, a smile on his face.

"Not another step," he said.

Zack grit his teeth, reaching for his sword.

XxXxX

By the time the Turk stepped into the wing of the Junon building designated for the Tsviets' use, Weiss had been expecting him. He sat at a seat by the window, silently cursing Sephiroth as one of the Shinra medics tightened a bandage across his chest. The wounds were quickly healing, but even then, the first set of bandages had been soaked with blood. His blood. That was a sight he had not seen in so long a time. He exchanged a glance with his brother, who waited nearby as always, an unspoken word crossing between them as Tseng made his way across the room, every step echoing. The Turk's expression was composed as always, but the frown on his face was deeper set than usual, his eyes darker, his shoulders more tense.

It was the look of a man preparing himself for a battle. But this was a battle won not by swords, but by words. Weiss waited for Tseng to reach him, then raised his head, meeting the Turk's eyes calmly and placing a smile on his face. He yearned for the day they could end this farce, but that day—the day of their liberation—was not yet at hand. So he would smile, and he would bow, and he would play his part.

But not for much longer, no. Not for much longer.

"What can I do for you, Tseng?" he asked, as Tseng stopped walking.

Tseng's eyes drifted from him, to his injuries, to Nero standing on the far side of the room, leaning against the wall, a subtle sweep that he might not have noticed if he was not practiced at looking for these things. _The Turks are Shinra's dogs…_he thought to himself. _And this one is the most dangerous of them all. _

A lesser man might have been afraid or might have been fooled, but Weiss the Immaculate was not such a man. He had lived and thrived in the darkness of Deepground, and it was there that he had ruled. Tseng did not understand real danger. What would a man who had lived his entire life in another's shadow know of true darkness, or for that matter, true light? He saw Tseng's lips thin, before he spoke two words.

"Gold Saucer," he said.

"Ah, so you've heard." Weiss did not even pretend to be surprised. "As you can see, our mission was unsuccessful." He spread his hands out in front of him graciously, as if to show how empty they were.

"I was not aware of such a mission," said Tseng.

"Weren't you?" asked Weiss. "How strange. I thought they told you everything."

A flicker of anger in those eyes, quickly tamped down. His face became even sterner. "I am the head of the General Affairs Department," he said. "All…investigations go through me."

"Perhaps you should tell Rufus that," said Weiss, his smile widening further. "After all, I only follow the orders I'm given." Another flicker, this time of doubt. Weiss saw the emotion try and make a hasty retreat, before it had been noticed, but he was not the sort of man to let such an opening pass him by. He pounced on it, grabbing onto the thread and holding tight. "…_Have _you talked to Rufus, Tseng?" he asked.

The response he received was grudging. "The President is in a meeting," he said.

"Oh dear. And you aren't there to attend him?" He enjoyed seeing the subtle shifts in emotions, playing like shadows across Tseng's face. That was until Tseng's eyes snapped back towards him, suddenly very clear.

"You can stop trying to manipulate me," he said. "This isn't going to work. I understand your game."

_Do you? Do you really? _He stopped all the same, the smile dropping away from his face. "You understand nothing," he said.

"I know that you're up to something," said Tseng, stepping closer. "I'm just waiting to find out what."

"I do what I must to ensure our company's great success," said Weiss, "Which is more than I can say for you." His eyes moved towards Tseng's, coldly calculating. "Dogs should know their place."

He stood up. The medic tending to him fussed, trying to get him to sit back down, but he waved her off with a dismissive gesture, turning away. He had scarcely taken one step when Tseng spoke up.

"Gongaga," he said. "Kalm."

Weiss paused, turning back towards him.

"Auriel the Golden and Argento the Silver," said Tseng. His words were like steel knives, cold and subtle, but sharp and unyielding. "Do you know where your people are?"

Without waiting for a response, he turned, leaving the room. Weiss waited until the door was closed, then glared at the medic until she too scurried from the room, averting her eyes. He turned towards his brother. Nero had gotten up from his place at the wall and was now walking towards him, his red eyes fixed on the door that someone had just left from.

"He knows about Gongaga," said Weiss, to his brother.

Nero nodded. "I believe we have a rat," he said.

"More like a cat," said Weiss. He turned on heel, away from the door. "Reeve Tuesti. Watch him," he told Nero, walking away. Nero smirked, nodding.

XxXxX

The others were waiting for him by the time he arrived at his office—Reno, Rude, and Elena. He looked from one to another, taking note of their postures and expressions. Reno stood lazily against the wall, his hands clasped together behind his head and a smile across his face. Rude stood against the other wall, a silent figure with folded arms and his eyes hidden behind glasses. Finally, Elena stood beside his desk, her hands clasped nervously in front of her as she fiddled with her fingers.

His team, such as they were. The only things that were left of the Turks. He hadn't told them what he was going to do, but it was obvious that they all knew. They were all watching him expectantly, and he saw their expressions change as they took note of the look on his face. They were waiting. Waiting for orders, he realized. Waiting for him.

Tseng's hand clenched into a fist, his conversation with Weiss still echoing in the back of his mind. _Dogs should know their place indeed…_

"What do we do, boss?" asked Reno, catching the look in his eye.

"Fetch," he said calmly, walking back to his desk.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	75. File 022: Silver and Gold pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This is going to be a bit shorter than my updates have been lately, because this felt like a good place to end it. I'm considering keeping the results of the poll a secret until they become relevant, but I'll probably be closing the poll soon. Enjoy!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Eavenne, Furionknight, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, Xero the Pyro, Roza Anne, Draconic, kingjoey19, **and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **I've never heard of her. Oh well. XD As long as I don't turn into Hojo, I think I'll be okay.

**Xero the Pyro, **yep, pretty much. Zack is the second strongest member of their party, with Sephiroth still keeping his place as the strongest. If you've noticed, neither Zack nor Sephiroth has actually been defeated in this story, just held back for a little while.

**kingjoey19, **thanks! I like thinking about how characters are processing the world around them, so I'm glad you like reading them. Having nothing but dialogue in a scene is necessary sometimes, but I like giving readers some context to put it in.

**Leon Kaye, **I hope not! Although I guess it's helped by the fact that I'm female, so trying to enact Hojo's whole Jenova Project plan would take a little more participation on my part, haha. I think I know better than to become Lucrecia Crescent, at least. And I'm glad you like the rivalry between Tseng and Weiss. Somehow I've imagined that if they were both actively working for Shinra at the same time, they would not get along.

XxXxX

**File 022: Silver and Gold**

"Not another step."

Aerith reached the village last, drawing to a stop outside of Zack's house. She placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath, her lungs burning as her eyes fixed with horror on the scene through the window. A man—Auriel, she remembered—was standing over a woman and man that could only be Zack's parents. Zack himself was standing in the doorway looking conflicted, with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He grit his teeth, glaring at Auriel, although he didn't make a move to draw his sword from his back.

"Zack," Aerith breathed, reaching up and grabbing her staff with one hand. She stepped forward, about to run to him, when Red stepped neatly in front of her, blocking her path. The creature looked back at her, a meaningful look in his eye. Aerith nodded in understanding and stepped back reluctantly, her hands clasped close to her chest as she moved away from the window. Red nodded gravely, padding forward to join the others. She caught Shalua and Yuffie glancing at her before turning their eyes to the situation at hand. Everyone was reaching for weapons, she realized. Shalua's hand dangled dangerously close to her holster, and Yuffie was holding one of her shuriken's points between her fingers. Tifa had discreetly slipped on her gloves, and Cloud, Kunsel, and Sephiroth all had their hands on swords. Red's claws were out, scraping the dirt beneath his feet. She saw Barret's gun arm turn once and click into place, ready to fire. But no one moved. Inside the house, with Zack and Auriel, the drama continued. She reached for her staff and drew it, holding it in both hands. She was far enough away that it wouldn't have helped, but it felt better having it with her.

"What do you want?" she heard Zack ask.

"I just want to talk," replied Auriel, sweeping his free hand in front of them in an expansive gesture. He smiled. "You have a lovely family, Zack Fair. I'd hate to see any harm come to them. If you agree to my terms, I'll leave, and you'll never see me again."

Zack grit his teeth. She could see the way his expression shifted, the way his eyes moved from his mother, to his father, and back to Auriel. His jaw was tight, and the rage on his face was evident, but the hand that was on his sword trembled, and he didn't draw it. "So _talk_," he growled.

"Hmm, I don't think so," said Auriel. "Not like this." He moved the point of his blade closer to Zack's mother. A mote of light flicked out from the swirling stream that surrounded it. It scraped across her cheek, leaving a thin line of blood, nothing more than a scratch. Zack's eyes narrowed, and the Buster Sword slid forward an inch, the sound of metal scraping against metal clear even from where she stood. Auriel glared at him. "Drop your weapons," he said. "All of you."

A tense silence passed over the group. Auriel's eyes swept over everyone clustered around the entry way, drifting over each of the weapons they had. The others exchanged glances, and one by one, a few of them started disarming. Kunsel first—he drew his sword overhead and stabbed it point first into the ground. Shalua hesitantly followed, taking her gun out of its holster and tossing it to the ground at her feet. Cloud began to draw his own sword as well, looking around uncertainly. Yuffie muttered a curse, tossing her shuriken angrily to the ground. Aerith's grip tightened around her staff, but she didn't move. He still couldn't see her. Auriel looked back towards Zack, taking a step closer to his mother. Zack tensed, and then as if with one breath, Aerith saw the tension leaving. His shoulders slumped in defeat, and he reached up, grabbing hold of his Buster Sword.

A hand landed on his arm, stopping him from drawing it. The members of the group that hadn't fully disarmed froze in place, their eyes fixing on the scene in front of them. From the window, Aerith could only see that Cissnei had stepped forward, and that Zack had stopped moving, the Buster Sword halfway out of its sheath. Cissnei stepped forward, her expression hard. She came to stand in front of Auriel, and Aerith noticed then that she hadn't reached for her weapon. Her eyes drifted over the hostages before moving back towards Auriel.

"These aren't my parents," she said. "Even if you kill them, if enough of us defy you, you're still just as dead."

Zack's eyes widened, and he moved forward. "Cissnei! What are you—?"

An arm shot out in front of him, stopping him from moving any further. Zack broke off in mid-sentence, looking up. Sephiroth stood beside him, his right arm outstretched. His left hand was holding onto Masamune, holding the blade at arm's length.

Auriel's eyes fixed on Cissnei. He smirked. "Spoken like a true Turk," he said. "Is that how they taught you in training?"

"I was taught to be impartial," said Cissnei, folding her arms. "And to not allow people like you to manipulate me. If you want to negotiate, negotiate with me. Name your terms."

Auriel stared at her, before turning towards her fully. His face broke into a grin and he stepped forward, the golden light fading from his sword as he did. Zack's mother shrank back as soon as Auriel moved away, and his father quickly moved in front of her, glaring at Auriel. Auriel ignored him, coming to stand in front of Cissnei. He looked down at her.

"You want to negotiate?" he asked. "Very well, little Turk. An exchange of hostages. Mine, for two others."

He stopped so that was barely a foot away from her, his golden eyes boring into hers. She looked up at him, meeting his stare head on. His smirk widened.

"You," he said. "And Aerith Gainsborough."

The words echoed in the sudden silence that followed them. Aerith felt her breath catch in her throat, and she took a step back, her side pressed against the wall of the house. Auriel couldn't see her from here, she was sure of it. From where she was standing, she could barely see him. But Cissnei had seen her. Aerith saw the ex-Turk's eyes flick towards her briefly before looking back at Auriel.

"Why me?" she asked.

"I have a…personal interest in you," replied Auriel. "And I needed another hostage to make it fair. Consider it a..._field trip_, if you will."

"Hm," said Cissnei. She took a step back, keeping her eyes on his. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to settle for one," she said. "We were attacked on the way, in the Corel Desert. Aerith Gainsborough is dead."

_Dead._

The word hung in the air around them. Aerith tensed, pressing her back further against the wall. Her body felt stiff, unresponding, as Auriel stared at Cissnei, his eyes widening. He met her eyes, and out of the corner of her eyes, Aerith saw Tifa make a motion with her fingers, a quick jerking motion in the direction of the forest. The other woman never looked her way, but the meaning was clear. Run.

_I should run, _thought Aerith as Auriel stepped forward. _I should run into the forest, so that he won't find me out. I should move. _

Instead, she stood completely frozen as Auriel studied Cissnei. "Dead," he repeated. "What killed her?"

"Some sort of Behemoth," Cissnei replied. "They're moving in packs now. It was night, and she went to get water. We didn't find her until it was too late." It was a tale based on the truth—Aerith _had _seen the beasts moving across the horizon while the buggy made its way through the desert, but none of them had ever turned aside to harm them. The desert was too vast and they were too small to be of any real importance.

"An unfortunate accident," said Auriel.

Cissnei nodded. "Very unfortunate," she said.

Auriel leaned forward, looking her in the eye. Without warning, his face contorted in rage, and his hand shot forward, wrapping around her neck with such force that it lifted her clear off the ground. _"Liar!" _he snarled. Cissnei's eyes widened, her nails scrabbling for purchase on his hands as she gasped for breath. Sephiroth moved in an instant, Masamune flashing through the air. It halted, an inch away from Auriel's outstretched arm as the Tsviet moved to him.

"Try it," he said. "And I'll crush her throat."

Sephiroth glared at Auriel, the sunlight flashing off of Masamune. "To make that threat," he said, his voice dangerously low. "You must not want to keep that arm."

Auriel turned towards Sephiroth, and whatever he saw in those eyes must have convinced him. His fingers reluctantly unclenched from around Cissnei's throat, and she fell onto her knees on the ground, gasping and coughing for breath. Her hands shot up to her throat, moving around the red ring where Auriel's hands had just been. Sephiroth took a step back, his sword moving away from Auriel's arm to point at his throat instead.

Cissnei rose from the ground, getting to her feet. She stepped forward, rubbing at her neck. "Now," she said, drawing Rekka. "Drop your weapon. And we'll continue with this negotiation."

Auriel's eyes drifted from Cissnei, to Sephiroth, to Zack, before turning back towards Cissnei again. He smirked, then lowered his head, his hand releasing the hilt of his sword. It clattered to the ground at his feet, and he raised his hands up to either side of his head, painstakingly slow. Cissnei watched him, her eyes fixed on his.

Then the doors to the other huts around them burst open, men and women in blue and black Deepground uniforms pouring out. They surrounded the main group, and Aerith heard the sound of safeties being released as the circle of SOLDIERs pointed their guns at them. Aerith's eyes widened as she felt the barrel of a gun point at her back, and she slowly raised her hands up to either side of her face, not daring to look behind her. Inside the house, one of the SOLDIERs charged towards Sephiroth, causing him to whip around and slash at him with Masamune. The movement brought the sword away from Auriel, and he turned, whirling around quickly and kicking Cissnei in the chest as he scooped up his sword. The kick sent her tumbling along the ground, coming to a stop at the base of the wall.

The inside of the house glowed gold again as Auriel's sword flared into life.

XxXxX

"_Marlene!" _

Marlene didn't know who was shouting her name, or where the shout came from. All she knew was that after the door had opened, after the first gunshots rang out, everything had descended into chaos. She ducked underneath a Deepground SOLDIER's gun and around his leg, breathing hard and tears streaking down her face. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been this scared. Not even when the metal plate had fallen from the sky. Her right hand was closed around the hilt of the dagger Shion gave her, but she barely noticed. It was all she could do to keep running.

_Miss Elmyra…_she thought, as she ran towards the open back door. _I have to go back for Miss Elmyra. _But her legs wouldn't move in any direction but forward. No matter what she did, she couldn't make herself turn around.

A Deepground SOLDIER blocked her path, darting directly in front of her and between her and the door. Marlene screamed, taking a step back. He didn't look like the SOLDIERs she knew, like Zack and Cloud and Seph and even Kunsel. He was wearing a black uniform with blue stripes on it, and a helmet that completely covered his face. It glowed as he turned his head towards her, and Marlene found herself frozen in place, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gripped onto the dagger for dear life. She held it in both hands like a sword as he approached her, her eyes widening.

_Like a sword, _she told herself, her heart pounding. _I'll be brave. I'm not afraid. I'll be brave._

His hand reached towards her, and all she could do was stare.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of metal, and suddenly there was blood, so much blood, all pouring from a gash in the side of Deepground SOLDIER's neck. Marlene saw him step back and grab at it, as though surprised, before falling straight to the ground. She turned her head to see Shion swipe out the blade in front of him, blood splattering the ground. A drop of it got on her cheek. It was still warm, and the smell of it was enough to nearly make her sick, but she was so scared she couldn't even do that. Shion's sword was bloody too, and so were his clothes—the way she moved, he seemed like he was hurt in the arm. His glasses were crooked on his face, but his eyes turned towards her even as he gripped the katana's hilt in both hands again.

"Run!" he said, turning around and blocking a blow as another sword came crashing down. "Run, now!"

Marlene didn't waste time. She darted off quickly, heading towards the open door. The blood made the floor under her feet slippery, and she nearly fell, but she somehow managed to keep her balance, running through the kitchen door and into the bright sunlight. Outside the house, the world seemed quiet. There was nobody in the street—the few people she did see were running to their houses. _They're all scared, _she realized. _They're all scared like me. _

Because she wasn't brave at all—she was scared, but she had no house to run to, so she had to keep running. She ran through the yard towards the edge of the fields that surrounded Kalm. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to run. Maybe she could find her Daddy. He would take care of her. If he was here, he'd beat them all up. She just had to run. She just had to—.

An arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her up, and she screamed, kicking out. She looked back, seeing her own face reflected in one of those helmets.

"Daddy!" she shouted as the Deepground SOLDIER pulled her towards him. "Daddy! Help!"

There was no answer. The SOLDIER pulled her towards his chest, kicking and screaming. Marlene bit at his arm, sinking her teeth deep and clamping down as hard as she could, but he only grunted, trying to shake his arm out of her mouth, and her teeth wouldn't break the material of his sleeve. She cried as he wrenched his arm free, his other hand smacking her once across the face as she tried to hold on. Her hand felt slippery on the hilt of the knife—the _knife_!

It happened in an instant. Marlene screamed, driving down the point of the knife as hard as she could. It caught the SOLDIER in the leg, and he grunted in pain and surprise, releasing her. The knife came free as she landed on the ground, and with it, blood, but she didn't look at it, picking herself up and running as fast as she could. _If I run, it will be okay. I just have to keep running. I just have to…_

If she made it to the forest, she would be fine, she told herself. They would never find her there. If she made it to the forest, she would be fine…

XxXxX

Shion took a deep breath as he stepped back, his arm aching from the force of the Deepground SOLDIER's blow. Blood dripped from the end of Murasame, staining the hardwood floors of the house. His arms felt like they were going to fall off and his torso ached where he had been struck, but he wasn't done yet. That was the problem with SOLDIERs, he thought, as he tapped into the Regen Materia embedded into the hilt of his katana.

Too much strength, not enough skill.

He saw something flash out of the corner of his eye and turned, raising his blade to meet it. The sword came crashing down. A broadsword, he realized. Bright silver and black—it could only belong to one person. His eyes met the eyes of the woman that had come into his house, the Tsviet—Argento.

"You're skilled," she pointed out. "For a human."

Shion's eyes narrowed. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said, pushing back against her blade. He knew that he couldn't hope to win a contest of strength, so he stepped back, slipping his katana under her sword and slashing across her chest. She jumped back, breaking the lock and narrowly avoiding the blow.

"You killed them," she said, glancing around the room. "Three of them."

"When you stab them in the heart," said Shion, "SOLDIERs die like regular men."

What might have been a smile appeared on her face for a moment. "So it would seem," she said. "But this ends here. You cannot hope to win. I am the weakest of the Tsviets, and even then, I can still defeat you."

"Well," said Shion, holding his sword out in front of him. "We'll see."

In response, Argento stretched out her own blade, pointing the tip at him.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	76. File 022: Silver and Gold pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **As epic as the fight scenes are, I'm proud to say that for the sake of my sanity and that of AVALANCHE, this one will be the last (big) one until it becomes necessary for the plot. Up next, Zack's family reunion, then Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim and Rocket Town. There's some loose ends in this chapter, but I promise they'll be wrapped up before the story's done.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, Roza Anne, K, DarkSeraphim1, Anonymous, **and **ryuukoshi** for your reviews and support! It's much appreciated!

**JazzQueen, **my money's on Nero personally. Taking away everything you hold dear is somewhat his style.

**Irish-Brigid, **it was meant to buy time for Aerith to get away rather than actually fool Auriel, but even then, it didn't go as planned. For reasons yet unknown but soon to be discovered. ^^

**Leon Kaye, **dude, I don't mind, don't worry about it. XD It's happened to me more than once before, and I've decided to just go with it. Although it does make me wonder if I really do write like a guy. (And really? No female fans of FF in your area? _Why? _There's so much delicious eye candy—er, fanservice for girls in this series. XD)

**Roza Anne, **the Turks _are _described to have extensive training—Cissnei more extensive than most considering she was raised into it. I haven't really thought about it in great detail though.

**Anonymous, **thanks! I'm glad you like it! I did say that I didn't want this to be a retelling of Cloud's story, but rather everyone's story, because Cloud's story is fairly easy to tell for those who've played the game. And I'm glad you like Sephiroth's more human side. The ice melting scenes are the ones I really enjoy writing and thinking about. As for Tifa dying, I'm just curious, where did you get that idea? (The answer is no, by the way. I have no plans to kill off Tifa as of today).

**ryuukoshi, **just for you, I added a scene into the next interlude. XD Because you _do _have a point. One more. Cissnei is going to have one more bad horrible thing happen to her in this book and then that'll be it, I promise. (I'd call it off but the groundwork's already been laid, and it'll be a great Sephissnei moment when it happens).

**SECOND GENERATION STORY ANNOUNCEMENT: **_Our Generation_, the first chapter for a second gen story based on this AU has been posted. If you're interested in this at all, give it a read and drop me a review.^^

XxXxX

**File 022: Silver and Gold**

"_Look, Shion…" _

_The heat of the Gongagan jungle in mid-summer was almost stifling. He stood in the center of the small wooden house, barefoot and wide-eyed, watching as the woman in front of him lifted the sword from the case. It was old, with a battered wooden scabbard and wrapped in a tattered cloth, but it was obviously well-kept for, with a hilt wrapped in white leather. His eyes grew round as the woman held it loosely in her hands, holding it out so that she could see. _

"_This sword belonged to your grandfather. He was a strong warrior, but he was also a good man. It's very precious to us. Do you want to hold it?" _

_He reached out, small hands grasping for the blade. The sword was heavy in his hands, and the woman laughed, holding onto the sheath for support as he tugged at the hilt. "Careful now. Careful. You'll cut yourself. Here, let me." _

"_See this? Below the hilt. That's its name. See it? Remember that name, Shion." _

"_Murasame…"_

Swords flashed, swiping and slashing at each other through the still air of the small living room. Shion stepped around one of the bodies of the fallen SOLDIERs, his foot slipping slightly in blood as he slid out of the way, Argento's blade scraping along the outside of his sword as he checked her throat. She stepped back, and he moved into the space that she left, Murasame slashing downwards in a diagonal cut across her chest. The sword struck her Deepground breastplate, scratching a visible line down the length of the armor. He ducked as she swung at him one-handed, her great sword whistling over his head as he reversed the direction of his cut and stabbed, aiming for the vulnerable cloth beneath the plate. He felt the sword bite, but she pulled away before he could stab deeper, and he quickly pulled back and spun out of the way of her next strike, Murasame's tip wet with blood. He checked her throat again, the blade upturned, then swung it at the side of her head when she attempted to pull away. Her own sword went up, the edge of the blade blocking against his, and the swords struck each other with a clang.

Light as a dancer, he spun away, darting out of reach as Argento slashed her own sword down towards him. The blade parted the air to his right, coming within an inch of touching his skin, but no more than that. He gripped Murasame in both hands and stepped forward. His feet landed in a pool of blood, red droplets splattering against the wood of the floor as he thrust forward. Argento stepped back, but not soon enough. Murasame's tip caught her under the chin, opening a thin line just shy of where her artery would be. She raised her hand towards it, and her fingers came away wet with blood. Shion didn't waste the time it would take to let her consider the wound. He stepped forward and turned, throwing his weight behind the cut as he slashed at her side. She turned and stepped back, her eyes widening as she blocked the blade. Her sword went up, swiping Murasame aside, and the force behind the impact sent his arms ringing up to the elbows. Shion grit his teeth and ducked underneath her next swipe, stepping out of the way.

Shion straightened up. He raised his eyes towards Argento as she came towards him and breathed slowly, tightening his grip on Murasame.

_It's just a sword, _he reminded himself as Argento's broadsword came crashing towards him. Murasame touched it lightly—lightly only—on the flat to hold it in place. Its wielder was gone, having already stepped out of the way when she came crashing through. The world around him seemed to fade, everything, including Argento, going black. Everything except the sword in her hands. It flashed brightly through the darkness—the only thing he saw—the only thing that mattered. Murasame in his hands was like a live thing, a part of him. It was an extension of his mind, of his body. He _was _the sword.

_Not a SOLDIER. Don't think of her as a SOLDIER. _

_She's just another sword. _

He was in another world, another place, another time. The day he had attacked the Gongagan Shinra outpost. The day that had inadvertently made him a Turk. Gunshots had fired then, Shinra infantrymen standing in formation to stop him, but they hadn't been able to stop the sword. Argento's blade flashed before his eyes, bright in the darkness, and he moved, his own sword slipping beneath it. He slid to the right and ducked, twisting out of reach of her sword and slashing at her back. The sword bit into cloth but not skin—he heard and felt it tear as Argento leaped forward, turning around to meet him. He breathed again, slowly, and ducked. The blade whistled over his head, trailing motes of light. The swing was powerful enough that had he not moved, it would have taken his head off.

_Only a sword. _

The sword he saw was fast and strong, but heavy. It moved in quick, linear strokes, bright lines across his field of vision. So he moved in circles, Murasame acting as point and counterpoint to her savage slashes. Argento's eyes flashed in his imagined dark, a bright mako blue. He didn't see them. His sword moved, cutting upwards, reaching for her sword arm. The sword bit, but did not take. She jerked out of the way in time to stop him from doing any real damage, but still, he saw her sword falter in her grasp just barely, her fingers opening for just a moment. He took that opportunity to strike, Murasame reaching for the tender flesh of her neck, but she swatted it away with the gauntlet on her other hand, her eyes narrowing. The crown on her head flashed silver, and her eyes met Shion's.

_I am not afraid of a sword. _

He stepped back, Murasame scraping against the metal of her gauntleted hand. Sparks appeared in the air as Argento tightened her grip on her sword, bringing it crashing down. He stepped to the side. Her eyes trailed light in his mind's eye as she turned, a bright blue, so bright. He aimed for them, his own blade appearing to shine brighter as he moved.

_I am____a sword. The sword. The sword in the shadows. _

Argento's hand shot up, grabbing the hilt of his blade between his two hands. Shion's eyes widened as he felt the point of the blade suddenly yanked down, and then Argento was beside him, and he could see her armor flashing in the light. She pulled Murasame's hilt up, using the blade as a lever with which to throw him back, one ankle snaking around to sweep his forward foot out from underneath him. His feet slipped out from under him and he fell back, releasing his hold on his sword. She turned, flinging it across the room as Shion fell back. He sprang up quickly upon hitting the ground, but before he could get back to his feet, Argento turned, her knee digging into his gut.

The blow knocked the wind out of him, and his eyes widened, his mouth opening in a soundless gasp as he stumbled back. Before he could recover, Argento turned, her blade slashing through the air.

Blood spurted from the wound it opened on his chest, splattering across Argento's silver armor. He made a choked sound, a gurgling gasp in the back of his throat as he fell to the ground. She raised her sword, and her hilt slammed, once, twice, thrice against his head, causing his vision to blur. Shion staggered back, barely, and slipped on his own blood, landing in a pool at her feet.

His vision darkened, and he could feel consciousness slipping away. He didn't even see Argento coming to stand over him, one hand closing around what was left of his shirt. All he saw was Murasame across the room, the blade shining bright despite the blood. His hand reached out for it, but it was too far away. The fingers of his sword hand strained, and he grit his teeth. He tasted blood.

Shion saw her eyes as she came to stand over him. They were cold and calculating, with just the slightest hint of surprise as she looked over him. She had such a pretty face too, he realized. She shouldn't have had those eyes.

Mako blue. SOLDIER's eyes.

"Who taught you to fight like that?" her voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel. "The Turks?"

The idea of the Turks teaching him to fight was absurd enough that if he hadn't been teetering on the edge of consciousness, he might have laughed. The Turks did not use swords. None but him. He shook his head, feeling a small smile come to his face despite himself.

"Why did you fight me?" she asked.

He looked into her eyes and knew with a certainty that he was going to die that day. A peace settled over him, greater than any peace he had known in a long time. He was ready, he knew. Ever since Shinra captured him that fateful day in Gongaga, he had been ready to die. He tilted his head back, his eyes focusing on the ceiling as his eyesight began to waver. His hand still lay on the ground, reaching for his sword. He shook his head, electing not to answer as he lay back and waited to die.

"_This sword is precious to us…" _He remembered his mother's voice. _"Very precious…Shion…" _

Argento took a step back and away from him, and he saw her raise her blade. He looked her right in the eye, watching. Waiting. Her eyes drifted towards his sword, across the room, and she stepped closer to her. He was ready. He would face death with dignity.

Then, she lowered her blade. Argento raised her foot instead, holding it over his sword hand.

Bones crunched. Shion _screamed_.

XxXxX

Sephiroth's sword crashed against Auriel's blade, scattering sparks of gold light. Several of them crashed against his arm as he turned, cutting thin lines in the skin where the sparks had touched. He swept Masamune through the air, dispersing the others, before stabbing at Auriel's chest. He jumped back, streamers of gold light trailing in front of him as he moved. Sephiroth stepped to the side as the light moved past him, each little spark seeming to make a humming sound. They were blades, he realized. Each little mote of light was an individual blade.

All around them, the battle continued to rage. He heard shouts and the crash of sword against sword as the people outside engaged the Deepground SOLDIERs. There was gunfire as well, the rapid _rat-at-at-at-at _of Barret's gun arm balanced by Shalua's individual shots. He heard Yuffie shout, and somewhere outside, Aerith let out a muffled scream, immediately followed by the sounds of a struggle and the crash of lightning. Inside the house, Tifa ran past him and Auriel, ducking underneath crossed blades as Zack and a Deepground SOLDIER started fighting and pulling Zack's parents with her to the back of the room. He jumped back to avoid a swipe from Auriel and saw her working at the couple's bonds, a thin utility knife in her hand as battle raged around them.

Outside, over their heads, he heard the sound of a chopper whirring, sailing over the house. He glanced upwards. An airstrike? Reinforcements? Missiles impacted the earth, kicking up dirt and causing the entire structure to tremble. He turned, dodging an attack from Auriel, but the attack Auriel sent his way was half-hearted. His eyes were wide, as though he too was surprised by the blasts. The gold light surrounding the blade of his sword faltered.

_He doesn't know where they're coming from. _

Sephiroth took the opportunity to whirl around, swinging Masamune at Auriel's back. Auriel noticed just in time, his eyes widening. He ducked, barely avoiding the strike. Auriel lashed out at his legs, but the blow only served to cause Sephiroth to back up, not causing any real damage. Auriel straightened up and stepped away from Sephiroth, his eyes still focused on the door.

Outside, it went suddenly still, the sounds of gunfire ceasing until the only sound that remained was the whirring of the helicopter's blades. Cissnei stood by the door, having pulled herself up to her feet, and she was staring outside through the window, her eyes wide. Sephiroth stopped as well, turning towards the door.

"Alright!" shouted a voice. "Alright, party's over! Pack it up! Go home!"

He knew that voice. The Deepground SOLDIER fighting Zack stopped as well, turning towards it. Zack looked at the door, his eyes widening as he lowered the Buster Sword.

"_Reno?!" _he said.

The sound of a scuffle followed from outside, and a moment later, the crowd around the door parted, admitting a man and woman in black suits—Reno and Elena. The Turks were trailed by Aerith, who lingered in the doorway, flanked by Cloud and Kunsel who watched her protectively. The girl seemed none the worse for wear, although her jacket was askew and her braid was slung over her shoulder. There was a bruise on her neck, although it was quickly fading.

Auriel turned towards them, livid. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"Should be asking you that, pal," said Reno. He lifted his left hand, the one carrying his Electro-Mag Rod, and pointed it at the Deepground SOLDIER who still lingered. He jerked it towards the door. "Clear out, buddy. This is Turk territory now."

The SOLDIER glanced from Auriel to Reno and back again, before shuffling out the door. Nobody made to stop him, not even Zack. All eyes in the room were fixed on the Turks. Auriel scowled, his grip tightening on his sword. "You're interfering with an official mission," he said.

"Nah," said Reno, shaking his head. "See, _you _are. When your boss told ours where to stick it, he went to the President. Turns out that you Tsviets haven't been playing by the rules. It's funny that the President didn't know anything about the Gold Saucer either, isn't it?"

Auriel sniffed. "Weiss was well within his rights to send us out—your President named him our Director. If the mission was never approved, it's simply because it never made it to his desk before the opportunity passed for us to carry it out. A formality, that's all. It was never brought to his attention."

"Yeah?" asked Reno. "Well, it's been brought to his attention _now_, and now he's wondering where you people got this idea in the first place. Who sent you?"

"The Science Department, obviously," said Auriel. "To reclaim _her_." He gestured at Aerith, who was still standing in the doorway, watching.

"Funny," said Reno. "Since Hojo left, I haven't heard anything about the Science Department wanting _her_ back." He pointed his rod in Aerith's direction. "How about you, Laney?"

Elena shook her head. "Nothing," she said.

"Huh…" said Reno, looking back at Auriel. He smiled a lazy smile. "Wanna tell me again where you got those orders, Slick?"

The look Auriel gave Reno was just a touch shy of murderous. "Genesis," he said grudgingly.

"Last I checked," said Reno, "You worked for Shinra. Not Genesis. And since Genesis seems to have gone AWOL again, I'm sure the boss would _love _to hear your story." Auriel's response was stony silence. Reno tilted his head to the side, eyeing the Tsviet carefully. He tapped his rod against his shoulder. "You gonna come quietly, or do I need to get Weiss and the President on the line?"

"I'll come quietly," said Auriel with a snarl, slamming his sword back into its sheath. The blade rattled as the hilt struck the metal ring. Reno nodded, jerking his head toward Elena.

"Cuff 'im," he said.

Elena moved to do just that, unclipping a pair of handcuffs from her belt. They glowed with a faint light around the edges, signifying that they had been made specifically to hold mako enhanced strength. Auriel stood still and let the young Turk pull his hands behind his back, but he lowered his head, and in what Sephiroth could see of his eyes shone pure anger. Reno turned away, his eyes moving lazily over the rest of them. They landed on Cissnei, who was leaning against the wall, one hand wrapped around her midsection. He walked over to her, and before she could react, pointed the rod at her throat, electricity crackling from the tip.

Sephiroth started forward, raising his sword, but Reno didn't move to attack her, holding up a hand to halt him and looking back at Elena. "Hey, Laney," he said. "How many can the chopper seat?"

"Six, sir," came the answer from Elena.

"Six." Reno looked around slowly, his eyes falling on each member of the group. "One for you, one for me, and one for Goldie over there. That leaves three more. Seems like we have more than three here…" His eyes moved towards Sephiroth and he smiled. "If I kill her, you'll kill me, right?" he asked.

Sephiroth nodded, understanding now. The tip of his sword faltered, Masamune slowly lowering to the ground. "Yes," he said.

"Can't finish the mission if we're dead…" mused Reno. "And same goes for you, if we try to take Aerith." He turned towards Zack.

Zack folded his arms and scowled, nodding once.

"How about it, Princess?" asked Reno, looking back at Yuffie. "Want an escort back to your old man?" Yuffie's response was to stick her tongue out and pull down her cheek with a finger, exposing the underside of her eye. Reno looked back at Elena. "Well, that's that," he said. "Don't think we can take anyone else with us. What do you think, Laney?"

"Well—," began Elena.

Reno's aqua eyes narrowed dangerously, although the smile remained on his face. "I said, _what do you think, Laney_?" he repeated.

Elena flushed, lowering her eyes to the ground. "Er—I said, no. We can't take anyone else! Uh—sir!"

"Well, you heard her," said Reno, pulling his rod away from Cissnei's neck. He rested it against his shoulder. "Looks like we'll have to finish this another day." He slipped the rod back into his belt, nodding at Elena and inclining his head in the direction of the door. The members of their group surrounding the door stepped aside to allow them to pass, giving both Turks and their prisoner a wide berth. Sephiroth and Zack waited until Reno was gone before finally relaxing, Sephiroth lowering his sword so that the tip pointed at the ground. He heard Zack let out a quick breath, before shaking his head and running off to see to his parents. Aerith brushed past Sephiroth, following him.

Sephiroth himself glanced back to make sure that there was nothing pressing, before walking forward towards Cissnei. He caught her by the arm as she suddenly swayed, keeping her upright. The hand spread over her midsection was glowing a bright green, he noticed now, green light seeping beneath her shirt where Auriel had kicked her. She met his eyes, giving him a sheepish smile.

The look he returned was equal parts anger, annoyance, and disbelief. He stared after her as she brushed past him, quickly hiding her injuries and going off to see to Zack's parents.

**END FILE**


	77. Interlude 004: Home Again pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I don't want to get bogged down in Gongaga, but at the same time, I feel like our Zack has earned this interlude. So we're going to rest in Gongaga for a bit and then off to Cosmo Canyon. I've realized that I've kind of been all over the place about what constitutes a _File _and what's an _Interlude_, so I'll explain it in the framework of video games. If this story were an RPG, a _File _would have some sort of gameplay—sneak onto the ship, fight somebody, run around and do stuff. An _Interlude _is more like a series of cutscenes where the player doesn't really do much, just watch the characters interact.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, DarkSeraphim1, Leon Kaye, **and **K **for your reviews and support!

Without further ado, the first chapter of Interlude 004: Home Again, otherwise known as "the chapter in which we remember that Zack has PTSD".

XxXxX

**Interlude 004: Home Again**

The Gongagan jungle closed in around the town, surrounding it as closely as the ever-present damp in the air that clung to his skin. Cloud stood in the small clearing behind Zack's house, listening to the sounds of the forest in front of him. Zack had said at some point in the past that Gongaga was a lot like Nibelheim, a country town in the middle of nowhere, but that it was different in many ways as well. Now that he was finally here, he could see that. In Nibelheim, the air was brisk and cold, even in the summer, the winds were fierce, and the ground looked as though it had been carved straight out of the earth with a knife, all steep cliffs and sharp drops. Gongaga's air was hot, heavy, and still. He almost found it suffocating. But there was a certain peacefulness out here as well, although the events of earlier had shattered that peace.

He lowered his hands to his sides, looking up at the sky. What little of it he could see was gray, without a star in sight. Zack was right, he mused, rubbing at the back of his neck. It didlook like rain.

His eyes drifted over to the house not too far away from him, its windows lit brightly in contrast with the night. Most of the members of their group had taken shelter inside the house, but a few, like him, had decided to walk around outside and take their chances. The Fair's house wasn't big, and while they were used to close quarters by now, after a fight, he always found them stifling. He didn't have a problem with anyone in their group, but he didn't like the feeling of having all of them that close, huddled together in that small living room.

Besides, his mind was on something else, and he didn't want to talk to any of them until he had figured it out. He folded his arms, pacing over towards the small fence that marked the boundary between the town and the jungle. Cloud rested his arms over the fence and looked out into the gloom, thinking. He didn't know how long he stood there, but eventually, he heard the sound of booted feet trampling over grass, and he looked up.

"Hey," said Zack, raising a hand towards him. Cloud blinked in surprise, obligingly moving over to give Zack space as his friend started forward, coming to stand next to him. "Thought I'd find you out here," he said. "You coming in? Dinner's almost ready."

"In a second," said Cloud. "I was just thinking about something."

"Wanna share?" asked Zack.

Cloud shook his head, bracing his hands on the fence and pushing himself off of it. "Maybe," he said. He turned towards Zack. "How are your parents?"

Zack turned around, leaning back against the fence and folding his arms. He didn't look at Cloud as he spoke. "A little shaken up, but they're alright," he said. "Aerith is with them."

"Aerith?" asked Cloud, brow raising. "Not you?"

Zack stared down at the ground, his expression darkening. He turned his head away. Cloud waited, standing there in the silence as Zack fought with the words. "…They want to talk about Nibelheim."

Cloud understood, his fingers tightening their hold around the railing. He could still picture it in his mind's eye, fragmented images from the basement of the Shinra Mansion. He didn't remember as much as Zack, he knew, but even then—even then, he felt his skin start to grow cold, just remembering needles poking, prodding, the glass, mako, a green glow surrounding them—he shook his head, pushing the thoughts from his mind and turning towards him.

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Zack. "I just don't want to talk about it." He smiled guiltily, getting up and placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "C'mon," he said. "I told Mom I was gonna go out and buy some bread for dinner. Might as well give you the tour of the town while I'm at it."

Cloud followed, frowning at Zack as they walked around the house and through the dirt streets that passed for Gongaga's main square. The former First was looking straight ahead of him and smiling, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He should say something, he knew, but he didn't know what. Zack cut him off before he could start, changing the subject.

"So," he said, glancing back at him. "What's got you so worried?"

"Well, the Tsviets," said Cloud, stepping forward quickly so that he was right beside him.

"You and me both," said Zack, frowning as they walked around a scar in the earth where one of Reno's missiles had struck. The Gongaga townspeople had come out of their homes a little while after the Turk helicopter flew away, looking frightened but unharmed. Now, the town seemed to have recovered enough to go back to its business, although more than a few doors appeared to be locked. "What about it?"

"I was just thinking," said Cloud. "How'd they know to find us in Gongaga?"

Zack blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's just…" Cloud folded his arms. This same thought had been nagging at him since the battle ended. "We ran into them in the Gold Saucer, right? First of all, how did they know we were there?"

"We fought off the attack near North Corel," said Zack.

"Right," said Cloud. "And you could say that they knew we were in the area because they'd seen us in Costa del Sol. But—why Gongaga? We didn't tell anyone we were stopping here. It's out of the way, even if they know you have family here. They know we're heading to Cosmo Canyon. Why didn't they just ambush us there? Terrorizing an entire village on the off chance that we come here doesn't make much sense."

"You're asking for sense from the Tsviets," Zack pointed out.

"They're insane," countered Cloud. "Their plans are not." There had been an odd sense of practicality in every attack the Tsviets had put forth so far, even including meeting Nero in the woods. He doubted Auriel would have been sent to Gongaga if he didn't know for sure that they would be there. And there was something else too. "Auriel knew Cissnei was lying before she even started," he added.

"So, what?" asked Zack. "You're saying they have some way of keeping an eye on us?"

"Mm," said Cloud, nodding. He looked away, his expression growing guilty. "That, or…"

"No." Zack cut him off, turning to look at him. "You can't honestly think that _any _one of our group would betray us to Shinra, can you?"

"There is one," said Cloud. He had been thinking about this ever since the confrontation with Auriel. If there was a spy in the group, he knew it couldn't be himself, Zack, Sephiroth, Barret, Tifa or Red. All of them hated Shinra with a passion. The same went for Yuffie—as sneaky as she might have been, not even she would ally herself with them. Kunsel was too loyal. It could have been a front, but he doubted that the man would have kept it up for so long. The sun would fall out of the sky before _Aerith _betrayed them to Shinra, and Cissnei—.

Cissnei was a little bit of a gray area, he admitted, with ties to the Turks, but he had seen how she was after Sector 7, and he'd seen what her association with them had cost her, time and again. He didn't think it could be her. That left only one person, someone who had joined the party after the Gold Saucer, someone with ties to the Tsviets, and someone whose motivations were still unclear. "Shalua."

Zack looked uncomfortable with that prospect. He frowned, folding his arms. "Why?" he asked. "What's she got to gain?"

"Her sister," said Cloud. "Everything."

"She hates Shinra—," began Zack.

"But loves Shelke," Cloud countered. _And wouldn't be the first enemy Shinra's manipulated to the cause. _

Zack scowled, clearly unhappy, but even he could see the sense in caution. He stared down at the ground for a few moments before his shoulders slumped, and he reached up, rubbing angrily at the back of his head as he looked away. "Tell it to Cissnei," he told Cloud. "If she hasn't already figured it out. We'll keep an eye on her. I don't like it, but—."

"We can't afford to be careless?" suggested Cloud.

"That," said Zack, looking up. He tilted his head towards Cloud, giving him an odd look. Cloud shifted in place, frowning.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Zack, shaking his head. "I was just thinking. You've grown up."

Cloud looked away. "Well," he said, folding his arms. "Guess I had to."

"Yeah, guess you did," said Zack, patting him once on the shoulder. "C'mon. Shop's this way." He steered Zack in the direction of a small hut with a sign outside that advertised general goods. Despite the late hour, a light still burned in the window. He didn't think many people in the village would be sleeping well that night. Cloud followed Zack towards it, frowning as he considered some of the things his friend had said.

"Zack…" said Cloud as they neared the shop.

"Hmm?"

He took a deep breath, unsure how to broach the subject. "About your parents…"

"I know," said Zack, walking ahead of him. "I know I should be with them. Heck, I _want _to be. I just—." The hand at his side curled into a fist, and he paused, looking down at the ground. "I'm not…the same as I was. When I left. I've changed in a lot of ways. I've done some things I'm not proud of, and I don't know if I can face my old man after that. And Nibelheim…" He shook his head. "I can't get it out of my head."

"You're not supposed to," said Cloud, stopping. "Heck, I'd be worried if you _could _forget. What happened back there…it…it wasn't good. That sort of stuff…" He trailed off awkwardly. Zack said nothing, making a small noise of acknowledgment in his throat as he kept his eyes on the ground. Cloud took a deep breath, trying to remember what he wanted to say. "But they're your _parents_, Zack. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you think you did, or what's been done to you—they're just glad you're _home_. If I could go to Nibelheim and see my mom again…and Tifa her dad…but they're gone and we can't bring them back. You have something a lot of us would kill to have again. Don't waste it."

"Heh…" Zack shook his head slowly, a small wistful smile appearing on his face. "I guess I am acting like a baby," he said. "Aerith said so too."

"And Zack," said Cloud, "About Aerith…" Zack looked back at him, and Cloud sighed, walking forward. "She's the best thing to happen to you in five years, so…be careful with that, okay?"

"Now you sound like Kunsel," said Zack, grinning. He straightened up, patting Cloud on the back again. "Alright, alright," he said. "I'll talk to them. When we get back. I promise."

"Good," said Cloud. He took a deep breath, unsure where all of that had come from, and shook his head. "…Now let's get some bread," he said, walking forward towards the shop.

XxXxX

He found Cissnei in the backyard, toying with her phone. She was sitting with her back against the trunk of a tree, idly flipping her phone open and closed. Her eyes were far off, as though she was thinking about something deeply, but although she didn't turn towards him, he could tell that she noticed his presence. He came to stand next to her, his back towards the tree as he faced the small house in front of them. The two of them were facing the kitchen, and he could see Tifa in the window helping Mrs. Fair prepare dinner, but with the light between her and them, he doubted she could see them.

They stood in silence for a while longer before Cissnei flipped her phone shut one last time, letting out a sigh. She looked up at him. "Do you need something, Sephiroth?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk about your actions," he said calmly. She turned her head towards him slightly, and although she barely moved, Sephiroth now sensed that he had her full attention. He might not have been the best at dealing with people socially, but he understood how to keep troops in line, and in situations like this, he knew how to fall back on being a commander. Although his own thoughts where Cissnei was concerned might have…toed the line of professionalism, he could do this much at least.

"What about them?" she asked, straightening up.

Sephiroth glanced at her. "Is it necessary?"

Cissnei frowned, meeting his eyes. They were a light brown, and outwardly compliant, although he could see the wheels turning in her mind. "Is what necessary?" he asked.

"Your actions today," said Sephiroth. "With Auriel. And before, in the Corel mountain pass. You continually put yourself in danger. I'm asking if it's necessary."

"I don't put myself in danger intentionally—" Cissnei began.

"Is it that you're the only one qualified to do what needs to be done, or is it that you don't trust anyone else to help you?"

The question stopped her. He could see it. For once, her mouth snapped shut, and he could see her train of thought grind to a screeching halt. He waited for her answer, keeping his eyes on hers. He wasn't an impatient man. He could keep on waiting. Her mouth opened and closed before it opened again.

"I have the training—," she said.

"Zack, Kunsel and I are trained to fight. Not even we insist on charging into every battle alone. If it's stealth and discretion you need, surely one or two of us could serve. There are those of us who would gladly take the risk."

She had no answer to that, he could see that plainly. He doubted she had even thought of this herself. It had probably come naturally to her, taking on this role and keeping it hers and hers alone. "I—I work better…" she began again.

"Alone?" he finished. Sephiroth frowned, shaking his head. "No. I work alone. You work with Turks, or you did. Now, you're the only Turk here, so you work alone. But you're not a Turk anymore, or are you?" He heard her suck in a sharp breath. The words were harsh, he knew, but they needed to be said. He watched her eyes, taking note of the changes in her expression.

"I'm a member of AVALANCHE," she finally said.

"Are you?" asked Sephiroth. "Then tell me why you keep everything you do to yourself. You make plans, and you're the only one who's privy to them. You say I run off, but you disappear without warning and keep your secrets to yourself, so that no one knows whether or not you'll come back alive, or where to find you if you run into trouble. You're not alone. Why do you act like you are? All of your plans are worth nothing if you die."

"I…" began Cissnei. She looked away, lowering her phone to the ground. "I don't want to involve anyone."

"We're already involved," said Sephiroth. "Or haven't you noticed? There are people in this team you can trust, and people who want to help you. We may not be Turks, but that doesn't mean you can't use our assistance. I'm tired of seeing you get injured for no reason other than the fact that you think nobody knows what needs to be done but you."

She stared at him for a long while, saying nothing. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she shook her head. A faint smile appeared on her face. "That's harsh," she said. "But I guess I needed to hear that."

"You told me I spoke the truth, whether or not people wanted to hear it," Sephiroth reminded her.

"I did," said Cissnei, "And you do." She glanced down at the ground, pulling up a blade of grass idly with her other hand. "I guess I haven't been much of a team player lately. I'll work on that."

"Good," he said, glancing away. "Do that." He kept his eyes fixed on a point in the distance, not looking at her. He heard her flip her phone open once more, the glare from the screen illuminating his periphery, before she spoke, her voice halting and tentative.

"In Midgar…" she said. "You said you trusted me. Do you still trust me?"

He thought about his answer carefully before he said it. He remembered Junon, Kalm, and Corel, remembered Modeoheim, remembered the Midgar Wasteland, and most disturbingly of all, remembered the feeling of her arms around him in Costa del Sol, the heat and warmth and smell of her. His throat tightened, and he fought to keep that particular moment out of his memory. "Yes."

"Then sit down," said Cissnei. "I have something I need to talk with you about."

She moved aside, indicating the ground beside her. Sephiroth sat, keeping the distance between them. His hand landed on the ground close to hers, a scant few inches between them. He turned his attention away from her hand, and back towards her. "What is it?"

"Cloud brought something to my attention," said Cissnei, "And…" She smiled. "I realized that I might need a little help…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	78. Interlude 004: Home Again pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Guest, Irish-Brigid, SubZeroChimera, Riku Uzumaki, RedKaddict, Anonymous, Leon Kaye, **and **DarkSeraphim1 **for your reviews and support! As always, much appreciated!

**Guest, **so do I. I love writing Sephiroth introspection scenes. But sadly, we have a lot of material to get through, and the other characters need their time in the spotlight too. Hopefully the opportunity for more will come up soon.

**Irish-Brigid, **Cloud did kind of break character in that scene—even Zack pointed it out. But if you can't break character for a friend, who can you break it for? (And it did kind of exhaust him too. XD)

**RedKaddict, **I'm glad you enjoy the interludes. To be honest, I enjoy writing them, although I feel bad because sometimes, like in this one, not every scene I want to write has a chance to get written.

**Anonymous, **don't ever apologize for long reviews! I love getting and reading them, it shows me that people care enough about what I've written to write them! Tifa's going to survive, I just hadn't thought of a good Cloti child to include in _Inheritance_ at the time of writing. He'll make up for it by appearing in _Our Generation _though…eventually.

**Leon Kaye, **I'm glad you liked it! I wanted to try and progress Cloud naturally from the slightly insecure and uncertain guy he was in CC to something similar to the Cloud we know and love, minus some of the angst. With Zack and Sephiroth there to overshadow him, it was always going to take some time, but it looks like Cloud is starting to find his niche. (As for speculation, PM me~)

XxXxX

**Interlude 004: Home Again**

The water ran over the plate he held out and into the sink, the sound of rushing water coming in time with the rain that lashed against the small kitchen's windows. Zack, listening to the sound of the downpour, was immensely grateful that it had caught them here, indoors, instead of outside. They packed tents now, but even so, a wet night was a wet night and even with a tent, it was impossible to stay completely dry in weather like this. Inside the house, they might be a little packed, but at least they weren't miserable.

The sound of laughter echoed from the living room, where some of the others had set up camp. Zack's mother had insisted, and Zack himself had agreed, that the girls all pile into his room, so Aerith, Yuffie, Cissnei, Tifa, and Shalua had gone upstairs to try and divide the small-ish room amongst themselves. Furniture had been moved and piled into the hallway, Tifa and Cissnei had both volunteered to sleep on the floor right outside the door, Shalua had spread a sleeping bag out on the floor, and Yuffie had loudly declared from the top of the stairs that she and Aerith would be taking the bed _"unless you want to switch places with me, Zack!" _He'd nearly chucked a soapy frying pan at her head for that one, but Aerith had giggled into her hand and shot him a meaningful look with those glittering green eyes that had had him choking instead, bent double over the sink while Sephiroth pounded a fist on his back with his characteristic deadpan expression. The girls exploded into a fit of giggles, the guys laughed, Kunsel made a slightly off-color joke, and Zack tried to draw a breath, his thoughts torn between _Smooth, buddy. Real smooth, _and _Gaia, that woman will be the death of me. _

Things were calmer now, he mused, turning off the tap and wiping down the plate. He set it aside, reaching for the next glass in the sink. In all honesty, he hadn't been up to his room except for a brief moment to make sure that the girls were doing alright, and even then he'd only stayed on the outside of the door. His parents hadn't touched his room except to clean since he'd left for the city, and the twenty-three-year-old man he had become felt out of place in the thirteen-year-old dreamer's room. Things were just too different between now and then.

A lot of things.

He rinsed out the glass, looking up as his mother set a final stack of plates on the kitchen counter beside him. "This is all that's left, Zack," she said softly, placing a light hand on his arm. "Thank you for the help."

"No problem, Mom," he said, plunging his hands back into the soapy water. He didn't normally like doing the dishes, but the menial task gave him time to think about what he was going to say when they did eventually end up talking. He knew it would have to be soon. By the time he and Cloud got back, dinner was almost ready, and Zack had been pressed into service setting the tables and bringing food out. Dinner had been more of a group conversation, with every available seat and anything that could be remotely imagined as a seat taken up and with thirteen voices talking all at once, but after dinner, everyone seemed to have gone back to their own little cliques and while the house wasn't _quiet_ again, it was definitely quieter. The kitchen was empty except for himself, his mother, and Aerith, who occasionally came in and out to help with the cleaning.

When the door to the kitchen opened again and his father walked in, drenched and muttering about how the roof seemed like it would hold for now, but he had to repair it before the next rain, Zack paused, looking up from the serving plate he was washing. The two of them were standing together in the back of the room, talking in hushed voices. His mom was helping to pull a wet raincoat from his shoulders. The sight of them made his heart ache as he remembered the last time he had seen them, almost ten years ago. They looked so much older now, although sometimes, they seemed so much the same.

He took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Mom. Dad," he began. "About earlier…"

The two of them looked towards him, and his mother met his eyes. They were a deep brown, the same color his had been before he'd made into SOLDIER. People used to say that he had her eyes. They didn't say so now. "We already know, Zack," she said gently.

His dad's hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "Your friend told us," he said.

Figured. Zack wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not. He wondered who he had to thank for this. "Which friend?" he asked.

"The girl, the one who used to wear the suit," said his dad. He made a vague gesture at his head. "The redhead."

_Cissnei. _He didn't know whether he wanted to kiss her or kill her for that one. Either way, he'd be in trouble with Aerith. And probably Sephiroth too. He turned away from the sink, folding his arms and leaning back against the counter. "So you know," he said, not knowing what else to say.

"The…the idea of it," said his mom. "She told us…about why you hadn't written—oh, Zack."

She was going to hug him, he realized numbly as she started forward, her eyes wide. He didn't know if he could take that right now. Thankfully, his dad seemed to notice, because he stopped her, keeping his hand on her shoulder and pulling her back gently, but firmly. His eyes met Zack's, and Zack tried to work past the knot in his throat as he nodded. His dad had always been the more perceptive of the two.

The door to the kitchen opened again, Aerith stepping in. "Zack," she said. "This is the last of the trash, and then—." She paused, stopping in the doorway as all three Fairs turned towards her. Aerith's eyes moved over each of them, before landing on Zack's, and they softened in understanding, a small, sad smile appearing on her face. "I'll just put this here," she said, setting the trash bag down by the door. She took a step back, giving him one last look before closing the door behind her.

Aerith's arrival had lightened the mood somewhat, but not by much. Zack found that his fingers were curled tightly around the countertop where he rested his hand, his eyes fixed on his parents as they turned back towards him.

This time, it was his dad who spoke first. "She's a great girl," he said, inclining his head in the direction of the door. "You're lucky to have her."

"So I've been told," said Zack, placing a hand on the back of his neck. He still felt embarrassed about the fact that Aerith had probably spent more time with his parents so far than he had. Cloud was right, there _was _something messed up about that. He had been full of apologies, promises, and reassurances when he was facing Elmyra. Why couldn't he do the same thing with his own parents? "Aerith is…" _Beautiful. Perfect. Sweet. Silly. Amazing. _The words drifted across the tip of his tongue, slipping off the end of it. "…kind," he finished.

"She obviously cares a lot about you. I'm so glad to see that," said his mom. Her brows furrowed in concern. "Zack, why is Shinra after her? She wouldn't say, only that you saved her once."

"Well…" He hesitated, stopping himself from blurting out the whole truth. It seemed so normal to him now that he was living it, but he recognized how absurd the truth would seem to someone outside of everything. Aerith was a Cetra, the last survivor of a race that hadn't been in its prime for 2,000 years. She was being hunted by Shinra, a bunch of twisted experimental SOLDIERs, and a two-thousand year old entity that had stolen her birth mother's face and maybe more while claiming to be Sephiroth's mom. No, he couldn't tell them that. Even if they did believe him, they'd be safer for not knowing. "Aerith is special," he finally said. "Shinra wants her because they want something they think only she can give them. But we're not gonna let that happen."

"You and your friends?" asked his dad. Zack nodded. His father's hand squeezed his mom's shoulder again briefly, as she made another move to walk forward. She stopped, reluctantly. "Where are you going after you leave here?" he asked.

Zack shrugged. "Better you don't know," he said, his eyes lowering to the floor. He didn't want to keep secrets from his family, but he knew in this case that it was for the best. Shinra could hurt his parents for what they knew. He'd rather not give them cause to do so.

"You're going to keep fighting, aren't you?" asked his dad.

"Yeah, probably," said Zack, nodding.

His dad spoke again. "Will you be okay?"

Ten years ago, the boy that had stood here once and declared his intention to join the army would have drawn himself up straight and tall and declared that 'yes', he would be okay. He would have claimed to be unbeatable, and promised his parents that he would return home before they knew it, famous and victorious. But the man he had become knew better now. He didn't look up, keeping his eyes on the ground as he spoke truthfully, giving them an apologetic smile. "I don't know," he admitted. "I hope so. I'll try to be."

"Do you really have to go?" asked his mother.

Zack looked up, tried to meet her eyes, and failed miserably. There was too much pleading in them, and he knew that what he had to say would only disappoint her. "Yeah," he said. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I—…" I what? _I'm leaving again, and I don't know if I'll ever come back alive after this. I'm sorry I changed so much. I still want you to be proud of me. _"…I have to do this," he said. "It's not just about me anymore. This is about something bigger than that."

His mother looked close to tears, but it was his dad who spoke again. "Zack, tell me honestly," he said, meeting his son's eyes. "Is this still about becoming a hero?"

The question stopped him, and he forced himself to meet his father's gaze. He remembered the words he had said in this very kitchen ten years ago, almost as if it had been yesterday. _"I'm going off to become a hero!" _he'd said. _"One day, you'll see!" _The words tasted like ash in his mouth. He shook his head. "No. Not anymore."

"What's it about then?"

_Dreams. Dreams and honor. _

"The right thing," he said.

Zack's father held his gaze a moment longer, as if trying to gauge the strength of the conviction in those eyes. Trying to get the truth about this blue-eyed stranger who claimed to be his son. "You've grown up," he finally said.

"Yeah," said Zack, forcing a smile on his face. "But not all in the right ways. I…I've done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of. And I've…made a lot of mistakes. But…" His smile wavered and weakened, and he lowered his eyes back to the ground. "I'm trying to turn all of that around now. Fix things…for everyone." He took a deep breath. "I know I'm not the best son you could ask for, but…I just hope that at the end of it all…you can be proud of me."

"Zack." His father's voice sounded strained, close to breaking. "We have _always _been proud of you."

It was too much. All of it was too much. Zack looked up, took one look at their faces, his father's words echoing in his head, and all of his carefully gathered control shattered, crashing to the ground. All of the emotions that he'd been suppressing, everything he had felt since breaking through the glass in Nibelheim, dragging a comatose Cloud halfway across the world, seeing the Gongaga Reactor destroyed but not being able to come close, watching the Shinra infantrymen train their sights on him and knowing, _knowing _that this was the end—and yet somehow waking up again, seeing Aerith again only to lose her, seeing Sector 7 fall, gaining Aerith back only to nearly lose Cissnei after all of that—all of that came to a head, bringing with it the sudden, startling realization that he was finally home again. He felt a shudder wrack through him as his mother wrapped her arms around him and held him close, running a soothing hand through his hair as she had once done when he was a child and placing her other hand on his back, rubbing it in soothing circles. He could feel himself shaking, and all he knew was that he was hugging her back as well, trying not to break her, while she said calming words in his ear.

"Zack," she was saying. "Oh, Zack. My Zack, my poor little boy…"

He was dimly aware of his dad walking over to the kitchen door and locking it, so that nobody could come in and see him bawling like a baby.

XxXxX

He found Aerith standing inside his old bedroom, looking at the picture frames that lined the desk. Zack paused in the doorway, looking into the room. Outside, conversation rose up from the living room below, but from up here, he could barely hear more than Yuffie's occasional outbursts and spurts of laughter. Inside, however, the room had barely changed since he had last seen it, ten years ago. Posters lined the walls, mostly of motorcycles and old movies, more than a few of them bearing Shinra's red diamond on the lower left-hand corner. He had a small shelf, meant for books but mostly filled with other odds and ends, and a desk that he had used for schoolwork. A large stick was propped up in the corner, and he felt a small smile come onto his face as he remembered how he used to pretend that it was a sword. His own Buster Sword was propped up neatly against the wall downstairs, in a pile with all their other weapons. The floor of the room was occupied by Shalua's sleeping bag, but its occupant was downstairs with the others. For the moment, the two of them were alone.

Aerith was standing with his back to him, and after the conversation with his parents, he was struck by the sudden urge to just hold her. So he did, wrapping his arms around her from behind, and resting his chin on her shoulder. "What are you looking at?" he asked playfully, speaking into her ear.

Aerith jumped, but as soon as she realized it was him, she relaxed, and he felt her lean back into his embrace. Her fingers were holding lightly onto the picture frame, brushing over the glass surface. "You," she said. "You didn't tell me you had brown eyes."

"It didn't seem important," said Zack. He looked over her shoulder, down at the picture. It showed him as a boy, maybe eight years old, standing barefoot in the tall grasses by the river. He was dressed in a loose white shirt and shorts, and was beaming up at the camera, his short black hair sticking up at all angles and mud streaking his face. It almost felt strange, seeing his eyes that color. When he first woke up after his enhancements, weak and dizzy, he'd thought that he'd never be able to get used to looking in the mirror. But it seemed like people could get used to anything.

"They're cute," said Aerith, smiling. "Very…Zack."

"Sorry," he murmured into her neck. "Can't change them back."

Aerith giggled, squirming in his grasp. "That tickles," she said. "Stop that."

"Oh, really," said Zack, grinning. His hands unwound from around her, moving towards her sides. "Then, I guess you don't want me to do…_this_!" He pulled back, tickling her mercilessly. Aerith shrieked and let go of the picture with one hand, using it to pull the pillow off his bed and hit him over the head with it. She twisted to the side to try to get away, laughing breathlessly as he continued on, relentless.

"Z-Zack!" she said, in between laughs. "_St-Stop! _Someone'll hear—!_"_

"Let them," he said, continuing his assault.

Aerith let out another wave of hysterical laughter. "Zack!" she said. "I'm warning you—I'll use m-magic! I will!"

He wasn't particularly afraid of her using any spells, but he stopped anyway, bracing both hands on the desk behind her and trapping her between them. Aerith leaned back against the desk for support, breathless. Her face was flushed, a few strands of brown hair having escaped her braid, and her arms were wrapped protectively around her middle. She looked up at him, still grinning. "I'm not responsible for whatever happens if Yuffie or Kunsel comes up and sees us like this," she said.

He stared down at her, taking in everything—her flushed face, her sparkling green eyes, her parted lips—and for one long agonizing moment, he was tempted to tell her he did not care, kiss her, lock the door, and let everyone else assume what they wished. But then better sense took over him and he nodded, reluctantly pulling away. "Sorry," he said, "Guess I got carried away."

She smiled to show that she understood, reaching forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Did you have a good conversation with your parents?" she asked gently.

He remembered the scene in the kitchen and took in a quick breath, his nerves still rubbed raw from the breakdown. "Yeah," he said, nodding. "Yeah, it was great. I think things are going to be okay now."

Aerith didn't ask him exactly what had happened, and he didn't volunteer any information, but she seemed to understand, her hand traveling slowly from his shoulder to his back. "I'm glad," she said, stepping forward. "They're good people, Zack."

"I know," said Zack. "They are. And they're all over you. Mom keeps asking 'when's the wedding'."

"And?" asked Aerith. "What did you tell her?"

"That we have bigger things on our minds right now," said Zack, shaking his head. "Honestly, though, she's always like this."

"Hmm…" Aerith smiled, pulling away and clasping her hands together in front of her. She walked forward. "Tell her…spring would be nice. So the flowers can see it too. What do you think, Zack?"

Zack blinked in surprise, feeling as though the wind had just been knocked out of him. He turned his head towards her so fast he might have gotten whiplash. "I—uh—_what?" _he asked.

Aerith looked over her shoulder, offering her a smile. "Just teasing," she said. She turned away, walking over to her pack in the corner of the room. "You should probably head back, though," she said. "I think I'm going to head to bed early. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, um, about that," said Zack, walking towards her. "I'm—uh…gonna ask if we can leave a little later. I…wanna help my dad fix up the roof. So, um…"

"Don't worry about it," said Aerith, lifting a towel from the bag. "Sephiroth says he wants to start staff lessons tomorrow morning, so…I don't think we're leaving anyway. Take as long as you need."

Zack blinked. "Sephiroth said _that_?" he asked. Sephiroth was usually one of the first to insist that they leave a place at the crack of dawn. For him to want to stay longer, in a place that had just been attacked…it wasn't really like him. Unless—

"He does care," said Aerith. "He's just not good at showing it."

"Yeah," said Zack, nodding. "Yeah, I noticed that." He made a mental note to thank Sephiroth later, turning towards her. "So, uh, training with Seph tomorrow, huh? Good luck with that."

"Thanks," said Aerith, smiling. "I'm planning on getting a good night's sleep."

"Well, don't let me keep you," said Zack, taking a step towards the door. "Good night."

Aerith stepped forward, placing her free hand on his arm before he could go very far. She lifted herself up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss lightly to his lips. He returned it, leaning down to meet her.

"Good night, Zack," she said as she turned away, heading towards the door.

XxXxX

Cloud sat in the corner of the living room, a cup of water in one hand as he watched the others. Barret, Shalua, Yuffie, and Kunsel were playing some sort of dice game, and from the sounds of it, Yuffie was losing horribly, and Kunsel was continuing to rack up points. Cissnei hovered over the table, occasionally watching. Across the room, Sephiroth sat alone, quietly cleaning Masamune. Zack and Aerith were nowhere to be seen, and Tifa flitted from the kitchen where Zack's parents were to the main group, stopping just long enough for a conversation with each.

He took a sip of water, watching Shalua warily. The scientist didn't seem to be acting suspicious. She was socializing, holding perfectly normal conversations with the others, and even cracking a smile or two when someone made a joke or she threw a good roll. It was hard to believe that she could really be selling them out to Shinra, and yet…the evidence made sense and Cissnei had agreed with him. And had also asked him to keep his mouth shut. He took another sip of water, watching as the ex-Turk placed a hand casually on Shalua's mechanical arm and leaned down to ask her something.

"Something on your mind, Cloud?" asked a voice from his left.

He looked down, turning towards Red. The creature was standing not too far from him, watching the others. Cissnei had asked him not to tell anyone about his suspicions for now, to try to keep any word from getting back to Shalua, but that was easier said than done. He shook his head. "No," he said. "Just tired."

"I see." Red nodded, lying down and resting his head on his forepaws. "That's understandable," he said. "It has been a very trying day."

"Tell me about it," said Cloud. He knew Red disliked riding in the buggy almost as much as Yuffie did. The creature spent some of his time loping along alongside the car, but not even Red could keep up with the buggy for long periods of time. When he did ride with them, he usually rode in the very back, with Yuffie's head pillowed against his side, while she whined and groaned and tried very hard not to be sick. But they were here now, and then it was only a day's drive or so to Cosmo Canyon from here. And Zack had finally fixed this with his parents at least. He was glad of that. His conversation with Zack had exhausted him—he couldn't remember the last time he had said that much or even tried to give that much advice—and he was glad it hadn't been useless.

He didn't want to bother Red, or anyone with his suspicions right now, he decided. After all, they were only that—suspicions. For now, he would do what Cissnei said. He would be quiet, and he would observe.

"It's about time to go to bed, I think," said a calm voice from behind him. He looked up to see Tifa standing there, to his right. She wasn't really looking at him—her eyes were focused more on the others, especially the ones playing with dice, but he felt himself tense slightly all the same. He always noticed her when she was around him. "What do you think, Cloud?" she asked.

"Uh—yeah," said Cloud, nodding. "It's getting late."

"Okay," said Tifa, walking past him. "I'll tell the others."

"Wait, um—."

Tifa paused, looking back at him. She frowned slightly in confusion. "Yes, Cloud?" she asked.

_What was I going to say? _Cloud lowered his eyes to the ground to hide the small flush across his cheeks, realizing he had no idea why he had called her back in the first place. He shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "Never mind."

She pursed her lips. "Don't act so strange, Cloud," she said. Despite all that, he caught the hint of a small smile appear on her face as she turned back towards the others. "Good night."

"Night, Tifa," he muttered, saying it more to her shoes than her face.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	79. Interlude 004: Home Again pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Shorter chapter than usual, but we're really just wrapping things up here. Next chapter, we'll be in Cosmo Canyon!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DarkSeraphim1, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, Anonymous, Leon Kaye, RedKaddict, ryuukoshi, **and **Draconic **for the reviews and support! I'm glad you guys liked the Zack scene. I took a risk on the breakdown, and I'm glad it paid off! ^^

**JazzQueen, **I noticed the Seph/Terra connection once two—which is why I started Errata. I probably should go and finish that at some point, but I don't remember what I wanted to do, lol. Raven makes sense too.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **Cosmo Canyon's next. From there, Nibelheim!

**Anonymous, **glad you like it! _Our Generation _is out now, but I have a feeling you've already noticed it.

**Draconic, **it's not Reeve that's watching them this time, because Cissnei's kind of made his disguise moot. ^^ I PMed you all the answers to your questions, but just in case anyone else was wondering, there was never a replacement shuriken—the shuriken Chris gave Cissnei _was _Rekka.

XxXxX

**Interlude 004: Home Again**

"Keep your hands further apart. No. A little closer. Now raise. No, not like that. Your target is the throat. _My _throat, Aerith."

In the yard just outside of Zack's house, Aerith attempted to raise her staff to point at Sephiroth's throat, her arms shaking slightly from the unfamiliar stance. The point of the staff wavered, moving downward ever so slightly. Watching, Cissnei could see that the staff was heavier than Aerith might have anticipated—although she was familiar with wielding it, she wasn't familiar with holding it this way. Sephiroth stood across from her, watching her critically. For the lesson, the two of them had changed out of their usual garb—Aerith dressing in a white shirt and dark shorts that she had borrowed from Tifa, and Sephiroth wearing a shirt in place of his usual coat. He held his sword in one hand, but as Cissnei watched, he stabbed it point down in the ground, walking over to Aerith to adjust her grip.

"Settle your weight," he was advising her. "Bend your elbows. It will be easier, and you'll be more stable."

On the other side of the yard, she saw Cloud and Kunsel sparring, the two of them exchanging quick blows. The sound of swords clashing rang out across the courtyards, combined with the sound of hammers on wood, coming from where Zack and his father sat fixing the roof. They were familiar sounds, reminiscent of one of Shinra's training yards. It surprised her how easily she felt right at home. She raised her arms over her head and stretched, wincing at the slight stiffness in her left shoulder. Cissnei walked past the kitchen window where she could see Tifa helping Zack's mother with the dishes, and past the group of people watching either Aerith and Sephiroth or Kunsel and Cloud, making her way towards where Shalua Rui sat alone, the pieces of her gun spread out on a piece of white cloth in front of her.

Cissnei watched her pick a piece up and start to clean it meticulously, waiting for a few moments before clearing her throat and alerting the scientist to her presence. Shalua looked up in surprise, turning towards her. _Is she surprised because she didn't expect to get interrupted, or because she's guilty? _Cissnei wondered, but didn't let her suspicion show on her face, putting on an easy smile.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, gesturing at the patch of grass next to her. Shalua smiled slightly in response, tugging on the edge of the cloth with her human hand to move the assorted gun parts closer to you.

"Go ahead," she said.

Cissnei settled with her back to the tree, turning to watch as Sephiroth picked up the new Striking Staff they'd bought at the weapons shop and demonstrated a kata with it. His movements were smooth and fluid, and if she hadn't seen him with Masamune in his hand, she would have barely been able to tell that the staff wasn't his favored weapon. Aerith leaned against her old Full Metal Staff, watching him with a bemused smile as he turned to look back at her.

"I think I might need to see that another…hundred times," she said.

"Start with the first movement," said Sephiroth. "We'll work though it slowly." He was gentler than he was with Cloud, but he was still a firm teacher. He didn't take no for an answer. Cissnei turned away from them, her attention going to the gun laid bare in front of her.

"Is this custom made?" she asked.

"Partly," replied Shalua. "I bought it and modified some of the parts."

"It's interesting," said Cissnei, gently picking up one of the pieces to study it. "I recognized some of the workmanship, but not all." Cissnei paused, her fingers brushing lightly over the metal surface. She feigned hesitance, then sighed, lowering the piece back onto the cloth. "Shalua," she said. "I need to talk to you about something."

Shalua looked up, and Cissnei could see that something in her tone had caught the other woman's attention. "What is it?" she asked.

"Can I trust in your discretion?" asked Cissnei.

She nodded in reply. "Of course."

Cissnei frowned, plucking up a blade of grass between her fingers and turning to watch Cloud and Kunsel spar. "I think the Tsviets are listening in on our conversations somehow," she said, quietly keeping an eye on Shalua's reaction. "They knew we were coming to Gongaga."

Shalua looked up, the fingers of her human hand closing around the small piece she was holding. She didn't look surprised. "I wondered about that," she said. "What do you want to do about it?"

_If she's a liar, she's a good one, _Cissnei noted. It wasn't implausible that Shalua would have figured it out. She was certainly intelligent enough. But whether Shalua was innocent or not wasn't something she could make assumptions over. There was too much at stake for that. "I was hoping you could install something in the buggy," she said. "To block transmissions."

"A signal jammer?" asked Shalua, setting down the piece. "I could do that, but I'd need the parts."

"We could salvage something from the Gongaga Reactor," said Cissnei. Living in Modeoheim had made her more familiar than she wanted to be with the mechanical workings of a Mako Reactor. She knew that Shinra security would have made allowances for things like that.

"That could work," said Shalua with a nod. "I could install it in the radio. It would block cellphone signal from inside the car, though."

"I'd assume you could turn it on and off?" asked Cissnei. "Anyway, a little inconvenience is nothing if it takes the Tsviets off of our tail."

A flash of something passed in front of Shalua's eyes. Worry? But was it just the thought of her sister that caused it, or something else? "No arguments there," said the scientist with a nod. "When do you want to start?"

"Today," said Cissnei. "Now, if possible. But finish what you're doing first, and meet me out back. We don't want to cause a stir." She trailed her eyes over the group and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Between you and me," she said. "I have reason to believe someone in the group might be passing information to Shinra." Her eyes passed over Kunsel as she spoke. Let Shalua read into that what she wanted to. Shalua's own eyes followed the gaze, but she said nothing about it.

"I understand," she said. "One hour?"

Cissnei nodded, getting to her feet. "One hour," she said.

She turned away from Shalua, walking to the other side of the yard. Cissnei took a deep breath, folding her arms as she watched Sephiroth and Aerith continue their practice, Zack saying something to his dad that carried from down the roof.

The first pieces of the trap were beginning to fall into place. One way or another, she'd have the truth.

XxXxX

The interrogation rooms in Junon's Shinra building were somewhat less threatening than Midgar's. The room was still a small cell, with nothing but a table and two chairs facing across each other and a low-hanging fluorescent light, but the colors were lighter, the light brighter, and the room itself not quite as imposing as Midgar's thick-walled cell blocks. But then again, the Junon building had never been meant to hold prisoners for any real length of time. Plans were already being made to move the President and the Turks back to the Midgar building, following the investigation of the late President Shinra's murder.

Tseng considered those plans now as he tapped the end of his pen on the corner of the file folder spread open in front of him, considering the man on the other side of the table. The folder had been stamped TOP SECRET on almost every single available surface, and bore Deepground's symbol on the front. The majority of the signatures at the end of each document had been Dr. Hollander's, but he spotted Veld's own signature on some of the earlier pictures, and incident reports accompanied by pictures. A stack of pictures from the file were spread open on the front page. He glanced at one of them, the one that depicted a skinny fourteen-year-old girl with unruly copper hair and blood all over her hands stubbornly not looking at the camera, and buried that picture at the bottom of the pile, turning his attention towards Auriel.

Auriel the Golden sat with his hands handcuffed to the chair behind him, a scowl on his face. His eyes, a bright mako gold, seemed to burn into Tseng, meeting his head on. He had wondered about the nature of Hollander's experiments once, to produce so many different colors of mako eyes, where the SOLDIER program only produced blue. But that was an idle wondering, and had nothing to do with the matter at hand, so he let it go.

"When did you last encounter Genesis?" asked Tseng.

"It was two days before AVALANCHE arrived in Gongaga," replied Auriel, his tone sullen. "He came with me to the village, gave me my orders, and left."

"And what were those orders?" asked Tseng. He didn't glance at the camera, knowing that Reno or Elena was probably sitting at the other end of it recording the proceedings. Instead, he schooled his expression carefully, watching Auriel.

The Tsviet shrugged one shoulder as best as he could with his hands cuffed behind him. "To recapture the Cetra girl."

"Did he order you to capture the village?" asked Tseng.

"No," Auriel grudgingly admitted. "That plan was mine."

"Why?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Auriel's eyes were narrowed. Tseng reminded himself of the card the Restrictor had given him. "They had me outnumbered eleven to one. I knew I didn't stand a chance unless I had leverage."

The admission surprised him—most of the Tsviets besides Shelke would have boasted of their ability to take on eleven, or at least kept silent about their inability to. But he could see the truth of Auriel's assessment. With Sephiroth and Zack there, not to mention two other mako-enhanced fighters besides—a lone Tsviet couldn't hope to win a fight.

Except maybe Nero. But there was something very unsettling about Nero.

He shuffled the pictures in front of him, his expression betraying none of his thoughts. "What did Genesis want to do with the girl?" he asked. He wouldn't mention her by name. Aerith. If he did, a part of him was worried that something in his voice might give him away.

"As if I would know," said Auriel. "I just do as I'm told."

_But not always willingly, _Tseng mused, noticing the way the man scowled as he said that. He wondered whether Auriel was truly as ignorant as he claimed to be. The Turks had interrogation techniques they could use, but their effectiveness would be limited against Tsviets. After everything that had happened in Deepground, he was convinced that there was not a one of them that was truly sane. Although Auriel faked it well. "Why follow his orders then?"

"Because I thought they came from Weiss," said Auriel, sounding as if each word pained him. "I'm still not sure they didn't."

"You're implying that Weiss is in contact with Genesis." Tseng spoke calmly, his eyes never leaving Auriel's. He had suspected as much himself, when Genesis first went missing after the cargo ship incident, but he hadn't voiced his suspicions. Weiss seemed to be everywhere, listening, and his brother lurked in every shadow. Auriel held his gaze, saying nothing. At last, he spoke.

"If you're looking for a traitor," he said. "I would look there, not here. I only do as I'm told." He leaned back in his seat, his shoulders slumping as he let out a breath. "I want to see Weiss."

_He's not available right now, _Tseng wanted to say, but before he could even start, the door opened behind him, admitting light into the room. "That won't be necessary," said Weiss's cool voice. "I am here."

_Eyes in every shadow, _Tseng remembered, watching Weiss carefully. The man stepped forward, softly and quietly as a cat. He walked up to the table, standing beside Tseng. His hands were folded across his chest, his gray eyes meeting Auriel's. "…Brother," he said. "It appears you've decided to choose another side."

Auriel's eyes latched onto Weiss's, and Tseng was incredibly familiar with the look in them. Hatred, and anger. Weiss stared down at him, not saying a word. Tseng remained in his seat, observing the interaction between the two men and saying nothing.

It was Weiss who next spoke. "Nothing to say?" he asked. When Auriel did not reply, except to glare some more, he turned towards Tseng. "Take him away," he said. "I have no more use for him."

_No more use. _Tseng wondered at the truth of that statement. But there was very little he could do. His hands fiddled with his pen, and he turned it twice, his movements smooth and methodical as he considered where to go from here. He set the pen down, a slow, careful motion as he turned towards Weiss. "He's accused you of being a traitor," he said.

Weiss turned those eyes on him. Tseng met them unflinching. "As he would," said Weiss. "He sits there in chains. A man like that would say anything to save his skin."

"Did you order him to Gongaga?" asked Tseng.

"No." Nothing. Not even a twitch to show he was lying.

"Do you know where Genesis is?"

"No."

His gut told him that Weiss was lying. But Weiss and the Tsviets were too valuable right now to lose based on nothing more than a feeling. And evidence, unfortunately, was in short supply. Weiss appeared to know it too. "You've heard the story from his mouth," he said. "What more do you need?"

What more indeed. Tseng placed his hands on the table, slowly rising to his feet. He walked around to the other side, disentangling Auriel from the chair and drawing him to his feet. Auriel scowled but went, shooting a glare at Weiss as he stepped away from the table. As he led the Tsviet from the room, he chanced a glance at Weiss.

Weiss the Immaculate turned to watch them leave, and just as the door to the interrogation room closed, Tseng thought that he saw the man smile.

XxXxX

Marlene didn't know where they were taking her, but it was cold—a breath of cold air wafting down and chilling her through the dress she was wearing. She shivered, and tried again to struggle and break free, but the woman only tightened her grip on her, her armor digging into Marlene's cheek as she struggled. They'd been walking for hours, it seemed like, and once in a while, Marlene heard people talking, but they were talking in voices too low for her to hear, and saying things she didn't really understand anyway. Once, she heard the words "AVALANCHE" and "Turk" mentioned once, and she wondered what they wanted to do with her dad.

The last time she tried to scream, Argento had held her tightly and whispered 'be quiet' into her ear in a voice that had made her shut her mouth, shivering. This time, she only whimpered weakly as she heard the sound of doors opening, squeezing her lips tightly together to stop any sound from coming out.

_Shion, _she wanted to say. _What happened to Shion? _

But nobody would answer her even if she did speak.

Finally, the blindfold was removed from around her eyes, and she was dropped to the floor. Marlene blinked, her brown eyes wide as she landed on the ground. The lights in the room were dim, but she had been blindfolded since Kalm, and the sudden light brought tears to her eyes anyway. The air around her was cold, reminding her of air-conditioning, and when she looked around, she didn't see any windows. Everything was made of metal—all grays and blacks and whites, and all the lights seemed to be blue. The floor was metal and cold; she scrambled up from it, tears making their way down her face.

"What have you brought me, Argento?" asked a voice.

She looked up, seeing a man seated on a long white couch. He was dressed all in red and black, wearing a long red coat. His hair was red too, and he had bright blue eyes the same as Zack or Cloud. In one of his hands, he held a book with a pink cover. He was smiling, but something in his smile only made her more scared. Marlene backed up until her back touched Argento's legs, shaking. Argento ignored her.

"Barret Wallace's daughter," she was saying. "The Gainsborough woman got away."

"Did she?" asked the man, snapping the book shut. "Oh well. I suppose we'll have to make do. We'll see to our little guest."

Marlene shrank back as he felt his eyes turn on her. She was shaking. Argento reached down to grab her, but she pulled away, dodging the woman's hand at the last moment.

"Oh, poor dear."

A woman's voice spoke, soft and soothing, and a hand landed on her arm. Despite herself, Marlene looked up, and into a pair of warm, green eyes. The breath caught in her throat, and she let out a small whimper. The woman had the same eyes as Aerith.

"She's scared, you can see it." The woman was saying. "Shaking like a leaf, poor thing." Her hand reached up, her nails tickling Marlene's cheek as she brushed away the tear. "Don't worry, sweetheart," she said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as Marlene hiccupped. "You're safe here."

"You're going to be our guest…"

**END INTERLUDE**


	80. File 023: The Cries of the Planet pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Several of you have asked me for more Sephiroth introspection, and I think it's high time we had some. So, to those people, this opening scene is for you! Enjoy! Kunsel and Shalua will talk next chapter in answer to another request.

**TIMELINE DISCREPANCY: **Because I fail at timeline checking and have already pushed back a lot of the events in BC, I'm pushing back Red's capture to before Veld's death, which I already put as a year and a half "ago". So instead of Red originally being captured in October 2006, a year before the story starts, he was captured in 2005, two years before the story starts, and just as the Veld drama is starting to build up. Yes, I know this is playing havoc with the timeline, but all the events in BC DID happen…just…earlier. And closer together. The Turks had a very busy year.

Thanks go to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, haitechan, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, SubZeroChimera, Leon Kaye, Anonymous, **and **Draconic **for your reviews and support. It looks like the Marlene meets Jenova scene caused a lot of waves in the last chapter. Take note that this sort of thing happened to her in AC as well, I'm just moving it up a couple of years. XD And yes, I'm evil, but don't worry, we'll check in on Marlene soon.

**Leon Kaye, **Nero has an unfair advantage in that he cheats with his whole dark void thing. But certain members of the group CAN get around it—Aerith for one, even though she can't fight Nero as she is now while outside of the darkness, and our favorite gunslinger for another.

**Anonymous, **Genesis's plans were convoluted even in CC. I have a sheet of notes so I can keep track of them myself. XD Sorry for the confusion. And no, don't worry. I laughed at that too. I feel bad for Aerith, because I've done stuff with a wooden staff and smacked my own fingers more than once—I can't imagine training with a metal one, lol.

XxXxX

**File 023: The Cries of the Planet**

The buggy made it almost to the city before it finally broke down, coming to a shuddering stop. Sephiroth frowned in frustration, his left hand on the steering wheel as his right closed around the key in the ignition. He turned it once—the engine growled and the vehicle rumbled—twice, and it sputtered. The third time, it let out a keening whine, then stopped entirely. He exhaled, placing both hands on the steering wheel and leaning back in his seat, his eyes flicking towards the rear-view mirror. The other members of their group were sitting up as well, some of them looking around in confusion. Yuffie let out a groan from the very back of the van, sitting up.

"What happened?" she asked, placing a hand over her head. "Why'd we stop?"

"We broke down," he replied, exchanging a glance with Cissnei. The ex-Turk had removed her seat belt, and was already halfway out of the passenger's seat. He unbuckled his own seat belt as well, stepping out.

The air in this part of the world was dry, but without the same arid heat that the Corel Desert possessed. He blinked dust out of his eyes as a sudden gust of wind passed over them, looking around. The entrance to the Canyon wasn't far. He estimated it would be a half hour's walk from where they were. With that much time, they would just barely make it by dusk. A night at the Canyon seemed vastly preferable to a night in the wilderness with a broken buggy. A quick glance at Cissnei told him that she was thinking the same thing.

"We should walk the rest of the way," she said.

He nodded in agreement, looking back at the others. "Grab your packs," he said. "We'll continue on foot."

Most of them made to move, shuffling towards the trunk where they kept all their gear. Shalua lingered behind the rest of the group for a moment, studying the buggy. She frowned, pushing her hair out of her face with her human hand. "I'd like to take a look at it," she said. "I might be able to fix it."

"Tomorrow," replied Sephiroth firmly. Shalua glanced at him, but didn't argue, nodding once and accepting her pack from Yuffie. He watched her go, remembering the suspicions that had been shared with him. Shalua a traitor—he knew Zack found it hard to believe, but he had never been blessed with the ability to trust so easily. Out of all of them, she had the most to gain. He looked away from her, folding his arms as his eyes drifted over the rest of the group. Zack shouldered the Buster Sword along with his pack, and Aerith her staff, although he caught her wincing as the weight of her own pack settled over her shoulders. Sore arms, he noted. He didn't know any recruit to die from sore arms. He saw Zack begin to offer to take it from her, but before he could, she smiled at him, placing a hand on his chest and saying something under her breath that made her smile wider and him look like he had swallowed his own tongue.

On the other side of the crowd, Yuffie was pestering Kunsel to carry her pack for her, her voice high and shrill. _"The princess commands you!" _she was saying. Kunsel smiled and said something he couldn't hear, and she shoved at him, stalking off with her cheeks puffed up and her own pack on her back. Further still, Cloud and Tifa worked silently, Barret stood with a pack in his human hand scowling at the buggy, and Red shrugged into his own harness. He didn't have a load of his own to bear, but some of the extra supplies had been passed to him, and they hung from his back almost like saddlebags, the weight evened out on both sides. The creature's eyes moved towards the Canyon constantly—he seemed both excited and anxious to be on their way, although it wasn't in Red's nature to show it more than a little scratching of the ground with his claws when they were standing still for too long.

Nature. The thought almost amused him. During the Wutai War he had been in command of hundreds and of thousands, but there were very few of them he had taken the time to actually know. Angeal and Genesis. Director Lazard, and even then, only barely. Zack, but only after Angeal died. The rest were nothing more than faces to him, SOLDIERs and infantrymen whose names and ranks changed daily, who lived and died and were replaced almost as frequently. There was no time for the study of natures and personalities, lives and histories. There was only war.

Now, Angeal was dead, Sephiroth disgraced, and Genesis driven insane by his own ambition, but he found he knew more now than he had ever had as the General. He knew that Zack was stubbornly loyal, as persistent as a dog with something in his teeth, and that he was born in Gongaga had parents that were aging. That he once dreamed of being a hero, and that he would die for any of them but kill for Aerith. He knew that Aerith was a member of the Cetra, had a birth mother who died and an adopted mother who raised her, and had been a prisoner of Hojo as a child, just as he had been. He knew that she was unsure of herself, that she wanted to be normal, and that she often felt alone. He knew that Barret came from Corel, and had an adopted daughter named Marlene, who was four years old and liked flowers and heroes. He knew that Yuffie was a princess, the Emperor's daughter, even though she didn't act like it—that she was stubborn and proud and loved her homeland. He knew Cloud and Tifa were from Nibelheim, and had been friends as children, and that Cloud had more skill than he had confidence, but he was quickly making up for that. He knew that Kunsel was from Kalm and had lost his family in the firebombing, that Cissnei had been born in Junon and raised inside Shinra, and that Red was from Cosmo Canyon before he was captured by the Shinra Science Department and given the name Red XIII.

He knew these things, but he didn't know what to do with the knowledge now. Instead, he looked over at Barret as the man spoke, using that growling tone he reserved for when he wasn't sure about something. "We just gonna leave this out here?" he asked, looking at the buggy.

"I doubt anyone is going to steal it," said Red, giving the buggy an annoyed look. That was another thing Sephiroth knew—he hated riding in the buggy.

Zack snorted, placing a hand on his waist. "They can try," he said. "If they can get it moving."

"Someone could see it," said Barret. "They'd know we're here."

"If they're tracking us," said a voice from Sephiroth's side, "then they'd already know we were heading this way. Whether the buggy's here or not won't stop them." He turned as Cissnei nudged him with one hand, and noticed that she was holding his pack as well as her own. "We all have to pull our weight," she said with a teasing smile. "Right, General?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead shooting her a look as he slung his pack over his shoulders and moved to pick up Masamune. He didn't want to look at her when she was wearing that smile—seeing it only reminded him of Costa del Sol. And Costa del Sol had been—_warmth, and an embrace and a whisper—_He shook his head, putting the thought from his mind. A memory.

They reached Cosmo Canyon just as the sun was starting to sink behind the mountains to the west, the sky turning a dull orange. By the time they reached the top of the stairs leading to the city, the sky was pink and purple, and the last vestiges of light were beginning to recede beyond the western horizon. Sephiroth came to a stop at the top of the stairs, Cloud and Zack directly behind him. A man stood beneath the arch that led into Cosmo Canyon itself, blocking the way. He eyed them warily, but didn't move to let them pass. His eyes moved over them, taking note of their weapons and especially taking note of the four SOLDIERs and their swords, and he shifted uncomfortably.

He was spared the need to speak by Red XIII bounding up the last few steps, shouldering his way past Sephiroth and moving to the front of the gate. "I am home!" he said. "It is I, Nanaki!"

_Nanaki. _Sephiroth frowned, but said nothing, turning his eyes towards the guardsman instead. He heard whispers break out in the group behind him, Yuffie's voice chief among them, followed by her yelp as she was elbowed by someone—probably Tifa or Cissnei. The guard, at least, looked visibly relieved.

"Hey, Nanaki!" he said. "You're safe! Go on in, and say hello to Bugenhagen!"

He stepped aside, and Red ran past, darting up the stairs that led to the caves in the canyon. Sephiroth frowned, turning towards the gate guard. "We'd like to enter the Canyon as well," he said.

The gate guard caught the mako green of Sephiroth's eyes and paled, but held his ground. "I—It's full capacity at present, so I'm afraid I can't let you enter," he said.

Red paused at the top of the stairs, doubling back. "They helped me some when I was on the road," he said. "Please let them in."

"Oh, is that so?" The guard turned away from Red, looking back at them. "You helped our Nanaki? Please, come in." He walked away from the gate, coming to stand beside the arch. Red waited until it was clear that they would be allowed to pass, then nodded at them, rushing back up the stairs.

It was only once he was gone that Cloud decided to speak.

"…Nanaki?" he repeated.

"Red's real name," said Cissnei. She had her arms folded, a small frown on her face. "Remember, Red XIII was a codename Hojo gave him."

Zack frowned, turning to look back at her. "You knew," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Of course I knew," said Cissnei, glancing to the side. "I was there when he was captured."

"What?" asked Zack. "_When?!"_

"Two years ago," replied Cissnei. "I heard that Vel—that my old supervisor had passed through here and came out to look for him. Instead, I ran into Reno, and another Turk. They were on a mission to capture a specimen for the Science Department."

"Wait, what?" asked Yuffie, looking around. "What's going on here?"

"Red was a specimen for the Science Department when we found him," said Kunsel, glancing at her. "Didn't you know?"

"No!" said Yuffie. "No one told me _anything_!" She turned towards Cissnei. "Wait, you were there?!"

"You didn't stop 'em?" asked Barret. "You just let 'em take him?"

"He surrendered…" said Cissnei, her frown deepening. "And anyway, it wasn't my place to stop them. I needed to get my information and head back to Modeoheim before the snows closed the passes. Those were my priorities."

_You let Hojo take Red. _Sephiroth almost said the words, but he stopped himself, catching the expression on her face. He remembered that winter, vaguely. All four of their Modeoheim winters had been a blur of snows and cold, but he remembered her returning from parts unknown just as the first snowfalls of the season threatened to block the way up the mountain. She'd gone straight to her room without saying a word. _"I've done worse things to better people…" _he remembered her saying, the night after he killed President Shinra. He glanced away.

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Barret, scowling. "We were calling him Red this whole time…"

Cissnei bristled visibly, straightening up and turning towards him. "He introduced himself as Red XIII. Why would I tell you what his real name was? It wasn't any of my business."

Barret blinked, surprised by the sharp response. He took a step back, raising a hand. "Uh, Ciss—," he began. "I didn't mean—."

Cissnei shook her head, all the anger seeming to drain out of her at once. Her shoulders slumped, and she turned away. "Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. Let's just enter the city."

She brushed past Sephiroth, stepping beneath the arch and entering Cosmo Canyon. Sephiroth watched her go, remembering another conversation he'd had with her, in the Midgar Wasteland on the way to Kalm. It had been him, her, and Red—_Nanaki_—then.

"_Cissnei isn't my real name…It means swan. When I was a kid…I thought if I had wings, I would be free…" _

XxXxX

Cloud found Red—found _Nanaki_—at the top of one of the stone stairs that had been cut into the cliff face, looking out into the distance. The sky was starting to darken, and lights were beginning to blink on in the Canyon, illuminating the stairs. It took Cloud a minute to figure out what seemed so strange about the lights in the Canyon, then he realized that they were torches and oil lamps, lit by actual fire instead of by mako. Cosmo Canyon, he reminded himself. The center for the Study of Planet Life. He glanced back to see Sephiroth, Zack and Aerith standing at the foot of the stairs, watching him. The rest of the group had gone off to parts unknown almost after entering the city gates. He looked away, uncomfortable with the scrutiny, and made his way over to Nanaki.

Nanaki didn't quite look up at him as Cloud approached, but his ears twitched, and he did speak, talking in a low voice. He heard footsteps behind him and realized that the others had climbed the stairs as well, and were clustering around behind him on the landing. "Here is where I was…" Nanaki was saying. "I mean…this is my hometown. My tribe were protectors of those who appreciate this beautiful canyon and the Planet. My brave mother fought and died here, and my cowardly father left her. I am the last of my race."

"Red…" Aerith began from somewhere behind him.

Nanaki sighed, his shoulders seeming to slump at the sound of her voice. Cloud cleared his throat. "Cowardly father?"

"Yes," he said. "My father was a wastrel. And so, the mission I inherited from my ancestors is to protect this place. My journey ends here." He got up and turned, padding softly past Cloud and over towards Aerith. "The elders will be able to speak to you about the Cetra," he said. "My grandfather, Bugenhagen, is also very wise. You should speak to him if you have the chance."

"Grandfather?" Zack began. "But you said—."

Whatever else he was about to say was cut off by a shout from one of the cave systems.

"Hey, Nanaki! You're home!"

Nanaki's ears perked up, and he turned towards the cave. "Coming, Grandpa!" he said, casting them a last look before bounding up the stairs and running into the cave. Cloud watched him go, then looked back at the others. Aerith looked troubled, and Zack was scratching his head. Sephiroth, as usual, said nothing, just continued to watch the situation unfold.

"Is Red leaving?" asked Aerith.

"We can't force him to stay," said Sephiroth. "We should do what we came to do."

"Mm." Aerith nodded, lowering her eyes to the ground. "I want to talk to his grandfather. If that's okay."

"We'll go with you," said Zack, placing a hand on her shoulder. He looked over at Cloud. "Right, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded in response, the four of them entering the caves.

Cosmo Canyon was built into the wall of the Canyon itself, an interconnecting system of caves that had been turned into inns, shops, and houses. They stopped at the inn to drop off their things in the rooms that Tifa had bought for them, then made their way through the caves towards Bugenhagen's house. It wasn't hard to find. Nanaki's arrival had caused a stir in the people of the Canyon, and Bugenhagen seemed to be well-known. It was only a few minutes later that they entered a small three-level house to find Nanaki sitting on the floor of the kitchen, next to a bearded and robed old man sitting on a floating orb. Not a literal grandfather, then.

Nanaki didn't even seem surprised at their arrival. He turned towards them. "Everyone, this is my grandfather, Bugen," he said. "He is incredible. He knows everything. Grandfather, the blond man is Cloud, the dark-haired one is Zack, the silver-haired one is Sephiroth, and the woman is Aerith, the Cetra I told you about."

Bugenhagen was an old, old man. Looking at him, Cloud couldn't put a number to his age, but he seemed like he would be well over eighty years old, even over ninety. His eyes passed over each of them, fixing on all of them in turn. They lingered on Aerith and on Sephiroth, but Cloud noticed with some slight discomfort that they also watched him, even though he was nothing special. The orb he was sitting on bounced as he acknowledged them, and he let out a hooting laugh. "Sephiroth…" he repeated, testing the name out. "I've heard of you…" Sephiroth folded his arms, leaning against the back wall. He gave the slightest nod in acknowledgment, and Bugenhagen turned, looking at the rest of them. "Ho ho hooo. I hear that you all looked after Nanaki a bit." He smiled. "Nanaki is still a child, you see."

Aerith blinked. "A child?" she asked.

"He sure doesn't seem it," commented Zack.

Nanaki turned towards Bugenhagen, embarrassed. "Please stop, grandfather," he said. "I'm forty-eight."

Bugenhagen laughed again, that hooting laugh that sounded almost like he was coughing. "Nanaki's tribe has incredible longevity," he explained. "So you see, his forty-eight years would only be equivalent to say that of a fifteen or sixteen year old in human reckoning."

"Fifteen or sixteen?!" repeated Cloud, incredulous.

"Hah, you're a teenager!" said Zack, grinning at that. "Never would've guessed!"

If Nanaki could, Cloud was sure he would be blushing. Instead, he lowered his head as Bugenhagen continued to speak. "He's quiet and very deep. You thought he was an adult?"

"Grandfather…" said Nanaki quietly. "I want to be an adult. I want to grow up to be able to protect you and the village."

Bugenhagen laughed another _ho ho hooo_. "No, Nanaki," he said. "You can't stand on your own yet." He shook his head, placing one hand on his chest. They were old, frail hands, but even though they shook slightly, they still had some strength in them. "To do that now would destroy you in the long run." He glanced at Aerith, then looked up, turning his eyes to the ceiling. "Reaching up into the heavens, threatening to snatch the very stars from the great city of Midgar. You've seen it, haven't you?" Before anyone could reply, he shook his head, looking back down. "Well, that's a bad example," he said. "Looking up too much makes you lose perspective." The orb bounced twice, bringing Bugenhagen on top of the table so that he was facing them, and seated slightly above them. "When it's time for the planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing."

Aerith looked away, turning her eyes to the ground. She hugged her arms to herself, saying nothing. Cloud glanced at her as Zack put an arm around her shoulders, then looked back at Bugenhagen. "When the planet dies…?" he repeated.

Bugenhagen's hooting laugh sounded a little sadder this time. "It may be tomorrow, or 100 years from now. But it's not long off. You sense it too, don't you, dear girl?" His eyes landed on Aerith. "Yes, I think you do."

"How do you know that?" asked Zack.

"I hear the cries of the Planet," said Bugenhagen.

A thrumming sound echoed through the house, sounding almost mechanical. Cloud frowned, glancing around and looking for the source. It seemed to be coming from the ceiling. Bugenhagen confirmed that by glancing up.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The sounds of the stars in the heavens," Bugenhagen replied. "While this goes on, planets are born, and die."

At that moment, a sound echoed through the house, a low-pitched sound, a mournful, haunting cry. It continued, another and another, sounding like an animal in pain. Cloud felt a shiver run through him as he stared up at the ceiling, and noticed that even Sephiroth had turned to look. Only Aerith hugged her arms tighter, looking as though she wanted to cover her ears and shut out the sound. Nanaki's ears flattened against his head.

"What was that?" asked Cloud.

"That was a scream from this planet," replied Bugenhagen. "Didn't you hear it? As if to say _I hurt. I suffer_."

"They have come here on a journey to save the Planet," said Nanaki. "Why don't you show them your apparatus?"

Bugenhagen seemed amused by that. He jumped, letting out that hooting laugh of his once, twice. "To save the planet?" he repeated. "Ho ho hooo!" He turned towards them. "But then again, I guess it wouldn't hurt to show them."

"Bugenhagen!" came a cry from outside. All of the rooms occupants turned towards the door. A guard walked in, looking worried. "Several odd looking people have come!" he said.

"The whole place has gotten busy all of a sudden," said the old man. "Are these more of your friends, Nanaki?"

"Yes," said Nanaki, nodding. "I'll go get them."

"No need," said Bugenhagen. "Only three other people can fit in that machine." His eyes passed over the group, as if searching, before landing on Aerith. "The Cetra should come," he said. "And…" His eyes moved again, landing on Sephiroth in the back of the room. "You, I think. Yes, definitely you, ho ho hooo. And Nanaki. Yes. You three. Come with me."

XxXxX

Waking did not come easily to him.

He woke up twice. The first time, it was to darkness. He was lying on something hard, and someone was trying to move him. A woman's voice was speaking just above him, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Searing pain shot through his hand as someone tried to move it, the pain so much that it pushed him back into unconsciousness again. The second time he woke up, he was lying in a bed, feeling as though he was floating. There was another voice speaking this time, a man, talking in a low rumble that he felt rather than heard. His head felt like it had been swaddled in cotton, and his body didn't feel wholly his own. He gladly accepted unconsciousness then.

The next time Shion woke, it was to light.

He opened his eyes blearily, staring at the roof above him. It was out of focus and blurry, and he blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear them. His throat felt dry, his mouth like it had been stuffed with cloth while he was asleep. He didn't recognize the ceiling above him, but he knew enough to know that he was lying in a bed, and he felt weak, his body barely responding to his movements. He blinked a few more times, then raised his left hand to his face, feeling around for his glasses.

No glasses. That would explain the blurriness.

Memories of the fight began to come back to him—Argento, Elmyra, Marlene. He wondered where any of them were, and for that matter, where _he _was. _I should be dead..._he thought, wincing as his left hand trailed over the bandages across his chest. _Argento killed me. _He wondered what had happened to Elmyra and Marlene, who had come for him, and what they had done with his sword. The last question was answered when he turned his head. The katana was propped up on a sword stand on the other side of the room—_his _sword stand, he recalled. Whoever had saved him had been gracious enough to get it.

The thought made him smile. He reached up with his other hand, attempting to pick up his glasses from the end table beside him so that he could see more clearly.

The smile faded from his face. His sword hand was bandaged to his wrist, bound tightly to a sheet of plaster. It swept clumsily over the end table, pain throbbing through it as the glasses clattered to the floor.

His eyes widened, first in realization, then in horror, his left hand closing into a tight fist.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	81. File 023: The Cries of the Planet pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Next chapter, you'll find out what's the deal with Shion, and maybe a quick Cloti scene if I can squeeze it in. ^^

A note on Red's name: Certain members of the group are having an easier time adjusting to "Nanaki" then others, so expect a few people to keep on calling him Red, as a nickname. (Because if redheads can be called Red, so can giant furry red creatures.) This will be reflected in the POV of each person, so it'll vary from scene to scene. You all know who I'm talking about though.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Draconic, ryuukoshi, Guest, DarkSeraphim1, K, Anonymous **and **Leon Kaye **for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **well yes, that's true. They'll find out soon enough, though, and I'll check in on Marlene as soon as I can squeeze it in to reassure everyone that she's at least unharmed for the moment. (And I have some plans for her before this disc ends.) As for Shion…_yeah_, he's not going to be happy.

**Draconic, **yep, although I'm not sure by how much Aerith's involvement would be increased. She's definitely paying more attention to the things she hears, though.

**Guest, **I have a feeling Sephy just discovered that for himself. XD Sand. Sand everywhere.

**Anonymous, **in CC, Sephiroth was legitimately insane, and in the original game, between him and Jenova, he was the one doing the controlling. But Jenova does have a malicious presence of her own, and without Sephiroth on her side, she's exercising her own will, and trying to control him as well. And no, it's not weird XD. The side stuff (Shion, Weiss, Marlene) is happening over a much longer time period than our heroes and their adventures, though, which is why information about them is sparse in this part of the book.

**Leon Kaye, **thank you! I'm glad you find it believable! In CC, Seph showed that he does observe and care in his own way when he sent Zack back to Midgar and indirectly allowed him to make sure Aerith was okay. I took that, added AVALANCHE, and got Sephiroth suddenly realizing that he has allies. Glad you liked it!

XxXxX

**File 023: The Cries of the Planet**

Cissnei stood with her back to the canyon wall, looking out over the rapidly darkening valley. Long shadows stretched over the landscape beneath them, bathing rivers, ravines, and dunes in alternating patches of light and shadow. She scrolled through the messages in her phone, idly glancing at the screen and deleting a few. With Shelke on their side, the idea that the Tsviets might be tracking them through the phone networks hadn't escaped her. A little misinformation could always come in handy.

She flipped her phone shut, then turned to watch the growing dark. Below her, in Cosmo Canyon, more and more lights flickered on, flames lightning the stairs, caves, and narrow walkways between them and causing them to shine and flicker like stars on the ground below. She caught sight of Barret, walking off and talking to some of the locals, and Tifa, slipping back into one of the caves with a basket of potions on her arm. In one corner of the Canyon, Kunsel and Shalua made their way up the steps, Kunsel carting some parts for the buggy on his shoulder. The two of them were engaged in conversation, and although Cissnei didn't know for sure what they were talking about, she could make a few guesses. Kunsel had encountered Shelke three times now. She tucked her phone back into her pocket, then leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and waiting for her visitor to approach.

_Three…two…one. _

A shadow dropped down next to her, reaching out towards her. Cissnei's eyes snapped open, a small smile coming to her face. "Hello, Yuffie," she said.

Yuffie froze, her hand inches away from Cissnei's shoulder. She took a step back, pouting at the older woman. "Aw," she said. "What gave me away?"

"Loose rocks," said Cissnei, tapping against the wall behind her. "They make a scraping sound under your boots. I don't keep my Materia in my pockets, by the way."

"I wasn't after your Materia," said Yuffie, defensively.

"Really?" asked Cissnei, smiling. "So why _is _your hand on my vest?"

Yuffie blinked, snatching her hand away rapidly. "Whoops," she said, staring down at it. "How'd that get there?"

"Nice try, Yuffie," said Cissnei, her smile widening as she turned away. She heard the sound of boots against rock as the ninja hurried to follow her. The two of them made their way towards the stairs that crept downward down the side of the Canyon, Yuffie just a few steps behind. "It was just the wind," the ninja was saying. "Next time, you won't even see me coming, Turkey!"

"I'm terrified," said Cissnei, looking back over her shoulder.

"You better be!" said Yuffie. "You—_hey_! Are you _mocking _me?"

"No, not at all," said Cissnei, turning her head to hide her smile. She laughed softly under her breath, something that did not escape the young ninja's attention.

"Yes, you are!" she said. "You're _giggling_! That's not how you talk to the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"_My apologies,"_ said Cissnei, shifting to Wutaiian. _"I beg my lady's forgiveness for my rudeness." _

Yuffie blinked at the sudden change in language, stopping in her tracks. She tilted her head slightly to the side, resting her hands on her waist as she tried to think of a good come back. At length, she settled on, "You're accent's awful. You know that?"

"It's not my native language," replied Cissnei, "But it's passable, I think."

"It'll do, I guess…" said Yuffie. She stepped forward, coming to stand next to Cissnei. "Who taught you? Wutaiian, I mean. Just curious."

"I took formal classes during my training," said Cissnei as the two of them continued to walk again. It felt odd to remember things like that. On some days, it was hard to believe that eight years had passed since her training ended, on other days, it felt like it had been much longer. "The Wutai War had just started when I started training, so it was thought to be useful. My supervisor felt that since I was a child, it would be easier for me to pick up on a new language. I learned how to read it too—which actually wasn't _that _bad, considering I was just learning how to read Gaian. When I got out, Tseng taught me some of the rest."

"That explains it," said Yuffie, waving her hand dismissively. "Tseng's from East Wutai—or he was, anyway. They've got a _whole _different accent over there."

She wasn't too surprised that Yuffie might know more about Tseng than she did. She had still been in training when Tseng joined the Turks, but even then, she remembered wondering why someone from Wutai had joined their side. Later on, she'd always speculated that he'd been used as a Shinra spy within some aspect of the Wutaiian hierarchy before it became too risky to keep him there and he had to be pulled out, but she'd never asked. He'd been young when he joined the Turks—just a teenager—so if that was true, then more likely than not, he was spying on his own family or someone close to his household. For a moment, she was tempted to ask, but she thought better of it. Tseng's secrets were his own. He didn't need his once-princess telling on him.

Instead, she changed the subject. "So," she asked. "What did you come out here for? Was it just to try and get my Materia again?"

Yuffie shot Cissnei an injured look, lacing her fingers together behind her head. "How rude, Turkey," she said. "What makes you think I didn't come out here just to chat?"

"The fact that you were sneaking up on me?" asked Cissnei.

"I was just testing you," said Yuffie, grinning. "Really. But alright," She lowered her hands back to her sides. "You caught me. Tifa and I were wondering something."

Cissnei frowned. Something Tifa and Yuffie wanted to know? "What is it?" she asked.

"When are _you_—," Yuffie jabbed her finger at Cissnei's chest for emphasis. "—gonna tell Sephiroth you're madly in love with him already."

To her credit, she managed not to blush, although she did stop walking, turning around to face the ninja fully. "Excuse me?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah!" said Yuffie. "I mean, come on, it's _pretty _obvious. And I don't like the guy, but seriously, Turkey, all this tension is driving me up the wall!"

The question caught her off-guard, and it was all she could do to blink. She took a step back, mindful of the drop behind her as she stared at the ninja. "Yuffie," she said slowly. "I'm not in love with Sephiroth."

"So, what?" asked Yuffie, folding her arms again and looking back at Cissnei. "You told that lie so often, you believe it's true now?"

"What, no—." The denial froze in her throat, an image coming to the forefront of her mind. It was herself, waking up in Junon to find him standing over her, finding out he had taken care of her. Warmth crept its way up to her face, and Cissnei had to lower her head to hide the blush. Yuffie only smiled wider.

"That obvious?" asked Cissnei, after a moment of silence.

"You're slipping, Turkey," said Yuffie in response. "But it helps that I share a tent with you."

"I need to find another roommate," said Cissnei, continuing to walk.

"Who? Zack?" asked Yuffie, catching up with her. She walked alongside her. "Aerith might have some issues with that, and anyway, he's caught on too. Besides, we all know who you _really _want as roommate."

This time, she _did _blush. "Stop that," she said, pushing the ninja lightly away from her. Yuffie grinned, taking a step back.

"Well, you did live with him for four years, so you brought that one on yourself," said Yuffie. She took a few quick steps forward to catch back up with her. "So, like, what's the problem? You pretty much have his undivided attention right now. Why aren't you going for it?"

"Why else?" asked Cissnei, folding her arms. "Now's not exactly the right time to be thinking about things like that."

"Didn't stop Zack and Aerith," noted Yuffie.

"A herd of stampeding chocobos couldn't stop Zack and Aerith," said Cissnei. She folded her arms. "And anyway, I'm not exactly girlfriend material."

"Why not?" asked Yuffie, frowning.

"I'm just…_not_," said Cissnei. She thought back to the same things she had told Zack, when he tried to ask her out what felt like forever ago. "I'm…not the sort of girl you bring home to your parents."

Yuffie snorted at that. "Good thing too," she said. "Did you _want _to get paraded around in front of Professor Creepy and that face-stealing psycho?"

The thought was absurd enough that Cissnei had to smile. But she shot Yuffie a look nonetheless. "You know what I mean," she said.

"No, I actually don't," said Yuffie, frowning at her. "I mean, what is it? Is it about your past? He's no better. The things he did in Wutai—."

"—he did as a SOLDIER," finished Cissnei, glancing back at Yuffie. She surprised herself by how terse her own voice sounded. "He was following orders. If you heard stories of unnecessary cruelty, I promise you, it wasn't him." _I, on the other hand…_She wondered if it still counted as following orders if those orders explicitly told her to be cruel.

"Whoa, chill," said Yuffie, holding both hands up in front of her. "I only meant—."

"I know what you meant," said Cissnei, turning around. She folded her arms. "It's more complicated than that?"

"_How _complicated?" asked Yuffie, frowning at her. "Come on. We're trying to be friends with you. Open up, Turkey. Just once?"

She held her arms tighter against herself, looking out at the ground stretching away beneath them. The answer was on the tip of her tongue. _I can't be with him—with anyone. The way I am now—no one deserves to get stuck with that. He definitely doesn't. _But that was too personal to share with Yuffie, so instead, she settled on something else. Another thought, never far from her mind where this issue was concerned anyway. "Sephiroth…" she finally said, "…doesn't need another fangirl."

Yuffie stopped walking. At first, Cissnei thought that the Wutaiian princess was going to use another one-liner, or tease her about something or another. But when Yuffie didn't say anything, and Cissnei turned, she realized that the ninja was standing there, looking at her as though she had grown a second head.

"What?" she asked.

Yuffie's mouth worked for a moment as she tried to come up with the words. She stared at Cissnei, eyes wide. Finally, she spoke. "Are you _nuts, _Turkey?" she asked. "Even I can see that. You're not just a fangirl. Not to him."

"…You're his _partner_."

XxXxX

Bugenhagen's machine was on the third floor of his house, set on a raised pedestal. Sephiroth and Red were already standing on it, waiting for her. Aerith lingered behind or a moment, standing next to Zack and Cloud. The two of them were standing by the door, watching. Cloud looked a little out of place. He stood in the doorframe, studiously trying not to look at the two of them. Aerith offered him a small smile, then turned towards Zack. The ex-SOLDIER was standing with his hands on his waist, eyeing the machine suspiciously.

"You sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

"I'm sure," said Aerith, even though she wasn't. She knew that Zack didn't believe her. That much was visible from the sudden change in his eyes. But he nodded once, folding his arms and taking a step back.

"Well," he said. "We'll be right here. Yell if you need anything." He continued to watch the machine, his expression dark. She wondered at his sudden change of mood. He tensed beneath her fingers when she placed a hand on his arm, and she hesitated, then reached up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips lightly against his cheek.

"See you in a minute," she said, pulling away.

He didn't respond, but he did nod at her, taking a step back and going to stand with Cloud. For a brief moment, he looked like he was carved out of stone. Aerith watched him, her expression worried as she stepped back and onto the platform. Her hand curled up against her chest, and she looked back at Bugenhagen as the platform began to rise.

"You're sure he can't come with us?" she asked.

"Ho ho hooo," replied the old man. "Three only. That's the rule. The machine won't work if more than three other people are inside it."

Aerith glanced back down at Zack and Cloud as the floor disappeared below them, and said nothing more. She caught Sephiroth watching as well, and met the ex-First's eye briefly, then looked back at Bugenhagen. She made a mental note to talk to Zack about it later. Hopefully, it was nothing.

Bugenhagen pressed a button on the console, and then the world around them changed. What had once been a series of images and charts on the ceiling of the room transformed into the sky at night, planets and stars spread out in every direction. The floor below them was nothing but stars. It was as though they were floating in space, hanging between the stars themselves. Aerith stared, her eyes widening as she stepped forward and examined a comet zooming by. She had never seen anything like this before. Even _Sephiroth _looked impressed. She tilted her head back, examining the stars on the ceiling.

"So pretty," she said. "It's just like the real thing!"

Bugenhagen's orb floated up. It no longer seemed to be constrained by gravity—instead it made its way up to the ceiling, so that the old man hovered in the air above their heads. "Hmm, yes," he said. "This is my laboratory. All the workings of space are entered into this 3D Holographic System."

"That you know about," said Sephiroth calmly, although he stepped to the side as three small asteroids whizzed past him, his eyes widening slightly as he watched them go.

"Perceptive of you," said Bugenhagen. "Yes. That I know about."

He might have said something more, but Aerith's attention was suddenly drawn to something flashing off to her left, a streak of bright fire parting the heavens. "Hey, look!" she said. "A shooting star!" The star arced over her head, and Sephiroth and Red turned to track its progress with her eyes. Aerith looked away from it, clasping her hands in front of her. She watched, wide-eyed with wonder, as a planet hovered in front of her, surrounded by three delicately spinning moons. Asteroids wheeled above her head, all heading towards a black void in the upper right corner of the image, a void that sucked them up and swallowed them whole.

"Wow," she breathed, her fingertips passing through the image of a star. "How wonderful…"

"This is impressive," Sephiroth admitted, his eyes tracking the path of a planet as it moved around its star.

"Ho ho hooo. Yes, it is something, isn't it?" said Bugenhagen. He bounced once on his orb. "Well, let's get to the subject." He turned away, staring at the stars. "Eventually all humans die. Well, what happens to them after they die? The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much, everyone knows. What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls?"

"That's—." Sephiroth's denial died in his throat. Aerith remembered what he had asked her, back in the Shinra Building. Was he thinking of Angeal? She thought of her own mother, then looked back at Bugenhagen. The old man glanced at Sephiroth, and when it was clear that he was no longer going to say anything, looked back at them.

"The soul too returns to the Planet," he said. "And not only those of humans, but everything on this Planet. In fact, all living things in the universe are the same." He raised his hands up in the air. "The spirits that return to the Planet merge with one another and roam the Planet. They roam, converge, and divide, becoming a swell called the Lifestream."

_Lifestream…_

The word struck a chord within her, although Aerith couldn't have said why or how. She clasped her hands together tighter, feeling something resonate inside her. Somehow, she knew this. She didn't know how she knew, but on some level, she understood what he was saying. As if it was something she had _always _known.

"Lifestream," said Bugenhagen. "In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the Planet." He looked back at them. "Spirit energy is a term you should never forget. A new life…children are blessed with spirit energy and are brought into the world. Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the Planet. Of course, there are exceptions, but this is the way of the world."

Sephiroth looked up suddenly, turning towards Bugenhagen. When he spoke, he spoke slowly, as if he had just come to a realization and was trying his best to accept it. "What does this have to do with the death of the Planet?" he asked.

"Ho ho hooo," said Bugenhagen. "You understand, don't you? Spirit energy is very powerful. Very efficient. Without it, the Planet would simply cease to be."

"Mako," said Sephiroth softly.

"Precisely," said Bugenhagen, nodding. He smiled.

Aerith looked from one to the other, her eyes wide. "What?" she asked. "What about mako?"

The old man turned towards her, his eyes fixing hers. "My dear," he said, "What can mako energy be, if not the life of the planet?"

XxXxX

Kunsel lifted the box from his shoulder, setting it down on the shelf. The metal parts inside it clanked as he set it down, and he rubbed at his shoulder, more out of habit than anything. The box hadn't really been that heavy, and with his mako-enhanced strength, he'd been more perturbed by the corner of the box digging into his shoulder. He leaned against the wall, turning towards the scientist that had followed him in.

"It should be safe there for tonight," he said. "Will you need help tomorrow?"

"If you don't mind," said Shalua. "If it's what I think it is, I should be able to fix the buggy in a few hours, and we'll be on our way. If not, we might be here for a few days."

"Let's hope not," said Kunsel. His hand drifted over his pocket, near where he kept his phone. It would be extremely convenient to their attackers if they were delayed in Cosmo Canyon. If the Tsviets came down on them here, the rugged terrain would help as well as hinder them, depending on whether or not they could use it to their advantage. He didn't want to fight the Tsviets here if he could help it, but he knew an encounter was inevitable sooner or later. Although, the incident in Gongaga might have bought them some time.

And speaking of Tsviets…

"You wanted to talk about Shelke?" he asked, looking up at Shalua.

The scientist folded her arms, nodding. "Mm," she said. "They said you fought her. Twice?"

Kunsel nodded. "I talked to her once too," he said. "In Junon." In truth, he'd been trying to find time to talk to Shalua about Shelke as well. Their last encounter, in the Gold Saucer, was still fresh in his mind. He'd been so close to getting through to her. What would have happened if the fight hadn't been called short?

"How is she?" Shalua sounded almost desperate as she turned towards him, her hands clasped. "Is she—?"

"I don't know what they did to her," said Kunsel, "But she refuses to talk about her past. Or anything really. You said she was sixteen?"

Shalua nodded. "She should be," she said. "But she looks nine, the same age she was when she was taken. I can't think of what stunted her growth like that. The enhancements…"

Kunsel picked up where she trailed off. "Regular mako enhancements shouldn't have that effect," he said. "Zack and I got ours when we were barely fourteen, and we aged. Records of Sephiroth go back all the way to the beginning of the Wutai War, and he's obviously aged as well."

"I know that, which makes me wonder…" Shalua hugged her arms close to herself. "What sort of enhancements…"

_What did they put her through, you mean? _Kunsel didn't say it, turning to study the box of parts. "I think there's hope for her," he said. "When I was fighting her—." He paused, wondering how to phrase this. Shalua looked up, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes?" she asked.

"At first, it looked like she was completely under their control, but the more I talked to her, the more it seemed like her control was starting to slip. I think there's hope for her, but I don't know what it's going to take to break their hold on her. Maybe if you talked to her, she might respond. The two of you were close?"

"When our mother died, Shelke was all I had," said Shalua. "I—they took her from me. And I thought…I was starting to think I'd never see her again." She looked away.

Kunsel glanced at her. Looking at her now, and thinking of Shelke, he remembered another face. A child, a seven-year-old girl, with brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She liked to run around the fields of Kalm and pick flowers, and she always had a doll with her, a little rag doll with red hair.

He'd found that rag doll later on, half-burned in the wreckage of the house. His hand clenched into a fist.

"I had a sister too," he said. "She died a long time ago."

"I'm…sorry to hear that," said Shalua, looking up. "Was she—?"

"It was an accident." Even now, the words galled him. "A misfire, from Shinra's cannon. Don't worry about it. If I can help you, I will."

He felt something brush against his arm, and looked down to realize it was her hand, resting lightly near his shoulder. Kunsel met her eyes, glancing down at her. "Thank you," she said, glancing away. "I…"

Kunsel nodded. "Don't mention it," he said. After the firebombing, he'd done nothing. Nothing except to transfer to a different training program. He should have done something then, should have avenged them somehow, but he couldn't find the courage or the strength. But things were different now.

He would save Shelke, he decided. Somehow.

For Shalua's sake, and for his own.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	82. File 023: The Cries of the Planet pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I might have promised a Cloti scene in the last chapter and didn't give you one. Sorry. There WILL be Cloti in this Compilation, I promise. It's just not my top priority at this point of the fic (they'll become top priority somewhere in the middle). Anyway, enjoy this chapter. I expect a major Sephissnei breakthrough by the end of the Cosmo Canyon arc~

Thanks go to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, ryuukoshi, Leon Kaye, K, Erilin-chan, **and **Meteor Panda **for your reviews and support.

**JazzQueen, **assuming Hojo's even still alive by then. Did you think I'd let him live that long? XD

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **I've thought about it, but I've decided that while there IS some merit in the "Vincent is Seph's father" theory, I'm going to work on the assumption that it's Hojo for now, and maybe keep it vague in the future. This is mostly because it helps make the Vincent/Yuffie pairing a little easier (rather than Yuffie dating Seph's dad).

**Irish-Brigid, **regarding Zack, I wouldn't say worried. Jealous, maybe. Or irritated that he can't help her, yet again. Their honeymoon phase is starting to show some wear, but they'll get through it alright.

**Eavenne, **Vincent actually comes in Nibelheim, which is the next stop after this. So you're close, don't worry about that.

**Leon Kaye, **what I meant was "Shelke and Shalua have really similar names and my fingers can't distinguish between them while typing" XD. Sorry for the confusion. It was a typo, one I really should go back and edit. As for Kunsel and Shalua, I will neither confirm nor deny anything until this disc is over. ^^

**Erilin-chan, **see Leon Kaye's answer for Kunsel/Shalua.

**Meteor Panda, **thanks, glad you like it! As for Seph/Cissnei, they did have more than one (two actually), but I haven't introduced the younger one yet. She's planned for the third chapter of _Our Generation_. Besides, with both of them having issues with their own childhood (and worries about Seph's genes), it makes sense that they'd not want to roll the dice so many times—you never know which one of your kids might go world-ending crazy. ^^

XxXxX

**File 023: The Cries of the Planet**

The planetarium went silent after Bugenhagen's pronouncement, the old man's words hanging in the air between them as the three of them stood among the stars. The man himself hovered above them on his orb, looking down at them and waiting for a response. When none came, he looked away, his attention momentarily captured by something off to his right. "I've digressed," he said. "But you'll understand better if you watch this."

The view shifted, the planets coming closer and closer until their Planet was the only one that they could see. At first, a man seemed to be standing on top of the Planet, glowing brightly, but then he dispersed into a thousand particles of light, the light flowing like a stream down the side of the sphere. It went from gold to pink to green, then sank into the Planet, joining a river of similar lights. The river swelled and grew until it wrapped around the Planet many times over, shining brightly in the darkness.

Aerith took a step forward, reaching out a hand. Motes of light scattered beneath her touch, flowing around her fingers. She stared, entranced as the lights flickered around her. To Nanaki's other side, Sephiroth started to step forward as well, then stopped, hesitating as a few stray motes of light swirled around him. Nanaki kept his distance, letting the two of them explore as Bugenhagen continued to talk.

"Spirit energy makes all things possible," he was saying. Aerith looked up to watch him, bathed in the glow of the Planet's lights. "Trees, birds, humans. Not just living things. Spirit energy makes it possible for Planets to be Planets. What happens if that spirit energy were to disappear?" Bugenhagen stretched a wrinkled hand out towards the Planet. The lights immediately began streaming towards his hand, leaving the land behind black and wasted. They moved, spiraling away from the Planet in droves. Aerith immediately pulled her hand back as the light left her, curling it close to her chest. She took a step back, disturbed, and watched as the black husk that had once been a Planet crumbled, breaking apart and falling away.

Nanaki stared. He had seen this before, but even he couldn't bring himself to turn away. Sephiroth remained stock still, staring at the place where the Planet had just been. There was no telling what he was thinking, behind those eyes. Nanaki turned back towards Bugenhagen as the man started speaking again.

"These are the basics for the Study on Planet Life," he said.

"So the Planet will be destroyed," said Sephiroth, looking up. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Ho ho hooo," said Bugenhagen. "Remember, spirit energy is efficient _because _it exists within nature. When spirit energy is forcefully extracted and manufactured, it can't accomplish its true purpose. Everyday, Mako Reactors suck up spirit energy, diminishing it. Spirit energy gets compressed in the reactors and processed into mako energy. All living things are being used up and thrown away. In other words, mako energy will only destroy the Planet."

"That's horrible," said Aerith, looking up. "Can anything be done?"

"Who knows?" said Bugenhagen. "The only thing that is certain is that if humanity continues to use mako energy, the Planet will die."

"And if we were to stop?"

That was Sephiroth now, speaking in the same calm even tone that he used when examining a situation. Nanaki glanced up at him, wondering what he was planning to do. Bugenhagen turned towards him as well. "The Planet may still die," he said. "But that…that is less certain, I think. Yes, less certain. Ho ho hooo…"

With one last hooting laugh, the planetarium stopped, the lights and colors fading away. Nanaki heard a metallic scraping sound as the plate below them started to move, lowering them back down into the observatory. He stepped off as Zack and Cloud came into view, walking towards them. Zack immediately walked over to Aerith, and this time, she was the one who tensed as he touched her arm, although she sighed, turning her face into his chest briefly and closing her eyes. Zack seemed to have recovered from whatever had been troubling him earlier…or maybe it was just that he noticed how pale her face was and the look in her eye. She pulled away from him, looking back at Bugenhagen as he started talking again.

"The story of the Planets, and those that lived with them…" He looked up, his eyes fixing on Aerith especially. "You want to know more? Then you must listen to the words of the elders."

She nodded, her hand curling up close to her chest. "I will," she said. She looked up at Zack. "Zack, will you come with me?"

Zack nodded in response, squeezing her arm protectively. "Mm," he said.

XxXxX

When Cissnei returned to the lower floor of the Canyon, she found Tifa sitting alone in front of a large bonfire, her hands resting around her knees. The pallets spread out for comfort on the rock around the fire all bore signs of recent occupation, but if the other members of their group had been here once, they weren't anymore. The martial artist smiled at her as she approached, reaching out and poking at the heart of the fire with a stick. "Sorry," she said as Cissnei dropped down on a blanket next to her. "Everyone left. I saved you some food."

"Thanks," said Cissnei, taking the skewer of meat and vegetables that Tifa offered her. The meat was spiced and roasted over the flames, juicy and slightly charred in places. After days traveling through the desert and later the Gongagan jungle, it felt like a feast. She took a bite and chewed slowly, her mind still working through the conversation she had had with Yuffie. She had no doubt that the young ninja was telling the truth about Tifa putting her up to it, but she didn't think Tifa had had her go about it in that way.

Thankfully, Tifa didn't seem that intent on pursuing the subject, and Cissnei didn't waste time in directing the conversation away from it. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Zack and Aerith went to talk to the elders," she said. "They took a bit of food and left. That man, Bugenhagen I think his name was, took Cloud, Red, and Sephiroth somewhere. I don't know where, but they said they'd be back later tonight. After that, the others started getting up and leaving as well. Shalua went to sleep. I don't know where Kunsel and Yuffie went. Barret's off brooding somewhere."

"Brooding?" asked Cissnei, taking another small bite off her skewer. "Barret?"

"This is where he formed AVALANCHE," said Tifa, staring into the flames. "He misses them, you know. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. I miss them too, sometimes."

Cissnei nodded, looking back at the fire. "They didn't deserve to die the way they did," she said. _But few people do. _She remembered Veld and Elfe, and her eyes hardened again. The next bite she took was almost mechanical—years of poverty followed by years of training had taught her the necessity of food, even when her appetite seemed to have fled. To keep her mind off of herself, she studied Tifa instead. The other woman didn't seem to be in much of a mood for eating either. She was staring at the flames, the firelight reflected in her deep brown eyes. "What is it?" asked Cissnei.

Tifa shook her head slowly, and for a while, Cissnei thought she wasn't going to speak. Then she did, her voice so soft it was barely audible. "…Bonfires are funny, aren't they? They make you remember all sorts of things."

_Nibelheim. _Cissnei understood instantly. _Five years ago. _

She still remembered the sight of the town on fire, visible even from the mountains. The smells of burning wood and flesh had hung heavily in the air. She wished she could say that that was the first time she had ever seen a village burn.

Tifa must have caught the look in her eye, because she turned towards her and spoke. "You weren't there, were you?" she asked. "Five years ago?"

"I was," said Cissnei. "For some of it anyway. I was on a mission in the Modeoheim area when the reports started coming in. Since I was the closest agent, Tseng rerouted me to Nibelheim."

Tifa nodded slowly at that, processing that information. She kept her eyes on the flames, barely turning to look at Cissnei at all. "Then you saw…?"

"…Genesis?" Cissnei finished for her. She shook her head. "No. I was too late for that. By the time I arrived, the incident was all but over. I was only there for the…the clean-up." _Zack and Cloud. _Another capture she had only played witness to. "I didn't see your father," she said, changing the subject again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," said Tifa. "It wasn't your fault. Shinra…"

"Shinra made Genesis," said Cissnei. "And Sephiroth. And me."

"But you and Sephiroth are different," said Tifa. "Cloud and Zack, and Kunsel too…You might have worked for Shinra in the beginning, but they didn't change who you are."

"They did," said Cissnei. "You all changed it back." She thought back to her words with Yuffie, her finger trailing along the ground beside her. Her mind flashed back to Costa del Sol. She didn't know why she had embraced him then, only that she felt like it. Because he said that he was glad she survived. She still remembered the warmth that had filled her then, the ache that made her just need to be close to him. Her chest tightened, and she propped her hands up on her knees, taking another mechanical bite. "You sent Yuffie out to me." She didn't know why she was talking about this, only that she had to.

Tifa had the grace to look slightly ashamed. "We were talking about it," she admitted, toying with a strand of her dark hair. "But I didn't expect that she was actually going to go and talk to you. You know how she is."

"Yeah," said Cissnei, nodding. "I know." She finished off her meal and tossed the wooden skewer into the fire, leaning back on her hands and looking up at the stars. They were already beginning to come out, and the sky was beginning to show hints of the glamor that Cosmo Canyon was famous for. Tifa waited for her to speak, but when she didn't, the martial artist turned towards her.

"So…?" she prompted.

For a moment, Cissnei didn't say anything, continuing to stare up at the darkening sky. Tifa waited, so that the only sound between them was the crackling of the fire in front of them, and the sounds of others walking around the canyon.

"Zack asked me out once," she said. "When we were still working for Shinra. It was before he started getting serious about Aerith. We must have been, what, sixteen and seventeen? Younger?"

"And?" Tifa looked up, interested now.

"I turned him down." Cissnei didn't know why she was talking about this, only that once she started talking, all the words seemed to flow. Maybe it was Yuffie asking her to open up, or maybe it was just that even a Turk couldn't keep their mouth shut forever, but as soon as she started, she couldn't stop.

"Why?" asked Tifa.

She shrugged. "Lots of reasons," she said. "My job, for one. I was supposed to be watching him. Going out with him would have made my job easier, but it didn't feel right doing that to Zack. Work was another thing. SOLDIERs and Turks…they just didn't mix. And then…there was just me. I don't…I'm not good at letting people in."

"Did you like him?"

"For a little while…" she admitted, waving her hand vaguely in the air. "He was nice, you know, and sweet, in his own way. He didn't act like he was intimidated by the suit. And…" She tilted her head slightly to the side, glancing at Tifa. "…He's not exactly hard on the eyes."

"So why didn't you go for it?" asked Tifa, shifting so that she was facing her. She crossed her legs, sitting more comfortably.

"Because I did like him," said Cissnei. "And as a Turk, that was something I couldn't afford. When you're a Turk, the job is the most important thing to you. Outside attachments…well, they can only end in pain."

"That didn't stop you from deserting," Tifa pointed out.

"Yeah," said Cissnei. "But maybe by that point, I was fed up." She shrugged. "It would never have worked out anyway. He would have spent all his time trying to fix me, and not enough time on himself. Zack needs someone who _he _can lean on—not a project."

"Does that mean you've never…" She trailed off.

"…gotten involved with anyone?" Cissnei finished. She shrugged. "I…was young. Focused on my work. But that's not to say—there may have been a…fling here or there. Nothing serious. There was a boy I thought I liked, but that went nowhere fast." Tifa inched closer, catching the scent of good gossip.

"Who was it?" she asked. "What happened?"

"It was a mission gone bad," she said. "And we were just…just…" She trailed off, shaking her head. Just what, exactly? Comforting each other? There were days when it still hurt to think about Bone Village. But that was years and years ago, a night from another time. "…anyway, it's not important. But you get the picture."

"And…Sephiroth?" asked Tifa.

"Sephiroth is…different," she admitted. The conversation had rubbed her nerves raw. Just talking about him right now made her throat constrict, and she had to take a deep breath to keep her voice level and the words flowing. "He and I are similar in a lot of ways. We work well together. And he talks to me."

"Do you like him?" asked Tifa.

"Yes." It hurt to say the word, but she said it anyway, ignoring the tightness in her chest and the sudden lurching in her belly. "Yes, I do. A lot."

Tifa fell silent after that. Cissnei took a deep breath, bracing herself as the martial artist looked up. "…Do you love him?"

She thought of Sephiroth standing over her, fighting Nero, thought of the way the sunlight played against his hair and Masamune's blade, thought of the sword moving in smooth, connected strokes, slashing at Nero with a ferocity and an urgency she hadn't seen in him before. _Like watching art…_she remembered herself thinking. No one had fought for her that fiercely before. A hand closed around her heart. "I…don't know."

Tifa exhaled softly, a low, whooshing sound. Cissnei remained where she was seated, keeping her face smooth as she awaited the martial artist's next question. She thought of this as another part of her training—maintaining control while telling the truth. "What about that other boy?" asked Tifa. "The one you thought you liked. Did you ever see him again?"

"Oh yes," Cissnei's mouth turned up in a rueful smile, and she sat up, brushing back strands of reddish-brown hair with the tip of her fingers and resting them lightly against her temple. "The last time we met, he was trying to kill me."

XxXxX

By the time Chris managed to make her way to the safe room where they were keeping Shion, she could already tell he was in a bad mood. He'd sent one plate of food back barely touched, the next without being touched at all. The woman—Elmyra—had already been in and out, but even that didn't sway him. She wondered if the Gainsborough woman had already told him about Marlene Wallace, and felt a flash of irritation at that. If she had, then it was no wonder Shion was feeling bad. To be reminded of his failure on top of anything, along with the knowledge that he couldn't go find the girl himself—the swordsman would be driving himself crazy.

But Elmyra Gainsborough wasn't her concern right now. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding herself to remain calm, when all she wanted to do was rage and kick the door down. It didn't stop her from opening the door extra loud, and barging into the room anyway.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded, in the direction of the bed. "Why aren't you eating?"

Her efforts were rewarded by a wry smile, coming from the swordsman on the bed. The smile, like so many of his others, didn't reach his eyes. "Nice to see you too, Chris," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you." The sight of her partner for many years, laid up in bed with his sword hand broken and bandages swathing his chest, was enough to bring back her earlier grievances. She dragged a chair over with one hand, bringing it next to his bed and sitting down. "Now you wanna tell me why you're trying to starve yourself?"

"I'm not hungry," said Shion.

"I know you're not," said Chris, folding her arms. "Hell, I wouldn't be in your shoes. If I could fix your hand, I would—we got it as far along as Materia could manage. So if you want to be depressed, fine."

"You say that, but you're not going to leave until I eat, are you?"

Chris snorted. "Hell no," she said. "I was planning on force-feeding you."

That earned her another small smile. Two in a row. It was good to see she hadn't lost her touch. "Please don't," said Shion. "I'm injured enough as it is."

"You're a tough guy. You can take a little more."

The smile faded, replaced by a hollow look on his face as his eyes traveled towards the sword behind her. She would have had it removed from the room, but she knew that it would only hurt him more if he couldn't see it at all. So the sword stayed, stand and all. A flash of guilt washed over her as she caught his expression. Alright, so that one was too far.

"Hey," she said. "I didn't mean—."

He waved his hand—his other hand. "Don't worry about that," he said. "Tell me what happened."

Business as usual then. Chris immediately shifted tracks, settling into her seat as she began the debriefing. "The attack on Kalm was mostly concentrated around your place, but it sent the village into a panic. In the confusion, Elmyra Gainsborough managed to escape. She was looking for the kid when we found her."

Shion nodded. "I talked to her," he said. "What about Marlene?"

Chris shook her head. "The Deepground agent—Argento, you said—took her. We're still trying to figure out where. She's alive, though, you can count on that. Otherwise why bother taking her."

"So she's a hostage," said Shion. "For what? Her father's good behavior?"

Chris snorted. "Barret Wallace ain't the type of person to let this slide, but he wouldn't risk his little girl. The rest of AVALANCHE's pretty attached to her too, and those that aren't would think twice about doing anything that might hurt a four-year-old child. If that's their plan, it's a good one."

"Have they informed AVALANCHE that they have her?"

She shrugged. "No clue," she said. "I've been trying to get in touch with Cissnei, but I can't open up a secure channel. And with Shelke on their side, any sort of electronic communication is risky."

"Shelke's on _their _side?" asked Shion. "Not Shinra's?"

"Who knows?" said Chris. "Officially, Shelke's with Shinra, but until a few days ago, we thought Argento was too."

"What's Shinra's official response regarding Argento?"

"Weiss disavowed her. He's been doing a lot of that lately. What we're really trying to figure out is how much of that is just a smokescreen, and how much is real."

"And your professional opinion?" asked Shion.

Chris snorted again. "Weiss is full of shit and Nero's nuttier than a fruitcake. We can't trust anything they say. And Tseng's staying on the down-low after this whole screw-up. He _did _send Rude out to get you though."

That gave Shion pause. He stared down at his maimed hand, as though he still couldn't believe it was there. "Rude came for me?" he asked.

"You bet," said Chris. "Although not soon enough. Reno and Elena managed to stop Auriel in Gongaga, but by the time they sent Rude out to Kalm, the worst was over. He carted you over here."

"And where is here, exactly?" asked Shion.

"Midgar slums," replied Chris. "Sector 6. Eira's safe house."

Shion grunted, struggling to sit up further. Chris almost reached out to help him, but at a look from him, she stayed in her seat, letting him sit up and lean against the headboard. "Figured," he said. "That's where I would have taken any one of you. We have to get Marlene back."

"Helping AVALANCHE?" asked Chris, grinning.

"Keeping a promise," said Shion. "Help me up."

"Sit," said Chris. "We're already on it."

Shion frowned at her. "We?" he asked. "Who's we?"

"That would be us," said a voice from the doorway. Shion looked up, and Chris turned around, looking over her shoulder at the ex-Turk who just walked in. He closed the door behind him, leaning against the wall and looking over at Shion. "Good to see you awake," he said.

"Yeah," said Shion, nodding. "Good to see you too, Nico."

**END FILE**


	83. File 024: Cave of Tears pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This turned out longer than expected, but I hope you guys enjoy it. We're already at Chapter 83 now, and before we know it, we'll be at Chapter 100. I'm considering doing something special for that chapter, but I don't know what. If anyone has any suggestions, or things they'd like to see, feel free to let me know in a review. I might be persuaded to write a special commemorative one-shot, or something. ^^

Thanks go to **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, Draconic, ryuukoshi, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, **and **Erilin-chan** for your reviews and support! Much appreciated!

**JazzQueen, **because it is~

**Riku Uzumaki, **yep. They're kind of odd to work with, because they really are on their own side, but at the moment, Cissnei's on AVALANCHE's side and Tseng's on Rufus's, so the others are kind of playing a balancing act between them. (And Nico and co. have their own agenda too)

**Irish-Brigid, **guys do get like that, don't they? At least Shion has Chris to keep him in line.

**Draconic, **a combination of Yuffie hitting a nerve and Cissnei genuinely starting to open up to the others did it. Although it'll take a while for her to open up fully~

**ryuukoshi, **not Shion, but…well you'll find out soon enough anyway. You're on the right track~

**Leon Kaye, **I would really like to answer this review, but…I can't. Suffice it to say, you'll find out eventually!

XxXxX

**File 024: Cave of Tears**

Sephiroth stood with Cloud and Nanaki outside a large metal door, his arms folded as he watched Bugenhagen. The old man was seated on his orb, the orb bobbing up and down slightly as he hovered off to the side of them watching them. Nanaki stood behind him, watching the door. His ears were pricked up, and although he sat back, appearing patient, they swiveled at every sound, revealing his alertness. To his right, Cloud stood just a step behind him, one hand resting lightly on his sword. He was doing his best to conceal his apprehension. Sephiroth pretended not to notice, instead thinking back to the events that had gotten them here.

The entire group of them, minus Cissnei, had been sitting by the fire in the center of town, eating quietly. He was sitting between Zack and Nanaki, opposite from Barret. The large gunman had been talking about how he had first formed AVALANCHE here, and how Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie had died. He wasn't sure how the conversation had shifted, but something must have gotten to Nanaki, because he stretched out, his eyes focused on the fire, and began to tell his own story.

"Long ago…" he said. "When I was still very small, we were all around this flame…" He shook his head. "No. Never mind."

Cloud looked up from Nanaki's other side, curious. "What happened?" he asked, tilting his head towards the creature. The rest of the group watched on, but didn't say anything. They had kept the things Bugenhagen had revealed about Nanaki quiet for now, but he knew they wouldn't be for long. Eventually, people would talk, especially about Nanaki mentioning that he didn't wish to continue on with them. He knew no one could force Nanaki to stay, as directionless as they were, but he had to admit, he wasn't pleased at the thought of the creature leaving.

"It's about my parents," he said, his shoulders slumping in resignation. "When I talk about my mother, I am full of pride and joy. And that's fine. But when I remember my father, my heart is full of anger…"

Sephiroth looked away from the two of them, staring at the fire. He held the wooden skewer that had once held his meal loosely in one hand. He could understand Nanaki there. Learning the truth about his own parentage hadn't served to make him any happier. The sound of a voice in the distance made him look up, his hand already reaching for the sword lying on the blanket beside him.

"You really can't forgive your father?" asked Bugenhagen, coming into view.

Sephiroth relaxed, moving his hand away from the sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nanaki stand down as well, settling back down into his seat. He stared at Bugenhagen in confusion. "Of course," he said. "He…left Mother for dead. When the Gi tribe attacked, he ran off by himself, leaving Mother and the people of the Canyon!" Nanaki lowered his head after his outburst, shaking it fiercely. Silence fell over the group, broken only by the sound of the crackling fire, and then Bugenhagen exhaled slowly, watching him.

"Come, Nanaki," he said. "There is something you should see."

Nanaki blinked at Bugenhagen in confusion, but started to rise, sliding his paws under himself and lifting himself up. The old man began to float away, coming back the way he came, but not before giving one last instruction to them. "The place may be dangerous," he said. "Sephiroth. Will you and one other person come with us?"

Sephiroth nodded, flicking the empty skewer into the fire and pulling himself to his feet. He was lifting Masamune off the ground when he noticed that Cloud was already half-standing, one hand on the hilt of his Force Stealer. Sephiroth turned towards him and Cloud looked embarrassed, taking a step back and starting to sit back down, before stopping himself. He shook his head, amused in spite of himself, and inclined his head towards the passage. Cloud scrambled up immediately, following him.

Now they were waiting for Bugenhagen to open the door, and preparing for whatever might be inside. Sephiroth didn't doubt that they were capable enough for whatever was down there, but he still remained cautious, keeping his senses on high alert.

"Ho ho hooo," said Bugenhagen. "Are we all set?"

"You have potions?" asked Sephiroth, glancing at Cloud.

Cloud nodded, resting a hand over his pack. "Potions and ethers, if needed," he said. "And a Cure Materia."

Sephiroth nodded back, turning towards Bugenhagen. "Ready," he said.

Bugenhagen laughed again. "Shall we?" he asked, pressing a button. The sound of metal scraping against stone filled the small chamber, and the door slid open with a hiss. Cool air wafted up from a wide passage leading downward, until it disappeared into the dark. "Alright," said Bugenhagen, gesturing at the opening. "Come in, come in."

"Aren't you going with us, Grandpa?" asked Nanaki, turning towards him in confusion.

Bugenhagen shook his head. "What? Are you crazy?" he asked. "It's dangerous in there. I told you that! You want an old man like me should go first? I'll be right behind you." He looked at Sephiroth as he said that. Sephiroth nodded.

"Fair enough," he said. He motioned for Cloud and Nanaki to follow, walking into the cave.

XxXxX

"So, anyway, there I was, walking past the campsite when I found them," Yuffie was saying, her voice carrying throughout the small stone room at the inn that the five of them had taken. Tifa grinned, and Shalua leaned closer to hear. Cissnei looked up from her bedroll, a smile on her face as she glanced at the door to make sure it was closed. She'd heard Kunsel and Barret heading back to the guys' room across the hall, but there was no sign yet of Sephiroth, Cloud, Zack, or Aerith, and she couldn't think of anyone else who might listen in.

"And?" asked Tifa. "Then what happened?"

"They were in the buggy," said Yuffie, sitting cross-legged on her own bedroll and looking pleased with herself.

"Zack and Aerith?" asked Shalua.

"No, Zack and Kunsel, who do you _think _I'm talking about?" said Yuffie sarcastically, leaning back. "Of course, Zack and Aerith. And Zack was talking in that low voice he uses when he's trying to be sweet. _Gag_." She stuck a finger in her mouth, miming poking it at the back of her throat.

Tifa reached out, shoving her lightly. "Zack and Aerith are sweet," she said.

"Yeah, so sweet they're going to give me cavities," countered the ninja. She stretched her arms up over her head, lacing her fingers together. "I really need someone else to spy on. What about you, Shalua? Got any dirty little secrets I should know about?"

"Nothing really," said Shalua, looking up. "Life's been fairly boring for me. In that way, at least."

"Oh, come on, there's gotta be someone," said Yuffie. "Anyone in our little group you've got the hots for? And don't say you haven't noticed Sephiroth, because that's a damn lie." She jabbed her finger at Shalua, then blinked as the conversation in the room ceased and the others stopped to stare at her. "What?" she asked. "He's pretty. I still don't like him, but you have to admit, he looks _good_."

Tifa shook her head, looking back at Shalua. She lowered her voice, changing the subject. "Kunsel's not bad either," she said. "Although…" She lowered her voice, shooting Yuffie a look. "Yuffie might have something to say about that."

Yuffie spluttered. "_What_?!" she asked. "Where'd you get _that _idea?"

"You hang out with him a lot," said Tifa, blinking at Yuffie in confusion. "Was I wrong?"

"Yes! Way, _way _off base, Teef!" said Yuffie. "I mean, I hang out with the guy, but we're not—it's not—I'm not—he's _old_!"

"He's not old. He's Zack's age," said Tifa.

"Besides," said Cissnei, smiling as she jumped into the conversation. "You seem like the type that would go for older guys."

"What?" Yuffie rounded onto her, eyes wide. "What makes you think that, Turkey?"

Cissnei shrugged. "Nothing," she said, "Just something I noticed." She turned her attention back to the hallway outside, listening, but she couldn't hear anything. No footsteps, nothing that signaled that Aerith was back from her visit with the elders—or that Sephiroth, Cloud, and Red had returned unharmed. "Most Wutaiian noblewomen marry men a little bit older than they are. And the one time we went out for drinks in Costa del Sol, you didn't have your eye on anyone your age. Was I wrong?"

Yuffie's face flushed a deep red. "I—er—well…"

Tifa leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "What?" she asked. "_Who_?"

"No one, Teef!" said Yuffie. She clasped her hands together, looking down at her fingers. "Well…yet," she admitted. "But anyway—." She raised her voice, to talk over Tifa's next question. "I'd rather talk about you and Cloud!"

This time, it was Tifa's turn to blush. "What about me and Cloud?" she asked.

"I've been wondering that too," said Shalua, scooting closer. "Are the two of you together?"

"No! We're not!" said Tifa, shaking her head. "We're just friends!"

Yuffie snorted. "Yeah, and Sephiroth's harmless. Honestly, between you and Cissy, I'm starting to wonder if they changed the definition of friendship. Because if they did, someone better keep an eye on Zack and Cloud. Just saying."

"Why is it always Zack?" asked Cissnei, folding her arms.

Yuffie grinned at her. "Haven't you heard, Turkey?" she said. "Zack's friends with _everyone_!"

Shalua let out a strangled laugh, pressing her mouth against her mechanical wrist to hide the sound as she doubled over. Tifa's mind obviously went elsewhere too. She flushed. Cissnei smiled, and was about to respond, when a sound coming from outside made her freeze, and raise a hand telling everyone else to quiet down. They did, falling silent as a pair of footsteps made their way down the hallway before stopping. At the sound of a muffled 'Night, Aerith,', the four of them exchanged glances and Yuffie and Tifa looked set to start giggling again. They managed to stop just as Aerith pulled the door open and stepped inside.

She looked troubled and pale, but her green eyes lit up just a little bit as she noticed the four of them sitting around the room, resting on their bedrolls. "Did I miss something?" she asked, walking over to her own bed by the corner.

"Nah," said Yuffie. "We were just talking. About, you know, boys and stuff. How was your meeting?"

"It was…" Aerith trailed off, lowering her eyes to the ground. She shook her head, then got started unbraiding her hair for the night. "I learned some things," she said. "About myself, and the Cetra…Maybe in the morning."

"Good idea," said Yuffie, stretching her arms up over her head. She yawned. "I'm beat. Let's call it a night."

The others murmured agreement, settling back against their bedrolls. Cissnei shuffled, thought about lying down on hers and trying to get some sleep, then changed her mind, getting up instead. "You guys go ahead," she said. "I want to take a quick walk outside. I'll come back."

"We don't have to set a watch," said Tifa, frowning as she turned towards Cissnei. "Not while we're at an inn."

"I know," said Cissnei. She smiled apologetically. "I just can't sleep. Don't want to keep you guys up."

"Waiting up for _Sephiroth_?" asked Yuffie, grinning.

Cissnei managed a small smile, keeping the rest of her expression neutral. "I just want to go for a walk," she said. "The stars from Cosmo Canyon are beautiful. And I'm not sleepy yet. Night."

"Night," said Shalua. The others echoed her. Cissnei ignored Tifa's glance of concern, grabbing her shuriken and her phone and slipping off into the night.

XxXxX

The Cave of the Gi extended well below Cosmo Canyon, going what felt like miles below the surface. Cloud exhaled in relief as the last monster died, stabbing his sword point down in the ground and leaning on it as he took large gulps of air. He could already feel the Materia healing his wounds, but even then, the previous fight had been exhausting. As if the regular monsters of the cave—a snake creature called a Heg, and a demented cat-like thing that Bugenhagen named Sneaky Step, for obvious reasons, the cave was also inhabited by spear-wielding ghosts.

At least, Bugenhagen claimed they were ghosts. The ghosts of the Gi Tribe. The wounds they inflicted certainly felt real enough.

"Are you alright?" asked Sephiroth, glancing over at him.

"I'm fine," said Cloud, resting his hands on his knees. The ghosts themselves might not have been much of a problem, but one of them had managed to slide its spear tip right underneath Cloud's guard and into his side—he could feel the wound stinging with each breath even as the Cure Materia went to work. "Whatever spell that thing used on me faded when Nanaki killed it."

Nanaki flexed his claws into the earth, looking mistrustfully at every shadow. "I don't like this place, Grandfather," he said. "There are too many ghosts here."

"As you shouldn't," said Bugenhagen, nodding. "But it's important that you continue on."

Sephiroth glanced at him as he straightened up, taking hold of his sword in one hand and sliding it out of the ground. "Finished?" he asked.

Cloud nodded, placing the sword at his back. His side was wet and sticky with blood, and his SOLDIER uniform clung to his skin, but the skin had knitted together and the wound was healed. He didn't want to hold anyone back.

"That Materia would be better used on the spirits themselves," said Bugenhagen, as the four of them began walking again. Cloud took up his place as the rear guard, walking beside the old man and watching their backs as Sephiroth led the group forward. "The undead cannot survive a healing—it returns them to their natural state."

"Fire works just as well," said Sephiroth from ahead.

Cloud watched him. The ex-SOLDIER had a stubborn set to his jaw, his eyes fixed straight ahead. He knew that he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that the undead were real. They didn't fit with his idea of the world.

As they walked, Cloud turned his attention to their surroundings. The Gi Cave was made up of several interconnecting passages, some of which hovered over deep pools of water. The cave's light lent the waters a ghastly red pallor, making them look almost like blood and adding to the effect. Ahead of them, Nanaki walked with his ears pricked up and hackles raised, as though he was ready to charge at any movement. The footing of the cave was treacherous as well. Cloud paused to pick his way carefully past a slippery patch of earth that tumbled down into a chasm whose rocks had been filed into spikes. He held his breath as loose rocks slipped out from under his feet, but managed to keep his footing, the rocks tumbling down into the shadows below.

At the head of the group, Sephiroth easily dispatched an ambush of two cat-like creatures, kicking one of the bodies off the path and into the chasm below them. Cloud watched as he swiped the blood off of his sword and replaced it at his back, all in one movement. He made it look easy. Sephiroth looked back at them as they approached, and signaled for the group to come to a halt. Cloud obligingly stopped moving, watching as Sephiroth stepped forward and started surveying the area ahead, his eyes moving over every crack and crevice in the rock. Finally, he stepped back, satisfied, and nodded to himself, looking back at them.

"Cloud, take point," he said, walking back.

Cloud stared up at Sephiroth in disbelief. "Me?" he repeated, sure that he had misheard. When Sephiroth simply stared at him, he asked the second question. "Here?"

"You did well in the Marshes. Consider this another training exercise." Sephiroth gestured at the front of the group, the space directly ahead of him. "You have command."

"I—uh—yes." Cloud nodded, trying to project confidence as he made his way to the front of the group. As soon as he started moving, Nanaki stepped back to take his place next to Bugenhagen, and Sephiroth fell in behind him, a seamless transition. Cloud glanced back at them to make sure they were still following, then turned his attention to the front, all too aware of Sephiroth's eyes focused firmly on his back. He looked around, examining the pathways in front of them. "This way," he said, indicating one and starting to walk.

Everything was going well until five snake-like Hegs leapt out of the shadows of a pile of stones, swarming Cloud at once. He raised his Force Stealer, stopping one from jumping right at his face, and managed to angle his body so that the second's fangs skittered across his pauldron, allowing him to shake it off before its fangs broke skin, but the other three swarmed at his feet, and he had to jump back to avoid them. He looked back, eyes wide, as he realized that Sephiroth and Nanaki were just standing still.

"Sephiroth!" said Cloud, taking a swipe at one of the snakes.

Sephiroth stepped to the side as a snake rushed towards him, kicking it lightly back into the swarm. "I'm sorry," he said to Cloud. "Was that an order?"

Cloud blinked, fighting down a wave of animal panic as he took a step back and cut at a leaping snake with his sword. Blood flew, but the snake itself limped away, trailing blood as it slithered back to its companions. He stabbed one of the snakes through the head, pinning it to the ground as he looked back at Sephiroth and Nanaki."

"Sephiroth, engage the enemy. Red, you too."

"Better," said Sephiroth. He moved forward, Masamune flashing brightly through the air. The heads of the two nearest snakes separated from their bodies, falling to the ground. Cloud pulled his own sword out of the rock with both hands, slashing at the fourth snake. He turned in time to see that Nanaki had lunged as well, the fifth snake—the one Cloud had already injured—hanging limply from his jaws.

"If you want your men to attack, good soldiers will usually know what you mean," Sephiroth told him, as the battle passed and they started walking again. "But you can't assume that they will understand you, especially with a new command, unless your orders are clear. It helps to have orders in place before hand—attack at my signal, attack immediately unless told otherwise, and so on. Understand?"

Cloud paused to negotiate a tricky portion of the path. Once he was across, he looked back at Sephiroth, nodding in response.

"Another thing," said Sephiroth. "If you want to be respected, don't allow yourself to rely on another person's strength. Your troops won't respect you if they see you running to hide behind someone's skirts at the first sign of trouble."

Cloud flushed, remembering his panic with the snakes and his hurried call for help. He imagined doing that on the battlefield and nodded again. "I understand," he said.

The walk continued, until they reached a place where the ground had begun to level out. Cloud called for a halt as Bugenhagen floated forward, examining their surroundings. He watched the old man closely, keeping an eye on the shadows behind him and getting ready to jump between the man and any attackers if he had to. Bugenhagen started to speak.

"As you can see, this cave leads to the back of Cosmo Canyon," he said. "It was unfortunate that the Gi were larger than us. If they attacked through here, we wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Did the Gi make the attempt?" asked Sephiroth, glancing around.

"Certainly," said Bugenhagen. "But that is a story for another time. Let's move on." He glanced at Nanaki as he passed, and Cloud had to hurry to catch up. Nanaki fell in behind Sephiroth, his expression contemplative.

The cave opened up into a large chamber, with several passages burrowing into the walls. Cloud, having already experienced some of Gi Cave's traps, kept his distance, calling the group to a halt and examining the openings. He stepped forward carefully, testing his footing before putting his weight down, and walked over to one of the caves, resting his hand against the wall as he peered into the mouth. His hand came away sticky, gossamer threads trailing from his glove to the wall behind him.

"Spider silk?" he asked, looking back at the others.

Nanaki stepped forward, sniffing the air. "I'd heard of spiders down in the depths," he said. "But I've never seen any larger than a common house spider."

Cloud's eyes traveled to the holes in the cavern wall in front of him. Looking at it this way, they seemed more like burrows than holes—burrows large enough for them to fit through. He tried not to think of the size of the creature that had made them. "It would have to be a really big spider," he said.

"And so?" asked Sephiroth.

Cloud frowned, looking around. He examined the chamber for any other path, but couldn't find one. It appeared to be the spiders or nothing. "We have to go through," he said.

"Which one?" asked Sephiroth again, watching him.

Cloud stepped forward, examining each of the holes. There were five, but upon closer inspection, some looked more used than others, with heavier traces of spider silk around the entrance. He was tempted to ignore the passages that bore traces of spiders, but there he paused. The spiders would know their way through the cave, wouldn't they? As much as he didn't like it, he knew what he had to do.

"This way," he said, pointing to one passage.

The passages were big enough for the four of them to fit single-file, but Cloud had to duck his head to get through safely. It wasn't enough. He could still feel the top of his head brushing the ceiling as he walked. He placed one hand on the wall for balance, looking back at the others. Nanaki and Bugenhagen were fine, although the old man had to occasionally work to keep his orb from drifting into the walls, but Sephiroth was nearly bent double. If they met the spider in here, Cloud realized, they would have to fight in an enclosed space, and Sephiroth wouldn't be able to draw his sword without injuring one of them. He shuddered, hoping that wouldn't happen, and made his way through.

They navigated the maze of passages without incident. After getting through the first narrow passage and reaching a spot where he could stand upright and move his arms, he reached back, drawing his sword. When he entered the next passageway, he held it in front of him in his sword hand, using his left hand for balance against the wall and getting ready to attack in case anything came up the other way. He couldn't quite read Sephiroth's expression as the older SOLDIER watched him, but he thought he might have been impressed.

By the time they reached the end, Cloud called a halt. The four of them crouched down in the last passage, Cloud slightly exposed as he peered around the corner. A golden web blocked the passage in front of them, guarded by a huge spider with long legs and gleaming fangs. Cloud hesitated, then looked back at Sephiroth behind him.

"There's no way to get around it, is there?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Are you asking for my advice?" asked Sephiroth.

Cloud nodded, and Sephiroth leaned over, peering out over his shoulder. He looked from the spider, to the web, to the passage, then leaned back. "A smaller person with better equipment—Cissnei or Yuffie, maybe—might be able to slip through. The four of us, no. We'll have to fight."

Cloud exhaled in resignation, leaning back into the shadows. "Bugenhagen can't fight," he said, looking back at the old man.

"No, he can't," said Sephiroth. "So, he should…?"

"Stay here, in the passage where it's safe," finished Cloud. "Until we call him."

"Good. And Nanaki and myself?"

"With me," said Cloud, adjusting his grip on his Force Stealer. He gauged the distance between his hiding place and the spider, already aware that he would have to lead the attack from here.

Sephiroth watched him. "Do you remember what I said about command in battle?" he asked.

Cloud nodded, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword.

"And?"

"Watch my back," said Cloud, drawing the blade from his back and charging into the battle.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	84. File 024: Cave of Tears pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This chapter was a female dog to write, particularly because I wasn't too keen on writing the fight scenes in this chapter, but REALLY want to get started writing on the scene in the next chapter, which, for those of you that don't know, is going to be a Sephissnei breakthrough I've been planning since I started this story (SO KEEP READING, DARN IT).

Anyway, enjoy. This is the chapter in which Cloud questions his life choices and wonders whether or not it's too late to develop arachnophobia.

Thanks go to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, shadowneko003, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, RedKaddict, Irish-Brigid, Leon Kaye, Riku Uzumaki, Eavenne, ryuukoshi **and **K **for your reviews and support! I'm glad you liked the chapter and the scenes (especially Cloud getting mentored), and as always, thank you again for reviewing!

XxXxX

**File 024: Cave of Tears**

They kept her in a white room, slightly larger than the room she had stayed in back in Midgar, but not by much. The room had no windows and only one metal door, and Marlene had paced the entire length of it over the days that they had kept her here. The walls felt like metal. She tried knocking on them once, but had only ended up hurting her fingers. Air came in through an airconditioning vent from the floor, after a while, days of boredom had prompted her to go find it.

She hadn't left the room since she arrived, but every day, someone would come in to bring her food, and once, Argento had come in again thinking she would need help going to the bathroom. Marlene had thrown a pillow at her for that, and had screamed at her that she knew how to go to the bathroom on her own. She'd also stomped on Argento's foot for good measure. She didn't come back after that. The lady, the one who said her name was Jenova, said that Argento had done something to Shion's arm. Marlene hadn't forgiven her for that. She _liked _Shion.

She liked the lady too, although there was something about her that she thought was strange. She was nice and reminded her of Aerith. And she would come in to talk to her, or bring her toys to play with, or brush her hair. She even answered some of Marlene's questions, although she wouldn't let her out of the room. But there was something about her eyes that made her scared. Once, she'd had a nightmare, and had woken up after seeing the lady's face, but she didn't tell anyone about that.

The man in red was strange as well, and Marlene wasn't sure she liked him. He never hurt her, but sometimes he'd come in to check on her, and he was always smiling. She didn't like that smile. He got angry easily too, Marlene had seen it when he yelled at one of the SOLDIERs who came to tell him something. Later that night, she'd asked the lady about it. She'd laughed, a musical sound that echoed in the small room.

"Genesis has a temper, but he won't be angry at you as long as you behave yourself," she said, running a brush through Marlene's hair. She touched a stray strand, tousling it and pulling it back. "You do know how to behave yourself, don't you sweetheart?"

She nodded. "Mm-hmm," she said. "I know how to say 'please' and 'thank you', and how not to bother anyone."

"That's a good girl," said the lady. "If you keep doing that, everything will be fine. Do you want me to braid your hair?"

Marlene nodded. "Yes, please," she said. When her hair was braided, it made her feel like Aerith, and that made her feel brave. Aerith had been brave when the man in the suit came and took her away. Marlene promised herself that she was going to be brave too.

It was hard to keep track of time without a sun, but the lights went off at the same time every night, and went on at the same time every morning, so Marlene thought that days and maybe weeks had passed—she still wasn't sure if eight came before seven or not and had lost count sometime after six anyway. But she hoped it wouldn't be too long, because she didn't really know what five-tens was called yet, even though she was sure she was nowhere _near _there yet. (Five-ty?) Shion had been teaching her to count in both Gaian and Wutaiian, sometimes, when she was bored, she recited the Wutaiian numbers to herself, breathing the way he sometimes did in the mornings.

_Ichi…ni…san…shi…go…roku…shichi…hachi…kyuu…jyuu. _He'd told her to breathe deeply like that to relax when she was worried about her dad. He said it made him less scared when he was worried about something.

One day, somewhere in her second week of captivity (Marlene thought), the door opened and someone new came into her room, with a tray of food. Marlene looked up from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her eyes widening. The visitor was a girl, one who didn't look _that _much older than her, with orange-y hair and the same bright blue eyes that all SOLDIERs had. She was dressed in gray and white and blue, and wasn't smiling. She walked in and let the door close behind her, setting the tray of food down on the desk.

"H—Hello," Marlene ventured tentatively.

The girl didn't say anything, although her eyes did flicker towards Marlene. Marlene's hands tightened around the coloring book in her hands, then she exhaled—deeply, like Shion said—and held the coloring book out to her. "Want to color with me?" she asked.

This time, the girl did look her way. "I have other duties to attend to," she said.

"Oh, okay." Marlene put the coloring book away. "What do you do here?" she asked, curious about this new visitor.

"That's classified."

"That means secret, right?" asked Marlene. She scooted forward. "That's okay. I'm good at keeping secrets."

The look the girl gave her was almost puzzled. Marlene wondered why she didn't want to play. Was it just that she didn't know _how _to play? "My orders prevent me from revealing the details of my mission," she said. "I'm only here because the people who regularly bring you your meals are away, and I was available instead."

"Oh, well…thank you," said Marlene, settling back against her pillow.

She thought the girl might reply. Instead, she simply turned away, heading back to the door. Marlene blinked. "You're supposed to say 'you're welcome' when someone says 'thank you'," she said. "That's what Miss Tifa taught me."

"Why?" asked the girl, glancing back at her.

"Because it's good manners!" said Marlene. "Everyone knows that!"

The girl frowned, a very slight creasing of her brow. "It isn't protocol," she said.

"So what _do _you say when someone thanks you?" asked Marlene.

"No one around here is much in the habit of offering thanks."

"Well, that's mean." Marlene folded her arms. "You should always say 'thank you' when someone does something nice for you. That's what you do!"

"Then I will make a note of that," said the girl, nodding her head.

The girl talked kind of funny, but Marlene didn't think she was a bad person. Maybe she was just shy. Marlene knew what it was like to be shy—when her dad introduced her to new people, she was always scared at first and didn't say much. She smiled at her. "My name's Marlene." she said. "What's yours?"

"Shelke."

"Hi, Shelke," said Marlene. She held up four fingers. "I'm four—well, four and a half. How old are you?"

"I was born sixteen years ago."

Marlene blinked, staring down at her hands. sixteen was six and ten—three hands plus one finger. That was a grown-up! "You can't be _sixteen_!" she said. "You're a kid!"

"My appearance is irrelevant," said Shelke. "I am not a child."

Marlene frowned, tilting her head to the side. Shelke used a lot of big words, but she got the meaning well enough. "You look like a kid to me," she said.

"My appearance is a result of the enhancements performed on me," said Shelke. "As such, I appear as I did when I was nine years of age."

"That's like SOLDIER, right?" asked Marlene, "Are you in SOLDIER? You have the same eyes!"

"I am a Tsviet," said Shelke. "Although I have many of the same enhancements as SOLDIERs do."

"Are you strong?" asked Marlene, slipping her feet over the side of the bed and sitting up. Her bed was higher off the ground than she was used to—her feet didn't quite reach the floor. "Seph and Zack were in SOLDIER, and they're _really _strong. Cloud too. Seph could beat _anybody_."

Shelke definitely frowned at her this time, as though she had never seen anything like Marlene before. "My combat proficiency is adequate. I would most likely lose to Sephiroth, but my chances of winning against Cloud Strife are favorable. I fail to see how that's relevant."

Marlene grinned. "No one can beat Seph!" she declared.

"Perhaps," said Shelke. "Sephiroth's combat abilities are exceptional, but the probability of his defeat increases with the number of opponents against him."

Marlene pouted. "If it's not one-on-one, it doesn't count!" she said. "That's not fair."

"I fail to see how that's relevant," said Shelke again.

"You say that a lot," said Marlene. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know why it matters."

"Well you should," said Marlene, folding her arms and looking away. She looked back as Shelke turned around and started to move. "Do you have to go?"

"I have other duties," said Shelke.

"Oh, right. I forgot," said Marlene, nodding. "So, when you're done with work, will you come visit me again?"

"If I am ordered to do so."

"Okay," said Marlene. "Can we be friends?"

Shelke stared at her again. "I don't know what that entails," she said.

"It means we're friends," said Marlene. "We say we're friends, and then we're friends. That's what it means."

"You are a prisoner," said Shelke. "Your care and survival is part of my responsibility. Friendship is not."

"Then I say we're friends," said Marlene, smiling. "So we are. See you soon, Shelke!"

Shelke said nothing, turning around and leaving the room.

XxXxX

Cloud had a brief moment to contemplate what exactly he was doing as he charged towards the spider, the familiar weight of his Force Stealer clenched in both hands, before the spider looked up and turned towards him, rearing up on its legs and baring its fangs. It hissed, and Cloud ducked down out of instinct, narrowly dodging a thin string-shaped blast of venom as it rushed towards him. He dipped his sword briefly, the blade sweeping through the air as he angled it upwards and up at one of the spider's legs. It danced backward, immediately wary, and avoided the razor-sharp edge by the barest margin.

He had been expecting something more like a giant tarantula, but the creature in front of him looked more like a large daddy longlegs than anything else. The creature only had four long spindly legs, a comparably small main body suspended between them. The spider's legs and thorax were covered in pale green chitin, and each leg came to a murderous point. Black fangs glittered inside of the spider's mouth, dripping with venom. He looked back and saw Sephiroth and Nanaki rounding the corner, then gripped his sword tighter. His mind raced. The venom, if it came to that, would make an extended fight difficult. Better to start with an all-out assault.

The red Materia set into the Force Stealer flared bright as Cloud took a step back, and the sound of thundering feet filled the cave. A chocobo came into view, rushing up behind the spider's back. It leapt in the air, kicking at the main body of the spider as it lunged at Cloud. The blow disoriented it, and it slipped, stumbling to the side just as Nanaki reared up and attacked its flank. Cloud turned out of the way as another leg, edged with a sharp surface that might have been a blade, came rushing towards him. The edge scraped the flat of his own sword as he raised it up to protect himself. On his left, Sephiroth darted in, but didn't immediately move for the main body of the spider. Instead, the ex-SOLDIER engaged two of its legs, Masamune darting out in bright lines and circles to deflect any strikes aimed at him. He didn't actually move to cut the legs themselves, Cloud noted. He was just keeping out of the way, and tying up enough of the creature to make the fight easier. Cloud caught sight of him actually _pulling back, _drawing Masamune back to himself to avoid cutting off one of the spider legs right at the knees. The action gave Cloud new insight towards the situation, and he looked back at the monster.

_This fight isn't challenging to him. He's using it as practice for me. _

Armed with that knowledge, Cloud charged forward, raising his sword above his head. The Force Stealer's edge glowed a bright orange as he drew it down, slashing three times at the spider. The strikes left trails of light in the air, and after the last one, the three lines spun outward, the light causing the spider to reel. Cloud took to the ground, rolling off to the left as the spider stabbed down at him, and Nanaki immediately moved in, three lines of blue light surrounding him as he pounced, sinking his teeth deep into the spider's side. Sephiroth dodged out of the way of one of the spider's flailing legs as Nanaki pushed it forward, the tip of his sword barely clipping one of the spider's legs away from Cloud as it tried to slide underneath the gap between his shoulder pauldron and sword strap. Cloud nodded in thanks, pushing himself to his feet and sweeping out at the spider's legs.

The Stinger reared, the Force Stealer biting through chitin to cause a deep cut, just where its ankles would have been if it had been human. Cloud pulled back, the creature's retaliatory strike skittering off the edge of his blade, but a single sharp point managed to slip over the block slicing a thin line across his cheek and barely missing his eye. He turned, and felt a soft thud behind him as he and Sephiroth came back to back.

"Watch yourself," Sephiroth told him.

Cloud nodded, whirling out of the way as another attack came through. The spider kicked out with another one of its legs, sending Nanaki crashing back against the wall. He lay panting on his side for a moment, covered with a thin filmy substance. Cloud's eyes widened at the sight of the venom, and he started forward to help Nanaki, but was stopped by two of the spider's three usable legs slamming into the ground in front of him, barring its path. He ducked out of the way as it reared, trying to find an opening along its side, but the spider turned and whirled, screeching all the while, and Cloud was having a hard enough time keeping away from it. He grit his teeth, diving under one of the strikes and using the Force Stealer as a shield. The spider's leg came crashing down from above, the impact rattling his stance slightly, but the creature itself didn't have the weight to fully impact him.

He darted forward, ignoring a tirade of angry hissing as the spider attempted to draw its legs closer to defend itself, but its legs were too long. He was safely inside of its range. Cloud wasn't too far away from the main body now. He could see the marks in its chitinous armor from his and Nanaki's earlier attacks. If he could only put in a strong strike to its main body, that might be enough to cause it to go down.

He was inside of the spider's range. There was no way for the spider to stop him, unless—.

It reared up, hissing, and spat, the air filling with the acrid tang of venom. Cloud's eyes widened, and he barely had time to register what was happening before an elbow dug into his back, shoving him to the ground. Cloud heard a splat, followed by a grunt and hiss of pain and the clang of metal hitting earth. He fell flat and struck the ground hard, then pushed back, rolling back into a standing position and looking back. His eyes widened. Sephiroth was down on one knee, his head turned away from him. Masamune was down by its side, the sword touching the ground. His right hand, his free one, was pressed against his face. He was covered in clear, filmy venom, and where it touched skin, it was hissing.

The spider raised one of its legs, preparing to stab down.

Cloud's eyes narrowed in anger. He charged forward, reaching up with his sword and stabbing down hard. The sword pierced through the spider's shell, coming straight up through its underbelly and into the small area that encompassed its main body. The spider twitched, its entire body spasming once before it collapsed, crumpling to the ground. He reached up, yanking his sword from the spider. It came away glistening with venom and other fluids, and he grimaced, swinging the blade at a patch of empty ground to clear it before turning towards Sephiroth.

The ex-SOLDIER was already getting to his feet, his hand still curled around his face. Masamune clattered to the ground, and he reached into his pocket, drawing out a potion. Sephiroth bit the cap off with his teeth, downing it in one gulp. Some of the redness around his face began to fade, and after a few moments, he slowly removed his hand from over his face, shaking his head and blinking quickly. His eyes looked bloodshot, the whites red, but as Cloud watched, even that began to recede. He reached up, unsure what to say as he placed the Force Stealer back at his back.

"You…" Cloud began.

"The venom was stronger than I anticipated," said Sephiroth in response. He turned away, blinking again to clear his eyes. "So I intervened. See to Nanaki."

Cloud nodded, jogging off towards where Nanaki lay. Venom matted Nanaki's fur, and he was breathing heavily, but after a few seconds underneath the glow of a Cure Materia, his condition already seemed to improve. Cloud heard the chink of glass against stone as Sephiroth tossed another empty potion bottle away and then came to join him, Bugenhagen trailing along behind them. By the time the party was assembled again, Nanaki was already on his feet. Cloud made sure Nanaki was definitely alright before turning to join them.

"I'm sorry," he began, turning towards Sephiroth.

The ex-SOLDIER's brows rose. "For what?" he asked.

"For doing something that made you have to intervene." He couldn't think of any better way to phrase it. Sephiroth frowned at him.

"You saw the limits of its range and tried to slip past them," he said. "Those were good instincts. A team supports each other. No battle goes exactly according to plan."

Cloud lowered his head. "Uh—sure."

"Let's keep going," said Sephiroth. Cloud waited, then noticed he made no move to start.

_Looks like I still have command, then, _he thought, straightening up and leading the way further into the cave.

XxXxX

The spider's cave let out in a large chamber, with a raised platform of earth surrounded by water. Here, Bugenhagen paused to lecture one more time, and Cloud stopped, turning around to listen. "This warrior went through the cave all alone," the elderly man was saying. "Fighting attackers one after another…"

Nanaki's ears perked up. "Grandpa," he said. "That warrior…"

Bugenhagen let out another hooting laugh. "We're almost there…" he said, brushing past Cloud and entering the chamber. Cloud hurried to follow, stepping in front of the old man as Sephiroth and Nanaki fell into step beside him.

There was nothing in the chamber but a huge carved face in the wall. The face was made of stone, and unmoving, but Cloud felt a chill just by looking at it. He reached up one hand, placing it on the hilt of his sword and looked back to see that he wasn't the only one. Sephiroth looked wary as well. Even Bugenhagen seemed surprised to see it there.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Grandpa…" Nanaki began. "Is he…?"

Bugenhagen shook his head, looking as though he was trying to figure something out. "After death," he muttered to himself. "The ghosts of the Gi…like stagnant air…"

Sephiroth glanced at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

Bugenhagen ignored him, his eyes widening as he looked up. "This can't be!" he said. It was at that moment that the stone face began to move, eyes shining brightly and fanged mouth moving. It shook and contorted, becoming something almost like a human face, but like no face he had ever seen before. Sephiroth growled something that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

"Cloud, back!" he barked.

Cloud took a step back, hastening to comply, but before he could do anything, the face lunged, and it was all he could do to draw his sword, stopping the point of a lance before it could drive straight into his heart.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	85. File 024: Cave of Tears pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **For those of you that occasionally like background music when you read things (and aren't bothered by background music that has words in it, like I am), I highly recommend **Demons by Imagine Dragons** for the Sephissnei scene, especially when it gets going.

Thanks so much to **Furionknight, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, Guest, Draconic, Eavenne** and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews and support! I hope you guys like the scene!

XxXxX

**File 024: Cave of Tears**

Gi Nattak came with quick strikes, his lance stabbing out three times. Cloud managed to block each one, but the second caught him off balance, and the third sent him flying, stumbling back towards where Sephiroth and Nanaki were. He struck the ground hard, kicking up dirt and dust as he slid against the ground. He managed, somehow, to keep his grip on his sword. To either side, he saw Sephiroth and Nanaki rushing in, Sephiroth automatically going towards the right as Nanaki went towards the left. Nattak raised his arms, and two orbs of flames flew out from either side of him, one rushing towards Nanaki and the other towards Sephiroth.

The orbs seemed more annoying than they were harmful. The one on Sephiroth's side dodged every attempt to slash at it, while Nanaki's wove around his face and under his snapping jaws, avoiding teeth and claws expertly. Sephiroth stepped back, giving an annoyed slash with his sword as one of the flames singed his skin, but the shape was formless. It ducked under Masamune, dodging the next slash and flying off. Cloud immediately pushed himself to his feet, charging at the monster itself. He swung his sword directly at Gi Nattak, but the ghost raised his spear like a shield, blocking him.

It swung its spear powerfully to one side, the force behind the motion shifting him slightly but allowing him to keep his feet. Sephiroth immediately darted in, having freed himself from the Soul Fire, and stabbed Masamune through the gap in the creature's armor. It bellowed, but didn't collapse, thrashing about and trying to shake Sephiroth off. He held fast, pulling Masamune out of the gap between the armor plates and shifting his weight to his other foot. He ducked down against the lance, stabbing through another gap, but the creature moved in time, and Masamune hit armor instead. Cloud used the opportunity to slash at the Soul Fire still tormenting Nanaki, the movement putting him a step behind Sephiroth. The ex-SOLDIER glanced over his shoulder, noticing, as Cloud did, that the free Soul Fire had gone to menace Bugenhagen, shooting straight towards the old man.

"Cloud!" Sephiroth said, turning his attention back to Nattak.

Cloud immediately ran to Bugenhagen, his mind choosing that moment of all moments to remind himself of what Sephiroth had said about good soldiers and clear orders. He swiped out at the Soul Fire, but not before it managed to shake Bugenhagen from his perch on his orb, the old man slipping back to the ground. Cloud didn't dare stop to check on him; he didn't have time. Instead, he stepped back, tangling with the Soul Fire and holding it at bay as Sephiroth and Nanaki engaged Nattak, Sephiroth keeping him busy with quick slashes, parries, and thrusts as Nanaki darted around him to bite and claw at his flank.

Nattak stumbled back, and the Soul Fire left Cloud, zooming back towards its master. Cloud slashed his sword out in front of him out of habit, turning to watch the fight. Both Soul Fires had suddenly swarmed Sephiroth, and they were swirling around him, flying in front of his face and attempting to disorient him and stop him from moving. It was a moment's distraction, but it was enough. For a moment, Nattak's entire attention was focused on Nanaki. Nanaki went flying from one of the attacks, slamming against the cave floor several feet away.

He didn't get back up. Cloud's eyes widened as he realized that Nanaki was trailing blood, from a wound on his side. Sephiroth noticed as well. He turned, swatting away one of the Soul Fires angrily and rushing towards Nattak, but the damage had been done. Nattak floated forward, heading towards Nanaki.

Cloud was closer. He needed to do something. He needed to cure Nanaki somehow—a—a spell. Or even a potion.

His hand landed over something in his pocket, something they had found in the cave earlier, half-buried in the earth. It was still good, so he'd kept it. An idea struck him suddenly.

A potion.

Cloud didn't stop to think, didn't stop to wonder exactly what he was doing. Instead, he darted across the chamber, taking a running leap and landing on the ground between Nanaki and the advancing spirit. He reached into his pocket, feeling for the vial of potion they had found earlier, uncapped it, and turned.

The X-Potion flashed in the air, splattering against Nattak. The ghost immediately stumbled back, letting out a keening wail and dropping its lance to claw at its eyes. Its skin seemed to melt away where the potion had struck it, hissing and sizzling as though it had burned. And then, it scattered in a cloud of smoke and shadow, its clothes falling to the ground as the ghost itself disappeared from sight.

Cloud took deep breaths, his hand still clenched around the glass potion bottle. He released it, letting it fall to the ground with a tinkling sound, and pushed himself up, looking around. Nanaki, behind him, was pushing himself to his feet as well, shaking his head. Bugenhagen seemed to be shaken, but alright. Sephiroth was already helping the fragile old man back onto his orb, which upon closer inspection wasn't actually broken. The ex-SOLDIER's eyes flicked upward, meeting his, and as Cloud watched, Sephiroth released Bugenhagen, walking over to him. Cloud tried not to look away as Sephiroth met his eyes.

"What made you decide to throw a potion at it?" he asked.

"I—." Cloud shook his head. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I remembered what—what Bugenhagen said. About ghosts."

Sephiroth held his gaze for a few moments more, his expression stern, before he nodded once, patting Cloud on the shoulder. "Good thinking," he said, turning away.

"Thank you, Cloud, Sephiroth," said Bugenhagen, nodding towards them. He brushed dirt from the ground off of his robe, his frail hands shaking as he floated forward. "Nanaki, you have grown strong too," he said. "Now I know that it wasn't a mistake bringing you here. Come, I have something I want to show you. Right over here."

The wall where the stone face had stood was now open, revealing a passage large enough for three of them to walk abreast. Nanaki walked level with Cloud, Sephiroth lingering back to watch the rear in case there were any more of those monsters around. He didn't put away his sword.

The passage opened up into a stone chamber, with a pillar in the center of it. The chamber opened into empty air, moonlight shining down at them from a full moon above. At first, Cloud thought that there was a statue of Nanaki at the top, but then he realized that that couldn't be right. The statue was larger, fiercer, and the mane and some of the ornaments were different. The statue was permanently in a hunch, eyes closed and teeth pulled in a snarl of anger. Stone arrows pierced it at four points, pinning it to the ground. He stopped walking.

Nanaki didn't. He darted forward, bounding up some of the rocks that formed the pillar so that he was closer to the statue. Cloud moved to follow, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He looked back to see Sephiroth standing there, giving the barest shake of his head. The two of them stood back, letting Nanaki approach the peak on his own.

"This is…"

"He kept them from taking even one step into Cosmo Canyon," said Bugenhagen reverently from behind them. "But he was never able to return to town." He hopped forward, gesturing with one long arm. "Look, Nanaki. Look at your father, at the warrior Seto."

"That's…" Nanaki's voice sounded thick with grief and disbelief. "That's Seto?"

"Seto continued to fight the Gi Tribe here," said Bugenhagen. The old man's voice trembled with emotion. "…To protectthis Canyon. Even after the Gi's poisonous arrows turned his body to stone. Even after they all ran away, Seto continued to protect us. And he continues to protect us even now."

Behind him, Sephiroth inclined his head in respect, but did not speak. Cloud could only stare, watching as Nanaki lowered his head so low that it nearly touched the ground. His whole body seemed to slump, as if with defeat. "Even now…" he repeated. His voice shook. Hearing it, Cloud could believe that he was only a teenager to his kind.

"You thought that he was a coward and ran away. But he alone risked his life to protect Cosmo Canyon. That is your father," said Bugenhagen. "Seto."

"That…that is Seto?" Nanaki's head jerked up, and he whirled around towards Bugenhagen. "Did Mother know?" he asked.

"Ho ho hooo. She knew. The two of them made me promise to keep this cave shut. They asked me to seal it myself and not to tell a soul. They said we should forget about this cave." Nanaki said nothing, staring silently ahead. Bugenhagen watched him, then turned towards the two of them. "Cloud," he said. "Sephiroth. Would the two of you mind leaving us alone?"

Sephiroth nodded, turning and leaving the chamber by the same passage. He took Cloud by the arm, half-dragging him along until his feet caught up with his body. He pulled out of Sephiroth's grip, walking beside the SOLDIER as they made their way back.

Nanaki's mournful howls filled the chamber.

XxXxX

The first time he saw the shuriken, it was high overhead, sailing in an arc towards the top of the Canyon as he made his way up the slope. It spun delicately overhead, doubling back at the end of its arc and sailing straight towards its owner. The second time he saw it, it was just a few feet above him, closer now but still out of reach. The third time, he caught it in his hand, holding it loosely by the handgrip. He already knew what waited for him at the top.

He found Cissnei standing outside on one of the paths that overlooked the Canyon, her arms folded and a slightly confused expression on her face. She looked up at his approach, and when she noted the shuriken in his hands, she relaxed slightly, offering him a tense smile.

"It's late for practice," he commented.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I couldn't sleep," she said. "And that was really more of a game. Didn't you play those?"

His boots scuffed the earth below them as he looked out over the valley. Without thinking, he found himself answering. Over the past five years, he realized, it had become easier and easier to answer questions with her. "When we were younger, Genesis, Angeal and I used to sneak into the training room. Sometimes, we'd throw our swords at targets for fun. Usually a dumbapple. Genesis and Angeal always had plenty of those."

"The apples were on a stand?" asked Cissnei.

He snorted. "Hardly. Someone's head."

Cissnei gave him a look of stunned disbelief.

"I didn't say we were very smart. Like all young men our age, we thought we were immortal. It didn't help that we very nearly were."

"How old were you?" asked Cissnei.

"Twenty. Twenty-one."

"That's not much younger than I am now." Her smile faded, and she glanced away. "Back then, I would have been…twelve. Thirteen. Still in training either way." A pained look crossed her expression, just briefly. Sephiroth thought back to how she had been at the gates of Cosmo Canyon, when Nanaki's real name was revealed. She'd been angry then, with good reason. He wondered how many of the others knew that she had changed her name.

Did Zack know? He felt a sudden surge of something ugly at the thought of her telling him, and forced it back down. He spoke slowly, watching her all the while to make sure he didn't overstep his boundaries. "Were you already called Cissnei then?"

Silence. Sephiroth looked away from her, keeping his eyes on the horizon. The only lights came from the city behind them. The valley and the lands beyond were cast in gloom. He wondered dimly if Nanaki had returned from the cave yet. He and Cloud had left him there to mourn, just as crystalline tears had begun to fall, coming, Bugenhagen said, from the stone warrior.

He heard her suck in a breath, and looked up. She had her hands drawn to her chest, the thumb of one hand massaging the palm of the other as though she was just stretching sore muscles after practice. But her eyes were downcast and far away, and her shoulders slumped. It struck Sephiroth just how small she really was. For a moment, she looked half a child, dwarfed by the world.

But the moment passed, and she exhaled, her shoulders shaking with the breath. When she spoke, her voice was soft, but in the quiet, he could hear it as clearly as if he was standing next to her. "I told you I'd tell you my name someday," she said. "Do you remember that?"

He nodded. He didn't know why, but he remembered that night. And the next one, and the one after that, all the moments since then that he had been close to her.

"Do you remember what I said after?" she asked, not looking at him. "About how I carry a lot of things on my back?"

Her shoulders slumped, her eyes fixed on the ground below. Sephiroth watched her, watched a breeze tug and play at her reddish hair in a way that he found very distracting, and then it struck him. He glanced down at the shuriken still in his hand, the familiar red and white points gleaming in the night.

"Rekka…" he said.

The name sent a tremor through her, and her hands clasped together tighter. He began to move closer towards her without realizing it, and told himself when he did that it was only because he thought she was about to fall. But when she looked up, he stopped himself in place. He'd thought the shuriken was simply named for its color. Rekka. Blazing fire. It seemed like a feminine name, he supposed, but the shuriken in question had been a woman's weapon.

But Wutaiian weapons were often named after their creators.

"The woman who found me was Wutaiian," said Cissnei. "I'd been left on the…in the street. They told me she named me after my hair." She twirled a strand of deep red hair around her finger. "…It was much brighter when I was a baby. She would have taken me with her, they said, only she didn't have the money to care for a child. I sometimes think my life would have been very different if she had. But fire's a weapon. It can only consume. When I became a Turk, I wanted…"

"Wanted to change that?" asked Sephiroth as she trailed off.

"Wanted to be free." Cissnei shook her head. "I could name myself after a bird, but that didn't give me wings. Or freedom. I changed my name because I wanted to change myself."

"Did it work?" asked Sephiroth, glancing at her.

"Maybe it did." She exhaled. "Rekka was a scared orphan child. She didn't have any parents, any family. She had nothing, was nothing, would be nothing."

"And…Cissnei?"

She took in a shuddering breath. "Cissnei…had a home. She had a life. She had people who cared about her. She had a father named Veld, an uncle named Shion, brothers named Tseng and Reno and Nico and Xander. She had sisters named Lydia and Eira and Chris, a roof over her head, food on her plate. Her life had meaning, and she had a future. Or she thought she did." She shook her head. "I haven't told anyone about that name in years. The only ones who know about it are the Turks who knew me as a child. You're the first…"

Sephiroth said nothing, not sure what he should say to that. He turned away from her, because it was either that, or move closer. Her eyes were downcast, her expression resigned, as though all the walls she had built around herself were crumbling down slowly, and she realized she couldn't do anything but watch. It made him want to—. He paused. Wanted to what?

_Hold her. _

His hand curled into a loose fist at his side, the memory of Costa del Sol coming back in force. Heat, and warmth, her arms and her eyes…He wanted…he didn't know _what _he wanted. He wanted an enemy to fight, something he could cut down with a sword, something he could save her from. But he couldn't save her from her demons, not when his were still so restless.

He wanted to shelter her, but he couldn't. Not from herself.

"Do you regret telling me?" he asked. His voice sounded strained to his ear, and he hoped she didn't notice it. She bit her lip, glancing at the ground near her right boot.

"No…" she said. "No, not at all. I…I thought I left Rekka behind forever. But if it's you…" She shook her head again. "You can call me Rekka if you want." A wind blew, moving slowly through her hair and fanning across her skin. She wrapped her arms closer to herself, whether from the cold or from something else, he couldn't say. "If it's you…I don't mind."

Sephiroth said nothing for a few long moments, not turning to face her. The stars for which Cosmo Canyon was named after wheeled overhead, bright pinpricks in the darkness. He thought about her, about the child she had been. He had never seen her as a child, although he felt like he must have. They'd worked in the same building. She was in training in the early days of his time in SOLDIER. They must have encountered each other at some point. But it had never been in his nature to notice, never in his nature to wonder what a child was doing in the building, never in his nature to think about anything besides his next battle.

How many times had they crossed paths, and he'd never noticed? The young hero, still approaching the pinnacle of his fame, and the child in training to be a Turk? They had both been excellent at their jobs, both created to be that way. They'd never asked questions, simply obeyed.

Was she feeling the same things he was now? Asking the same questions? What it meant to care…to question…to feel?

What it meant to be human?

She waited for him to say something. The wind whipped at his hair and coat; the leather snapping back against itself as he looked up, meeting her eyes. He took a breath, she held hers. Then, he reached out, holding her shuriken out for her to take.

"There's nothing wrong with Cissnei."

XxXxX

The sun was barely starting to crest the eastern horizon when the party assembled by the bonfire, some of them more awake than others. Tifa stood with Aerith, watching as Cloud walked between Sephiroth, Cissnei, and Barret, talking with them and making sure of the details of their departure. She smiled, folding her arms. Ever since he returned from his trip down into the caves, he'd seemed a little surer of himself. Sephiroth had been mildly evasive when she'd asked him about it earlier that day, saying she should talk to Cloud. She wasn't sure what had happened down there, but if it gave Cloud some confidence, she was grateful for it.

"Did you talk to Zack yet?" asked Tifa, turning her attention away from Cloud and looking back at Aerith.

The young Cetra shook her head. "About how he acted in the observatory?" she asked. "He was probably just tired. He was fine when we got out."

"Yes, but—."

"Tifa, its fine, really," said Aerith, cutting her off with a smile. "Besides, we had other things to worry about, like seeing the elders." Her expression darkened a little bit at that, and she glanced away, pretending to watch Barret check over his gun arm. Tifa frowned, remembering that Aerith had never told them what the elders had said. She was about to ask if her friend was alright, when Aerith looked up again, inclining her head towards one of the stones nearest the fire.

"What's wrong with Yuffie?" she asked.

Tifa looked. The young ninja was quiet for once, seated on top of a rock with her arms around her legs and her head down on her knees. She had a blanket draped over her shoulders and hair mussed from sleep, and wasn't moving. Tifa rested a hand on her waist, smiling slightly in spite of herself. "One too many Cosmo Candles," she said. "After we went to sleep, she slipped out and went down to the common room. Barret and Kunsel went down for drinks and found her sneaking them from the kitchen."

"Ah," said Aerith, smiling wryly as well. "I see."

They watched as Sephiroth passed by, then stopped, turning towards her. He said something in a commanding tone of voice, and although they couldn't hear exactly what he told her, they did see her lift her head briefly and uncurl one of her arms from around her legs to offer him a rude gesture with one finger. He raised his brow, then said something else and walked off. As he passed them, he caught them looking and stopped.

"Double watches for a week," he said, inclining his head towards Yuffie. "She can take over for someone on the regular rotation. A different person each night."

Tifa nodded, masking her smile. Aerith did as well. Once he had gone, Aerith grinned. "Well, you heard the _General_," she said.

"Shh," said Tifa. "He'll get you on insubordination."

"He will too," said Cissnei from behind them. She was smiling, as the two of them turned to face her. "He's in his element right now. He hasn't been like this in a long time." Her smile deepened as she watched him, and she reached over her shoulder, her fingers brushing lightly over her shuriken. Tifa and Aerith looked at her, then exchanged knowing glances, this time keeping their smiles to themselves.

"Are we ready to go?" asked Sephiroth, turning towards Shalua.

Shalua nodded. "The buggy's fixed," she said. "We can leave." She had dark circles under her eyes, and Tifa knew that she had gotten up very early that morning to make sure of that. It looked like Yuffie wouldn't be the only one spending part of their drive asleep.

He nodded. "Then let's," he said. "I'd rather not stay in one place for too long."

"So this is it…" said Aerith, looking around as the others prepared to leave. "Red…"

"That's just the way it goes," grumbled Barret, looking back at the Canyon as they started to walk.

"It's his choice," said Cissnei, folding her arms. "And you can't really fault him for making it. After all he's been through, he deserves to come home."

"True that." Barret nodded in the Canyon's general direction. "You came in handy sometimes."

"Let's keep moving," said Sephiroth from the head of the party, looking back. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

Zack sighed, coming up behind them. "Come on," he said, taking Aerith's hand. He nodded at Tifa as Cloud came to join them as well. "Before Sephiroth pops something."

Tifa nodded, starting to walk. She would miss Red, she decided, casting one last look at Cosmo Canyon. He had been their companion for a long time. But Cissnei was right. He was better off here. Hopefully, with them gone, he wouldn't be chased. She turned, following Cloud towards the exit and letting Zack and Aerith bring up the rear.

They had just reached the gates when a shout stopped them. "Wait for me! I'm coming too!"

Sephiroth stopped at the head of the party, looking back. At the sound of the voice, Tifa and the others did as well. Red bounded down the steps several at a time, coming to a halt in front of them. The party immediately parted, making room for him. He was breathless, and paused for a minute to pant before looking up at the others.

"You're coming with us?" asked Sephiroth.

Red nodded. As they watched, Bugenhagen floated down the steps, coming to a stop beside Nanaki. He turned towards Sephiroth, inclining his head. "Sephiroth, please look after Nanaki," he said.

"What happened?" asked Cloud.

"I think I grew up a little," said Red, turning towards him. "That's what happened!" He turned away from Cloud, looking back at the others. "I'd like to continue traveling with you all, if you'll have me."

"Whaddaya mean, _if _we'll have you?" demanded Barret. "You one of us, man!"

"Barret's right," said Tifa, smiling. "You're always welcome here."

The others echoed agreement. From the head of the group, Sephiroth nodded as well.

"Come back whenever you need my knowledge," said Bugenhagen, as the group turned to leave again.

"We will, Grandfather," promised Red. "Thank you for everything."

"Yes," said Sephiroth, nodding at Bugenhagen. "Thank you."

And with that, the eleven of them left, making their way down the stairs and back into the valley.

XxXxX

Bugenhagen waited in front of the steps until he could no longer see the party of eleven, then slowly floated his way back to his house. His fingers slipped on the locks—they were no longer as nimble as they once had been, and the events of the night before had tired him out, but he was smiling in spite of himself. He drifted through his kitchen, making his way up the stairs towards his observatory.

_His _observatory. It still made him smile to think about it that way. The old man floated his way over to his desk, looking past the various star charts, books, and notes, and focusing instead on a picture in a picture frame, hidden behind a stack of several dusty astrological tomes. The image showed a man, young—but then everyone was young to Bugenhagen—with brown hair and a mustache. He was dressed not in a lab coat for once but in a brown shirt and khakis, having just helped Bugenhagen install the equipment in the lab, the equipment that was in the picture behind him. He had a kindly face, and eyes that sparkled with mischief. He shook his head, his fingers tracing the corner of the picture.

Dead. Dead. All of them were always dead or dying. At his age, so many of his old friends had returned to the Planet.

"She has your eyes, you know," he said, his voice soft in the quiet of his house. "Not the color, no…but the look in them. You always were up to some mischief, you old scoundrel." He shook his head. Thinking about the young woman made him tired, but it made his heart feel lighter at the same time. He thought about those people, children all, the words they had said.

Save the planet. It just couldn't be done. And yet…something about them made an old man hope.

He looked back at the picture, wondering what that man would say if he were here. It was an empty exercise, he knew. Instead he changed the subject, wondering if somewhere, perhaps within the Lifestream, his friend might be listening. He chuckled, letting out another _ho ho hooo. _

"…And that's the young man you told me so much about," he said to the picture. "Sephiroth…"

He wished them luck. All the luck in the world.

XxXxX

They'd barely crossed the river when Cissnei called a halt, and the eleven of them filed out of the buggy, coming to stand in the sun. Most looked confused, others, at least, had the grace to attempt to look confused. She kept her eye on Shalua, wondering what the girl was thinking, but if she was worried at all, nothing showed on her face. Cissnei took a breath, running through the details of her plan again in her mind. If all went well, she would be able to stop wondering about Shalua. One way or another, they would know.

"I'm sure some of you have already heard something about this," she said, automatically providing a cover for those who didn't seem as confused as they should be. "But we have reason to believe that our enemies are spying on us."

Murmured surprise coming from some people, knowing glances by others. Shalua was one of those who didn't seem surprised, but then again, she wouldn't be. Cissnei had already talked to her about this once before. She exchanged a glance with Sephiroth, and when he nodded, she continued on. "I don't know how this is occurring, but what I do know is that it's too dangerous for us to travel as a large group at this point," she said. "So this is what I propose. We split the party three ways and rendezvous in Rocket Town, in the center square."

Glances were exchanged, words traded, but no one had any serious objections. It was the same gambit they had played in the Midgar Wasteland. Smaller groups, taking three different routes, would be harder to track than one large group, or so she hoped.

"What're the groups?" asked Barret, when the last dissenters had been quieted.

"Here's what I'm thinking," said Cissnei. "Sephiroth and Zack with Aerith and Yuffie. Aerith is obviously a target, and Yuffie, by virtue of her status, might become one, so they'll be with the most secure party. Nanaki, Barret, Kunsel and I can be in the second group. Cloud—." She locked eyes with Cloud, trading meaningful looks. "You'll take Shalua and Tifa. We'll keep in contact via PHS, but keep communication sparse and don't mention location or any other specifics. You don't know who might be listening in. Any questions?"

Yuffie tried to protest, but Aerith managed to get her to calm down, leaving Zack's side to go and talk to her. At length, the princess relented.

"But _only_," she said, "if someone else takes the buggy!"

"Deal," said Kunsel, smiling at her. He looked back at the other members of his group. "I'll drive."

"Cloud should have it," said Cissnei, smiling and shaking her head. "He'll have Shalua with him. If it breaks down, she can fix it. Besides, you know Nanaki hates it."

Nanaki nodded gratefully from her other side.

"Cloud, you take your group north and east," she said. "That way is a little more drivable. You'll be heading through the mountains, but you should at least be familiar with the way. You'll be in the Nibel Area for most of it. We'll head west, try and skirt the coast. Sephiroth."

Sephiroth looked up at her. She met his eyes, and was reminded again of the night before, of the talk they had had. She fought to keep herself from getting distracted. Business was business. Still, her heart warmed when she thought of him, in a very noticeable way. "If you don't mind," she said. "I'd like to ask you to take your group north. Near Nibelheim."

**END FILE**


	86. File 025: Nibelheim Again pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Regarding the Materia at the water tower, when I first planned this scene, I was thinking about Crisis Core, where Phoenix can be found on top of the water tower. However, I recently learned (or was reminded) that in the original game, you get it at Fort Condor after defending the Huge Materia. I'd already planned out this scene and the rest of the scenes that depend on it, so I'd like to go with the Crisis Core version for this one, if you guys don't mind.

Short chapter this time, but I guess it balances out last chapter, which was about 1,500 words over what my normal chapter lengths are.

Thanks go to **Eavenne, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, Furionknight, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, shadowneko003, Roza Anne, Guest, SubZeroChimera, Riku Uzumaki, DarkSeraphim1, RinHildeSora, Aeris33, Draconic **and **Leon Kaye** for the reviews and support. You guys are awesome! I'm glad you liked the Sephissnei scene, and sorry for no kissing, but those two are kind of far off from that right now. Hope to fix that soon! And yes, Nibelheim is next.

**Irish-Brigid, **it's always possible that Hojo didn't _appear _so crazy at first. Gast did eventually leave. Although seeing what we've seen of Dirge of Cerberus, I doubt it. Naivete it is?

**SubZeroChimera, **wasn't planning on it, but now that you've mentioned it, I might have to steal that idea. Vincent shutting the coffin door on them would be amusing if it fits right!

**RinHildeSora, **thanks! Glad you liked the song!

**Draconic, **actually Sephiroth's group will be swinging by Nibelheim. But once the Highwind comes into play, I'm thinking of getting Cloud and Tifa there later on so they can properly angst and Tifa can get Final Heaven.

**Leon Kaye, **you're right. Zack is not gonna be happy about this.

XxXxX

**File 025: Nibelheim Again**

"So," said Yuffie as they walked away from the other two groups, heading north. She hurried to catch up to Sephiroth, walking beside him and smiling. "If there's only four of us, that means longer watches, right?"

"That's right," said Sephiroth, nodding. He didn't turn to look at her, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him. Yuffie's smile sweetened visibly, and she clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward.

"Does that mean that my double watch punishment is cancelled?" she asked.

"That depends," said Sephiroth, glancing at her. Aerith caught a hint of amusement in his eye. "Do you know not to be drunk on duty?"

"I wasn't drunk, I was hung over!" protested Yuffie. "And we're not in the military anymore, jerkface!"

"The punishment stands, then," said Sephiroth, walking away.

Yuffie froze, her eyes widening. She turned to face him, then hurried to catch up. "But that's _half the night_!"

In the end, Sephiroth decided to defer Yuffie's punishment, but only after finding her shivering in the cold and falling asleep four hours into the first night. According to Zack, he had intended to defer her double watches from the beginning, but he'd made her stay up a little bit for her earlier rudeness. It didn't do much to subdue Yuffie, in Aerith's opinion, but she did stay on the straight and narrow for most of their journey through the Nibel Area. The walk was slower than it would have been had they been riding the buggy, but Sephiroth and Zack both knew the way, and they made good time. It wasn't long until they were standing on a ridge, overlooking the gates and town of Nibelheim.

Zack folded his arms, coming to stand next to Sephiroth. He shot the town a dark look. Aerith, beside him, had noticed his mood steadily darkening since they first set foot in the Nibel Area, and once, when they camped in a clearing, she woke to find him wandering around while on his watch, looking at each tree and patch of grass with a far-off expression on his face. The next night, while she was on watch, he was muttering in his sleep. She'd placed a hand on his shoulder, watching as he quieted at the touch, and resisted the urge to curl up next to him and hold him close. She had no idea, not truly, what memories he was reliving, but she knew they must be terrible, and wished she knew how to make them go away.

"Shinra's taken down most of the security," commented Sephiroth, arms folded. "We'll have an easier time getting in then we would have had last year."

Zack nodded in response to that, saying nothing at first. When Aerith turned to look at him, he stepped forward, starting down the hill. "Then let's get going," he said. "It's getting late."

Aerith hurried to catch up, rushing down the hill after him. She slid the last few feet, placing a hand on his elbow to stop him. "Zack," she said, when he turned around to face her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Oh yeah. Just glad we're getting close to an inn, that's all." Zack was smiling like always, but there was something off behind that smile. She saw it and noticed it, the same way she had noticed it many other times before. No matter what Zack told her, he wasn't fine. And of course he wouldn't be. They were here, at Nibelheim, the place where it all began. But nothing she could say at this point would stop him, and Sephiroth and Yuffie were already starting to catch up, so she let him pull away, slipping beneath her fingers.

"What's up?" asked Yuffie, reaching them.

"Nothing," said Aerith, sighing inwardly. "Nothing at all."

She folded her arms, hurrying off after Zack as they made their way to the town's gates.

The town was probably one of the smallest they had visited in their travels, with only Gongaga as a serious competitor. It was nestled in the mountains, really nothing more than a collection of buildings around a water tower, but in the distance, a Mako Reactor towered overhead, nearly dwarfing the town. At first sight, it could have been any sleepy little hamlet in the middle of nowhere, and it was almost hard to believe that this place could be the site of so many nightmares, but as soon as Aerith set foot across the threshold, she knew.

It was impossible to say what tipped her off. Really, it was more of a feeling, rising up from the earth itself. It came without sound, but it reminded her of the feeling she got in Cosmo Canyon, listening to the cries of the Planet. It sent a shiver through her, and she pulled her arms close to herself. It wasn't so much a cry for help as it was a shout of rage. Evil had been done here. Was still being done.

It was only when she looked up that she noticed that Sephiroth was looking at the town with surprise, even as Yuffie sniffed disdainfully from behind him.

"What a dump," the ninja was saying.

Sephiroth shook his head slowly. "This isn't right," he said. "This place burned. I was sure…" He looked suddenly uncertain, and turned towards Zack. The other ex-SOLDIER shook his head.

"It did burn," he said. "They rebuilt it. Still don't know why."

She didn't have to ask Zack which _they _he meant. Sephiroth stepped forward, looking around, and she saw his eyes lock suddenly onto the Mako Reactor. His face was as stoic as always, but she'd learned to read him by now, and his sudden interest was plain to see. Zack noticed it too, because he frowned, obviously reliving another memory. "You alright there, Seph?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Sephiroth, tearing his eyes away from the Reactor on the hill. He glanced around, taking in the town, and taking note of the few villagers that were out and about, a handful of them taking the time to openly gawk at the newcomers. His eyes fell on each of them for a few seconds each, and then he turned back to Zack. "Zack, take Yuffie and Aerith to the inn. There's something I'd like to check on."

Zack shook his head firmly. "Uh-uh. No way," he said. "You really shouldn't be walking around here alone."

Sephiroth looked up, his eyes narrowing at the implied insult. "My mind is my own," he said.

"Sure," said Zack. "But if anything happens and you go nuts, I'll have to fight you. And that's not something I wanna do right now."

"Fine," said Sephiroth. "Take Aerith back. You can leave Yuffie with me."

"What?" asked Yuffie, startled. "Why me?"

"Do you want to come along or not?" asked Sephiroth, already beginning to walk away. Yuffie blinked at him, before hurrying to catch up.

"By the way," Aerith heard her say as she turned to leave with Zack. "For the record, I'm doing this because I'm curious. Not because I like you. Got that?"

XxXxX

After a quick shower, during which she had some time to consider Zack's situation and think about what she might say when she next spoke to him, she went off in search of Zack. Aerith found him in the room he would share with Sephiroth, lying on the bed nearest the window with a pillow over his face. The Nibelheim Inn was small, nothing more than two floors, and the bedrooms were quaintly furnished, looking more like the inside of someone's house than an inn.

She approached the bed cautiously, not sure if he might be asleep or not, and made her way over to the foot of the bed. Zack had one knee up, giving her enough room to sit, and she did just that, settling her weight down slowly. She clasped her hands in her lap, looking down at them and thinking as she shifted her feet across the floor.

Zack shifted, lifting the pillow from his face and looking over at her. He smiled sleepily. "Hi there," he said.

"Hi," said Aerith, tentatively smiling back. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

Zack shook his head, propping himself up on his elbows. "I was already half-asleep," he said. "I thought about taking a nap, but it doesn't seem to be happening."

Her fingers curled tighter. "Is it Nibelheim?" she asked.

He frowned, sitting up and glancing out the window. "That's part of it," he admitted. "You know, Cloud and I stayed in this room, the last time we were here. Seph stayed alone."

Aerith looked around at the room. It wasn't much, just a two-bedroom room, but it was nicely maintained. The Buster Sword stood propped up against the wall, with Zack's pack at the foot of it. The room had a view of the town proper, looking out over the water tower.

"I was teasing him about Tifa," said Zack. "I remember that. And then you called. I was standing right under that tower when I was talking to you. That was the night before…"

The night before the Nibelheim Incident. The incident that didn't officially exist, but that had changed everything. For Zack, for Cloud and Tifa, for Sephiroth and Cissnei, and indirectly, for herself as well. "This is all wrong…" Zack continued to say, shaking his head. "Why did they rebuild the town?"

"To cover it up, probably?" suggested Aerith. "Isn't Shinra responsible for what happened?"

"Kind of," said Zack. His eyes darkened and he looked away from the window, staring down at the bed beneath him. Then, "Definitely. Yeah." He looked up, his eyes fixing on Aerith. They brightened, slightly. "You're wearing your hair down."

She twirled a damp strand around a finger, suddenly self-conscious. "It's still wet," she said. "I'm letting it dry."

"I like it," said Zack, his smile returning. "You should wear it like that more often."

She shook her head. "Once it dries, it'll be horrible," she said. "I can't ever get it to stay straight."

"Who says it needs to be straight?" asked Zack. "We can't all be Sephiroth, you know."

"Or Tifa," Aerith mumbled, glancing at the far corner of the room.

"Or Tifa," Zack agreed. He grinned. "But it could be worse. You could be Cloud."

Aerith giggled at that, and she felt a bit of the tension in the room break. That gave her pause. She came in here to cheer him up. How did he manage to turn the situation around so that he was the one cheering her up instead?

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked.

He frowned again, looking down at his hand. "Honestly, I don't know," he said after a while. "I can't stop thinking about it…what happened. Looking over my shoulder. I think I'll be okay eventually, but...I don't know."

"Can I do anything to help?" asked Aerith.

He glanced away, looking off to the side. Aerith waited for him to speak, fiddling with her hands. "You could…stay," he finally said.

"Stay?" Aerith repeated, her eyes moving over the room. They flicked towards the door and back towards him.

He nodded, not meeting her eyes. "If that's okay," he said.

Aerith slowly exhaled, letting out the breath she was holding. "Alright," she said, getting to her feet. He frowned, looking over at her as she started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

In response, she paused, looking back over her shoulder at him. "I'm locking the door," she said.

XxXxX

Sephiroth waited until he was sure that Zack really had gone into the inn before walking around and studying the town. The resemblance to the town it had been before the Incident was uncanny. Looking at it now, it almost seemed as though the events of the Nibelheim Incident were nothing more than a bad dream. But if it was a dream, it was one with far-reaching consequences. He could barely look at any part of the town without being reminded of the flames that had consumed it, the smoke and fire and warring voices in his head.

_Here, Zack confronted me, _he found himself thinking, glancing at the path leading up the mountain. _There, Tifa chased me. Further up there, her father died. _

He hadn't even known Tifa then. Hadn't really paid much attention, besides the fact that she was their guide.

He frowned, leaning back against the water tower and watching as Yuffie walked around, studying shop windows. His frown deepened. A casual observer might think she was just window shopping, but he had been around the young princess enough to know that she was probably casing the shops, studying their security in preparation for some mischief. He'd asked her to come along as a split second decision, knowing that the best way to ensure that Zack actually did go to the inn was to make it so that he and Aerith would be alone, but now he questioned the wisdom of that choice. He thought about stopping her, but whatever the townspeople's motives were in covering up the incident, they couldn't be entirely honest, so he decided to just let her be this time.

He turned his attention away from her, watching two of the townspeople interact. Their eyes moved towards him as they did so, but they showed no more interest than any normal townsperson might be at finding a stranger in their town. He wondered whether or not they were working for Shinra, and if so, whether or not they were going to report him. The thought disconcerted him. He knew that Nibelheim was remote and it would take at least half a day for any Shinra operatives to arrive here—more if they were to arrive with any real force—but he hoped to be gone before that could be a problem.

He watched the townspeople part ways, the woman going inside a shop and the man returning to a home. Besides the eerie way that the town had been reconstructed in almost perfect detail, he could find no source for the uneasiness he felt. Sephiroth glanced down at the ground, wondering if he was just being paranoid. As he did so, something red flashed and caught his eye, causing him to turn towards it.

It was a Materia, half-buried in the dirt. He reached for it, wondering where it had come from and why it had been dropped out here. That was when he felt a presence at his back.

Sephiroth turned and rose quickly, plucking the Materia out of the ground and pocketing it as he did so. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. A man stood in front of him, huddled beneath a black cloak. He was shivering, his arms wrapped tightly around himself as if for protection. As Sephiroth watched, he stepped forward, extending a pale, gaunt hand. On his wrist, the number 5 was tattooed in stark detail. Sephiroth took a step back, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.

"Seph…i…roth…" the man mumbled.

Behind him, he heard Yuffie shout in surprise, whirling around. He looked over his shoulder and saw her jumping back from the shop window, her eyes wide. "Hey!" she said. "What the hell?"

Another cloaked figure had exited the shop. And as Sephiroth watched, another and another appeared, all coming out of the buildings, all huddled and shaking, and all mumbling under their breaths.

"Reu…nion…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	87. File 025: Nibelheim Again pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Yuffie is _so _the Genesis to Cissnei's Sephiroth. Lacking in raw discipline, but making up for it with _style_.

Also, for those of you who like Sephiroth POVs, you're in luck. This whole chapter is a Sephiroth POV! It kind of took a detour from what I expected once I realized that the clones in the attic are kids, but I hope you like it anyway! It kind of shows a new side of Sephiroth.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Aeris33, Irish-Brigid, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, Guest, Leon Kaye, Eavenne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Draconic, **and **DarkSeraphim1** for your reviews and support! Much appreciated! I'm glad you thought the scene with the clones was scary. ^^ I enjoyed writing it.

**Irish-Brigid, **it's highly likely that that was not at all what Zack had in mind, but it's also likely that he wasn't complaining very much when things did start panning out that way. XD

**Guest, **well, in the interest of your sleep cycle, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

**Leon Kaye, **thank you so much! I really am glad to hear that you're enjoying this series, and your support means a lot to me. I'm doing my best to keep this story to the 'style' of the original, so that even though it's telling a completely different tale, it feels like something that 'could' have happened had the canon writers gone a different path. I'm glad to see that it seems to be working, at least in your eyes.

**Eavenne, **there's realistic angst, and then there's unrealistic angst. XD So yes, in my opinion, someone can properly angst. Someone angsting about their past and their multitude of issues is proper, the same level of angst about a dead cellphone charger wouldn't be. If that makes _any _sense, lol.

XxXxX

**File 025: Nibelheim Again**

Sephiroth had been in enough stressful situations that his initial reaction wasn't blind panic, but rather a steady stream of objective assessments, filtering one by one like a bullet-point list in the back of his mind. The first was simple, an assessment of threat. _Seven, _he noted, his eyes darting around the square as he took note of their positions. _Civilians. Potentially hostile. Unarmed. _His hand unclenched from the hilt of his sword. _Distance decreasing. Possibly insane. Unpredictable. _He took a step back, trying to find a place that wasn't yet occupied by the hooded figures slowly closing in. His eyes darted at each shuffling figures wrist, noticing a different number in black ink. _Numbered tattoos. In the vicinity of Shinra Mansion…_

_Science experiment. _

Something cold settled into his gut. His eyes moved, looking past the figures at the large dilapidated building that stood at one of the edges of the square. The small lawn was overgrown, the gates rusted, but the mansion still looked the same as he had remembered it. The library in the basement was probably still there, and with it all those files, almost exactly as he left it.

The files regarding the Jenova Project. Regarding Project S.

One of the figures got close enough to place a hand on his arm. Sephiroth turned without thinking, drawing Masamune from his back with a ringing sound. It sliced through the air as he turned, whipping around towards the cloaked figure. Someone—Yuffie—squealed, and Masamune stopped an inch from the man's neck. He froze, peering beneath the hood and trying to catch a glimpse of the man's face. He was shorter than the first man, shaking more vigorously. There was a 4 on his wrist.

Green eyes peered out from under the hood at him. The same eyes as his own.

He realized then what position Masamune was in, how close he had been to cutting this one down. Sephiroth exhaled slowly, reminding himself of who he was and where he was. What was wrong with him? It had been so long since he had let instinct take control.

The man took another step forward, placing both hands on his arms without much concern for himself or the sword that hovered above him, and mumbled something incoherent under his breath. Another man moved over to him, placing a hand on him from behind. Sephiroth made his decision and turned, lowering Masamune to the ground and tapping the man lightly on the back of the head. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious but not dead. He stabbed his sword point down into the ground, stepping away from it so that he wouldn't get any ideas, and doing the same to the second. This one had a 6 on his wrist.

Four, five, six. He forced himself to think through his logically. At the Gold Saucer, Dio had mentioned a 1.

There were five more still moving around the square. He looked over at Yuffie to see that she had grabbed hold of two of them by the cloaks, and were trying to stop them from going over to him. They were small, smaller than the others, and from beneath the hood, he thought one of them looked female. Realization struck him, and he felt at first sick, then angry.

_Children. _

Hojo's sneering face popped into his mind. _He used children._

It was all he could do to not take out that anger on Numbers 11 and 12. He dropped them as quickly and efficiently as he could, using the non-lethal strikes that he remembered from training, but that he had never used in the field before. He was suddenly glad that he had let go of his sword. He turned towards Yuffie, noticing that she had finally managed to get a hold on the boy. The girl scampered over to him, walking with the quick gait of an excited child, and wrapped her arms around his knees. She was feverish and shaking, like the others, and Sephiroth noticed the number 6 on her wrist.

He envisioned killing Hojo, driving Masamune through his heart.

"Hey!" said Yuffie, as the boy squirmed, trying to get out of her hold. "Stop that! You—!" He kicked her in the stomach, and all the breath left her in a rush. Her hold loosened, and he scrambled to the ground, running over to Sephiroth as well. The children looked up at him from around his knees, and he saw his own eyes set in their faces, looking up at him. They seemed in slightly better shape than the adults—although they weren't saying anything, they didn't look quite as skeletal, and one of them, the girl at least, was smiling.

He raised his hand and found that he couldn't. It dropped right back to his side. He looked back at Yuffie, who had her arms wrapped around her middle and seemed to be holding her breath, watching him.

"What—?" he began. _What do I do? _was what he wanted to say, but the words stuck in his throat. Yuffie stared at him blankly, then shook her head, as if to say that she didn't have the answer. Sephiroth made a sound of frustration in his throat, looking over his shoulder at the last clone, clone number 5. This one was slowly edging away from the scene. He seemed uncertain, taking a step towards Sephiroth, and then, for some reason, a step to the side. Almost as though he wanted to get away.

He couldn't move, not with the children holding him in place. But this was the only clone that seemed to be uncertain, seemed to at least hesitate before approaching him now. He needed to know why.

Which meant he couldn't be allowed to leave.

"Ciss—," he began, then froze. Why had he been about to call Cissnei's name? "—Yuffie," he said, inclining his head towards the man. "Take him out."

The ninja huffed, resting her hands on her waist. "You could say please," she said, rolling her eyes. She took off like a rocket, running towards the hooded figure. As Sephiroth watched, she shifted to a slide at the last moment, sweeping the man's feet out from under him and grabbing onto his wrist. Yuffie shifted her weight at the last moment, slamming him down onto the ground with her on top of his back.

"Alright, Tall, Dark and Creepy," she said, tugging on his wrists. "Lay down nice and easy."

He watched, slightly amused in spite of himself. He would be the first to point out that her technique needed refinement, but he could occasionally give points for spirit. Sephiroth looked away from her to hide the beginnings of a smile, his eyes falling on the other hooded figures that sat in the square, hands to their heads or muttering to themselves. The seed of a smile faded, and he frowned deeply, the sight of the men causing a chill that permeated down to his very bones.

He needed answers.

And unfortunately, he knew just where to get them.

XxXxX

The children went along with him when he started for the inn. They wouldn't go with Yuffie, though, no matter how many times he tried to hand them over. They would only stay with him. So he led them towards the inn, each of them with a hand in his, and tried to ignore how profoundly awkward he felt. He forced himself to study the children instead. Even disregarding their unnatural eyes, the two of them looked alike enough to be siblings, the boy slightly younger than the girl. It was hard to tell how old they were, but he imagined that the girl could be no older than ten, the boy no older than eight. How long they were in the Shinra Mansion, it was hard to tell, but the girl had the number 6 on her wrist, the boy 7. They tried to follow him the first time he tried to leave them in a smaller bedroom upstairs, but when he looked them in the eye and told them flat out to stay there, they did so, seeming content to curl up together in the corner of the room. He closed the door behind him, and they did not follow him. He let Yuffie lead the clone he had captured towards one of the spare rooms they had rented, then went off in search of Zack and Aerith.

His plan encountered a brief snag when he arrived at the inn to find one empty room with Aerith's things still in it and another room with a locked door. A few angry knocks, heated words, and a scramble for clothes later, a disgruntled Zack, a slightly mortified Aerith, and a very creeped out Yuffie trudged towards the other bedroom. Yuffie's charge was already sitting there, huddled in the corner with the hood having been pulled back, revealing his face. It was a gaunt, stricken face, the face of a man who might have once been young, but who had been through enough to age him well before his time. His hair was straw blond, and it stuck up in all directions, not in the natural way that Cloud's did, but in a stiff, brittle sort of way, as though it was threatening to break right off his head. His eyes were wide, and a bright, bright mako green. It was the green that disturbed him most of all.

Zack took one look at the man and blanched, taking a step back and nearly bolting back into the hallway. Sephiroth looked back, turning towards him.

"What's he doing here?" asked Zack. When Sephiroth didn't answer, Zack rounded onto him. "Sephiroth, what the hell is he doing here?"

"He accosted me out on the street," replied Sephiroth, frowning at Zack. "Do you recognize him?"

"Do I recognize him?" repeated Zack. "Of course I do. He was there. There in…" He trailed off, waving his hand uncertainly in the air. Sephiroth knew the words that he was about to say. There in the basement. There during Hojo's clone experiments. A successful clone.

"You didn't say there were any successes," said Sephiroth.

"I didn't know!" said Zack, almost immediately. "Why would I—?!" He cut himself off before Sephiroth could bother, his eyes traveling back towards the man. The clone was now rocking himself slowly, still muttering about some sort of reunion. Sephiroth felt another chill run through him, the same sense of connection that he had felt out in the square.

Zack looked about ready to pass out.

"Crap_…" _he said, closing his eyes and stepping away. Aerith immediately made for him, reaching out a tentative hand.

"Zack, are you…?" she began.

"I'm alright," said Zack, opening his eyes. He remained in the doorway, keeping his gaze focused down the hall instead of looking into the room. Sephiroth couldn't blame him. If he wasn't faced with the same nightmares as Zack was, he would still have to admit that the sight of the clone was bothering him on a fundamental level. He saw and heard Zack take a slow breath, and although none of the color returned to his face, he looked less likely to fall over.

"Yuffie, take him outside," said Sephiroth, inclining his head towards the rocking man.

"Take him out. Take him outside. Why don't I just take him out to dinner while I'm at it?" said Yuffie, getting to her feet.

"No, don't," said Zack from the doorway. "I'm okay."

Sephiroth frowned, but nodded slowly, holding up a hand to stop Yuffie before she could reach the man. Zack let out another slow breath, and Sephiroth waited, watching as he adopted a little more of his usual calm.

"So, what happens now?" he asked.

"Now?" asked Sephiroth. "I need to go to Shinra Mansion. I want—needto investigate these clones." At the sound of _Shinra Mansion_, a shudder ran through Zack, one that he tried very hard to hide, but one that Sephiroth noticed regardless. "You can stay, of course," he said. "I wouldn't force you to go."

"You're taking the girls, aren't you?" asked Zack, looking back at him. Without waiting for an answer, he straightened up. "Forget it. I'm going."

"You know where I want to go," said Sephiroth.

"Yeah, I know. You won't find it without me."

"This won't end well," Sephiroth heard Yuffie mutter from behind him. Evidently, Aerith heard it too, because she shot Yuffie something that might have been a glare.

"Zack…" she said, walking over to him. She placed a hand on his arm. "You really should stay."

Zack turned away. "I'm going," he said. "At least as far as I can. I need to see…Maybe it won't be as bad as I remember."

_No, _Sephiroth thought. _It'll be worse. _But he didn't say anything. He could see some of the familiar stubbornness in Zack's expression, and knew that nothing short of a world-ending catastrophe could deter him now. So instead, he nodded, making his way towards the door. He let Yuffie and Aerith follow, Aerith still looking worried about Zack. About halfway out the door, Yuffie paused.

"What do I do about him?" she asked, gesturing at the clone.

That was not something he wanted to think about now. "There's a decent restaurant around the corner," he said, glancing back.

Yuffie froze, standing dumbstruck in the center of the room. Her shout followed him out into the hallway, a few moments later.

"Seriously?! You pick _now _to grow a sense of humor?"

He ignored her, watching as Zack turned and made his way down the staircase. Aerith turned as well, about to follow him, but he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm. She looked back at him, her lips pursed in confusion, and Zack stopped as well, turning back. Sephiroth's eyes flicked over to him, and then back towards Aerith.

"I need to talk to you for a minute," he said.

"About what?" asked Aerith.

He hesitated. He had a feeling Zack wouldn't react well to hearing about the children. "New developments," he said. "Regarding the experiments at the mansion."

Zack's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything. Nor did he make any attempt to move from the stairs. Sephiroth was suddenly and intensely aware of Yuffie and the clone standing behind him, trying to get by, and of Aerith standing in front of him, a worried look on her face. She had her arms folded, as if waiting for more information.

It couldn't be helped.

"Children," he said, hoping that one word might be enough.

Slow horror spread over Aerith's face. A vein pulsed in Zack's jaw, and Sephiroth saw a flash of rage in his eyes. Zack's hands tightened into fists. Sephiroth looked away from him, watching Aerith. She looked pale, and she looked at Zack first, but then she turned back towards him, nodding.

"Show me," she said.

XxXxX

The children were just as he had left them, sitting in the corner of the room at the top of the stairs, their arms wrapped around themselves and shaking. They looked up to see him from beneath their dark cloaks, and the girl was smiling. The boy seemed worried about something, almost afraid. Aerith took one look at them and swept into the room, making her way towards them. Sephiroth wasn't sure what to do, so he waited in the doorway for a moment, and when Aerith knelt in front of one of them and began speaking in calm, soothing tones, he stepped outside, closing the door behind him once it was clear that the children weren't going to bolt.

He waited in the hallway while she was in there, studying the fading sunlight from the windows and considering what he was doing here, and what had happened for him to get this far. The last time he had been in this position, it had been the day after going to see the Nibelheim Reactor the first time, the day that he had rejected Genesis's offer. He resisted the urge to pace, forcing himself to stay in one place, his arms folded as he waited for Aerith to come out. He didn't even know what she was supposed to do for them, or why he had brought her. Just that he knew he should do something, and out of all of them, Aerith was the most likely to know what to do.

It was about forty-five minutes before the door opened again, and Aerith came out. She looked pale and drawn, and the first thing she did when she closed the door behind her was let out a tired sigh. Sephiroth waited, allowing her to collect herself. After what felt like a reasonable amount of time, he straightened up.

"Well?" he asked.

She looked up at him, her green eyes worried. As he watched, she slowly shook her head. "It's not the same as it is with Cloud or Zack," she said. "They've been completely taken over. I've done what I can, but all I can do is heal their bodies. It's not enough—." She shook her head. "I feel like I should be able to do more. I'm not meaning morally—," she added at the look on his face. "I mean, I feel like I _physically _can do more. That there's a barrier…or something there that I can break. But I don't know how to do that yet. The girl—she might come out of it on her own. Maybe. If we keep talking to her. I don't know about the boy."

It didn't sound good, but he nodded slowly. "Cloud came out of it," he said. "He was even further gone."

"He was older and stronger, though," said Aerith. She looked sick, and she leaned against the door, her eyes fluttering closed. "They're sleeping now. I got them to go to bed. I talked to them for a minute before that, though. I got the girl to tell me a little bit about the past, although she kept bringing it back to the Reunion. She said that they were waiting for you, that you would bring them to the Reunion, and that that would make things better. Does that make any sense to you?"

He shook his head. He felt a chill just from the words, although he couldn't think of where he had heard the word 'Reunion' before. It felt like something he _should _know, though, and he understood for a moment how Aerith felt, believing she was capable of knowing or doing something, but not being able to truly do it.

"There's one more thing," said Aerith. "_She _has a hold on them. Don't ask me how I know, but she does."

He didn't have to ask her which '_she_'she meant. Instead, he nodded. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

Aerith's eyes opened, looking straight at him. "Right now?" she asked, "I think we should go to the Mansion." She didn't say it, but the look in her eye said it for her. _Immediately. _

He nodded in response, following her down the hallway.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	88. File 025: Nibelheim Again pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**IMPORTANT UPDATES: **If any of you are looking for updates to _Yuffie's Guide to Everything, A Night to Remember, Our Generation, Side Stories, _or any other **Another Side **spin-off (_Falling Stars? _Anyone? Anyone?), I feel like I need to make a formal announcement. I'm on a summer research trip for the next 5 weeks, and I don't have much time to write any FANFICS but**Another Side. **So all other fanfiction projects will be on hiatus until life settles down somewhat. I might squeeze in an update here or there if the fancy strikes, but for the next 5 weeks…don't hold your breath. And don't worry, **Another Side** will continue to be updated as normal, with my usual at least 2 Files a month.

On the table is a slight rewrite of _Baby Steps, _once I figure out what to do with the mini-Sephiroths from last chapter. (Darn the original game and those tiny clones in the attic for providing so much inspiration) I won't make any promises, but…it should be interesting.

Finally, the reason I said I wouldn't be writing any other _fanfics _is because I'm working on some original fiction. I'm continuing _The Lady of the Tower_, which will be an original novel project on par with _Another Side _in length, and I'm also editing _The Color of Fire, _a YA fantasy novel that's more 'literary' and less 'action-y' than this one. And the reason I'm telling you this is because I'm offering some of you faithful readers a chance to get in on the action. I'm going to need comments, reviews, and suggestions to pretty up these babies before I send them out into the big bad world in hopes of getting them published, so if any of you guys are interested in beta reading any of these, please send me a PM and/or mention something in a review (If you don't have an FF account, give me some way to contact you. If you do, I'll PM you.) _The Lady _will be a first draft, much like Another Side, so it will be rougher. _Color _is in revision, so it should be a little easier on the eyes. And SHOULD any of these get published, full-credit will be given to all my lovely beta readers in the Acknowledgments section (real name or pen name, whatever you like).

_The Lady _is standard sword and sorcery fare, with a thief/assassin playing the hero and a story that flips back and forth between past and present (present and future?). _Color _is somewhat slipstream-y—it's set in a fantasy setting, but the fantasy elements aren't as important, it's a story about a girl dealing with change and prejudice, right and wrong, freedom, and all that jazz (read: it's sappy). Take your pick!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, HeartofFyrwinde, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Guest, Meteor Panda, Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, Draconic** and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews and support! Yes, Hojo is evil. I'm glad you liked the plot twist, I wasn't expecting it either, but then the wiki suggested that the tiny clones were kids, and my mind just ran with it, and with everything else that happened this chapter. Yes, Vincent is still happening. Next file. They won't leave the Mansion without him!

XxXxX

**File 025: Nibelheim Again**

"This place is freaking creepy," said Yuffie as the door to the mansion creaked open, the four of them stepping inside.

For once, Sephiroth was inclined to agree with her. The Shinra Mansion had not changed since the last time he had entered it, nearly five years ago. Even though the mansion had not been rebuilt after the Nibelheim Incident, the fire damage seemed scarce, as though even the flames had been reluctant to touch the place. Paint crumbled from the walls, and dust covered every available surface, making the tarps that covered the furniture seem almost like vengeful ghosts. But that was only superficial. On the surface, it looked just like any other old building fallen into disrepair.

Like everything with Shinra's name attached to it, the real horror lay underneath.

He stepped aside, allowing the others to enter the mansion after him. Zack was the last person through the door. He closed it behind himself, his expression solemn. His hand lingered on the doorknob briefly, and he hesitated before he pulled away, coming to stand next to Aerith. Sephiroth watched him closely. He didn't look pleased to be here, but at the moment, there were no signs of the same sort of reaction the clone had provoked.

Still, it was telling that he kept his eyes straight in front of him, looking neither to the left nor to the right. He looked like a man walking to his own execution.

"PTSD," he said to Zack as they started towards the passage that led to the basement. He'd allowed Aerith and Yuffie to take the lead for a moment, so that he could linger at the rear of the group and talk to Zack. He was pleased to see that both of them had their weapons out, and were keeping their eyes open, although Yuffie seemed to jump and slash her shuriken at every shadow.

"What?" asked Zack, shooting him a glance.

"PTSD," he repeated. "It stands for Posttraumatic Stress—."

"I know what it stands for," said Zack, cutting him off. "What about it?"

"You have it."

Zack blinked in surprise. "What?" he asked. "I don't—."

This time, it was Sephiroth's turn to cut him off. "Yes," he said. "You do."

Zack folded his arms. "I've been in tons of battles," he said. "I'm not afraid to fight."

"You've been in a lot of battles," Sephiroth agreed. "But I wasn't talking about combat." He glanced meaningfully at the door they were now approaching, the one that led to the hidden staircase that led to the basement lab. Zack's eyes fixed on it, and his expression darkened. He didn't answer.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Sephiroth continued. "If you'd rather stay up here—."

"Sephiroth," said Zack.

Sephiroth ignored the interruption. "—no one would hold it against you," he finished. "You could—."

Zack stopped walking. "I mean it, Seph," he said. "Drop it."

Sephiroth frowned, but said nothing as Zack strode forward, brushing past Aerith and Yuffie and pulling open the door.

XxXxX

Zack Fair wasn't used to being afraid.

Fear for others, sure, he was used to that. He'd been afraid when Aerith had been captured by Shinra, afraid when Cissnei had been shot. He'd been afraid for Cloud, back when it wasn't sure whether or not he would ever come out of mako poisoning. As far back as he could remember, that sort of fear had always affected him. But fear for himself? Sure, he felt it, or he thought he did. A little bit of nervousness before a fight, the awareness that he might make a mistake, that he might not make it out alive. But he'd always been able to control it, always been able to clamp down on it before it could start, or else use it to make him fight harder.

He thought that that had been fear.

But he'd never known this.

It felt as though the air was made of ice. It pressed in around him, chilling him, making it hard for him to take a breath. His feet didn't want to move, his eyes didn't want to see what was around him, his mind didn't want to process where he was. His stomach churned, and it was getting harder and harder to convince himself to take a step. He felt like he was in a nightmare, like at any moment, something would come up and swallow him, and he wouldn't be able to run away because his legs didn't want to move. Or worse, that he'd wake up and find out that everything that had happened up until now had been a dream and he was still in that cylinder, and Hojo was coming to wake him up and strap him down to that table, and he couldn't move, but he was awake, and Cloud was still unconscious, and he tried to shout for him to wake up but his voice wouldn't come, and notes and examination tools and needles—

"Zack."

Zack took in a gulp of air at the sound of his name, coming back to his senses. The world came back in a rush, and he found himself standing in front of the door at the foot of the stairs, wondering how he had got here. He looked over his shoulder. Sephiroth stood beside him, frowning. He met his eyes. Zack stared back, as if daring him to try and send him back up the stairs. His skin felt cold and clammy, and it felt like the last thing he wanted to do was go through that door, but if Sephiroth tried to tell him to go back, he would argue. He needed to know. He needed to know that it was really over this time.

He kept his eyes resolute, staring Sephiroth down. Thankfully, the ex-First seemed to understand something, because he turned away, and instead of telling Zack to go back upstairs, he opened the door.

The passage was just as he remembered it. Dark and damp, more like a cavern than a corridor, with the lab at the very end. He felt a shudder run through him, but he forced his feet forward, one in front of the other. Aerith drew up next to him, sliding her hand into his. He gripped it tightly, drawing strength from her, and her fingers curled tentatively around his, squeezing in support.

Sephiroth led the way, Yuffie taking up the rear. He and Aerith walked in the middle of the group, moving past twisting passageways and locked doors until they reached the door to the lab. This one was open—Zack didn't think he had ever remembered it locked, and even now, a sliver of pale light shone past the crack in the door, illuminating that part of the passage way. Sephiroth pushed the door open and shouldered through, and then it was Zack's turn. He took another breath, gave Aerith's hand a squeeze, and opened that door.

The lab looked just as he remembered it. A thick layer of dust coated everything, most of it from the year since his escape. The mako cylinders still stood in the corner of the room. They had not been replaced; he could see the cracks he had made in it when he broke out. There was an examination table in the center of the room, along with several other pieces of equipment and supplies. A coffee mug lay knocked over on the ground, probably from one of the scientists that would come to check in on them.

His eyes fixed on the empty cylinders, on the glass strewn across the floor. The broken glass told him two things. One, he was here. It was real. And two, it was really over now.

He stood there, staring at the cylinders. He knew he should have felt some sort of relief or some sort of anger, some sort of revulsion, some sort of fear. Instead, he felt numb, like everything he was seeing was happening to someone else. The same two thoughts repeated themselves in his mind, over and over again. It was over now. He survived.

It was over. Done. He would never go back there again.

And that was all he needed to know.

Zack exhaled, disentangling his fingers from Aerith's and taking a step back. "Alright," he said, looking up at Sephiroth. "I'm out. I'll watch the door."

It was a retreat, in a sense, and yet for some reason he felt stronger than he had when he was arguing to stay with the group. Earlier, he'd been afraid. Now, he didn't feel any fear, just the knowledge that he didn't want to stay here anymore. He felt resolved, and though he didn't feel _good _about being here, for the first time since crossing over into the Nibel Area, he felt like himself again. He was leaving, but he was _choosing _to leave.

No one argued, no one stopped him, and he offered Aerith a reassuring smile as he made his way to the door.

XxXxX

After Zack left, he, Aerith, and Yuffie clustered around the center of the lab, Aerith shying away from the equipment and the tools and doing her best not to look at the broken mako cylinder. Sephiroth couldn't blame Zack for his decision to leave. If he was being completely honest, the lab bothered him too, but not for the same reasons. But right now, his need to understand outweighed even his own feelings about the lab and the library.

"We're looking for any information regarding the experiments here," he said. "Particularly the men in black cloaks and the children." He didn't want to use the word _clones_, but neither did he want to use the word _subjects_. "I suggest we split up and search. It will be easier."

Aerith nodded grimly, her hands curled up close to her chest. Yuffie looked around, not seeming too excited about the prospect. "Split—split up?" she repeated. "But what if there are ghosts here?"

_There aren't any ghosts here_.

He almost said it, but then he remembered that night, the night of the fire. Angeal had been in the library with him, whether as a hallucination or as a spirit, he wasn't sure. A year ago, he would have insisted it was a hallucination. But that was before the Shinra Building, before Cosmo Canyon. "You have a shuriken. I presume you know how to use it."

"That's not gonna do any good against a ghost!"

"Throw a potion at it."

He didn't elaborate, ignoring Yuffie's shout of protest and going straight to work. Hojo had never had the most efficient filing system, but it didn't take long for Sephiroth to locate the desk where he kept most of the files. A good number of them were useless, lab notebooks that had been used by all of his assistants, research notes filled with ideas and somewhat disturbing anatomical drawings, and occasionally, scraps of paper that seemed to have been taken from the library next door. He did manage to find the childrens' files, but they were labeled as VII and VIII. No names were recorded, no histories. The first line of the file labeled VII simply read: _Subject. Female. Approximately 5 years of age. _Attached was a picture of a scared black-haired girl with round blue eyes, covered in soot stains from the fire and clutching her brother's hand.

His hand tightened around the files, and he threw them back onto the desk, not wanting to read any more. Trust Hojo to not care enough to even bother with names.

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder at the others. Aerith had tiptoed gingerly around the broken glass and was now leafing through an observation journal someone had left on the table, her eyes occasionally going up to look at the mako cylinder. He noticed that she was studiously avoiding looking at the stack of Hojo's surgical tools. It was easy to forget that Aerith was no stranger to the Science Department either. He looked past her, trying to find Yuffie, and there, he had to stop. She was standing on the far end of the lab, facing a dark corridor that led to other mako chambers, and was rocking back and forth on her heels, her hands clasped together as though she was trying to work out the courage to charge in.

"Yuffie," he said.

She jumped, whirling around to face him. "What the heck?" she asked. "Don't scare me like that! How long have you been there?"

His brow rose. "I've never left."

"Oh, well—um, guess I didn't notice you! See, the Great Ninja Yuffie has—um—better things to do with her time…"

"If you're scared…" Sephiroth began.

"I'm not scared!" said Yuffie, cutting him off. "I'm just—uh—being cautious that's all. The Great Ninja Yuffie does not fear any—_eek_!" Yuffie's eyes widened and she let out a shriek, darting behind Sephiroth. She grabbed onto his arm with both hands, her previous enmity forgotten as she stood on her tiptoes to look out from over his shoulder. Sephiroth looked back at her, puzzled.

"What?" he asked.

"I saw something move," said Yuffie, raising a shaky hand and pointing at something in the shadows. "O-Over there."

Sephiroth glanced in that direction, picking up the flashlight they had brought with them. He flicked in on, shining it into the dark. A lab coat fluttered in the faint breeze, peeking out from inside a small closet. He lowered the light.

"Congratulations, Yuffie," he said dryly. "You found the wardrobe."

"Oh." Her hands loosened their vise grip on his arm, and she stepped back. "Um…I knew that. I was just testing you."

He shot her a look of disbelief, then pressed the flashlight into her hands, turning around and walking back towards the library.

He'd been avoiding the library for many reasons since coming down to the lab, not least of which being his memory of the Nibelheim Incident, of Angeal—or what his mind _thought _was Angeal—standing over the pile of files, preventing him from reading any further and drawing his attention to the smoke. He hadn't liked the way his mind had been before then. Even as a child, he'd always had a tendency to want to seek out answers, even when the answers were truths that he felt he would rather never know. It was that compulsion that had driven him into the library after the visit to the Reactor, and that same compulsion that drove him back there again, looking for answers.

The things the children had said. The pieces he had managed to put together from the report. Project S. Jenova. Sephiroth copies. Reunion. They swam in his mind, as he turned a flickering light on in the library, making his way towards the pile of files on the table.

He'd half expected the files for the Jenova Project to be on the floor, just as he'd left it, but they weren't there anymore. Someone had cleaned up the mess he made five years ago. It had been a low priority task for them, it seemed. The files weren't tucked away as neatly as they should have been. Instead, they were all piled onto one shelf, along with some others. He recognized the names on the folders and spines as things he had read before, the last time he was down here. Information on Project S, on Jenova, on the Ancients.

But there was one file he hadn't read, a black folder, with no title. He picked it up now, his hand closing tightly around it as he straightened up, drawing himself to his feet. A photograph fell out as he lifted it up, and he bent down to get it, lifting it up to the light so that he could see it better.

It was a picture of Jenova, being excavated from the rock. Professor Gast was crouched down next to the excavation site, hard at work as a younger Hojo took notes from behind him. And there was someone else in the photograph too. A brown-haired woman. Something about her seemed familiar.

He flipped it over, noting the date. Two years. Nearly a full two years before the date of his birth.

He suddenly had a feeling he knew what the file would contain. He flipped it open, reading the title.

_Jenova Project: S_

_Addendum_

_Reunion Theory_

"_Subject's cells have shown an affinity for each other, even when placed in different rooms, or different portions of the lab. Tests done on rats have shown that this affinity remains present in living creatures as well. It is my hypothesis that the cells inherently desire to become a larger whole. By following this train of thought, it is possible to speculate that "Jenova" as an entity exists not as one single being but as a collection of cells. Thus, subjects linked by these S-cells may exhibit a shared consciousness, and an affinity for other subjects similarly linked. _

_The phenomena has been observed within the SOLDIER hierarchy, as the S-Cell primary subject, Sephiroth, has been shown to have a weak affinity for G. Rhapsodos and A. Hewley, both infused with inferior G-Cells. It is possible that in subjects with pure S-Cells, this effect may be stronger. However, in order to test this, it is necessary to procure subjects able to maintain physical function with limited mental capability or will, in order to control for the subject's own innate desires. Such subjects will then seek to reunite with the host, with the objective of initiating a "Reunion". _

_Hence, Reunion Theory." _

_Reunion. _

Reuniting with the host…Cells that shared a consciousness.

Hojo thought that the host would have been him, but the real host…the real host would have been—.

The buzzing started, a high, keening sound in the back of his mind. All the air left him in a rush, the file dropping from his fingers. The words seemed to swim, and he braced one hand on the table, doubling over. The papers fell to the ground with a loud rustling sound, but the sound suddenly seemed less important, less real than the voice on the inside of his head. Suddenly, he was seeing through another's eyes, his vision fractured between the mansion library and somewhere else, somewhere bright and sterile, with blue lights in the distance.

"_Yes. Reunion. Come to me, my son. We'll go together…" _

Jenova's eyes, he realized, feeling sickened. The world spun. He was seeing through _her _eyes. And there was someone with her, someone in her lap. A girl. She turned her face towards his—_Jenova's_—looking confused.

"_Our glorious Reunion…" _

It was Marlene.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	89. File 025: Nibelheim Again pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Hope you guys like how this chapter turned out. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say there's a nod to the original story in here, concerning how things played out. Also, apparently **DrCreepPasta** has posted a reading of the first chapter on YouTube, complete with voice actors and background music. Check it out if you feel so inclined! (And, the TVtropes page could use some love~).

Thanks go to **HeartofFyrwinde, JazzQueen, Gohan Roxas, Riku Uzumaki, Guest, SubZeroChimera, Irish-Brigid, Furionknight, Aeris33, Eavenne, shadowneko003, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **and **Leon Kaye** for your reviews and support!

**HeartofFyrwinde, **Hojo is extremely evil. I'm still trying to think up a creative fate for him in this story, one that gets all the people he's wronged in on the action. Still, glad you like how things are getting set up!

**JazzQueen, **thanks! Jenova is the Big Bad for this series, but she's been a background character in this book, so I'm glad she still manages to inspire some sort of terror~

**Riku Uzumaki, **yep, exactly! That's what I was going for with that scene.

**Irish-Brigid, **I really don't think Shinra is the type to care about safety standards, lol. But true. And Sephiroth going on a roaring rampage of revenge…well, that would be scary.

XxXxX

**File 025: Nibelheim Again**

It took him a few seconds to orient himself. Jenova's presence enveloped him, surrounded him from all sides, smothering him. He lost almost all sense of place. For a moment, he felt like he was being pulled in two directions, half of him standing in the library trying to stay upright, the other half looking through Jenova's eyes, a world away. It was hard to tell where he ended and she began. And then there was Marlene.

The child didn't seem to be harmed, _yet_, but she was staring up at Jenova with wide eyes, as though she wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. He could sense Jenova's intent and wanted to shout a warning to the child, to tell her to get away, but his—her?—throat closed up, and the only sound that escaped him was a strangled grunt. Jenova's hands closed around the girl's shoulders, lightly, but strongly enough that Sephiroth could feel the pressure. She drummed her nails against Marlene's sleeve. Images flashed through Sephiroth's mind, disjointed and broken. Jenova's nails, lengthening into talon claws. Blood. Rending flesh. A child's high-pitched scream. Interspersed with it was Jenova's words, and a pressure on the inside of his mind.

"_You can save her." _

"_Let go…"_

The images of blood and screams flashed to Marlene sitting on Jenova's lap, still looking confused and slightly scared. The pressure intensified, the images becoming more and more vivid. Heads separating from bodies. Claws rending flesh. The thoughts almost seemed to rub together, creating a high-pitched keening wail that set his teeth on edge. His hand clenched into a fist, closing around the papers on top of the table.

"_All you have to do is let go…" _

He squeezed his eyes tighter against the tirade, but the images were burned into his brain. No matter what he did, he couldn't escape them. His presence and hers, his mind and hers, were intertwined. He was falling into her, being consumed by her. He felt hands on his head, fingers running through his hair in a gesture that should have been soothing, but instead sent a shiver of revulsion through his spine. She cupped his face like a mother would, her voice clearer now.

"_Let go." _

He grit his teeth.

_No. _

Sephiroth pushed back, and suddenly everything changed. He gathered everything that he was, all of his will, all of his consciousness, and threw it against her, breaking her hold on him. He felt Jenova's presence recoil, sensed her surprise and—was that _fear_?—and pushed harder, dragging himself to the surface. His world tilted and spun, and suddenly, he was looking _through _Jenova's eyes, sitting on a long white couch with a frightened Marlene in his lap. He could feel Jenova's presence, not within him but _around _him, and when she spoke again, he could detect an edge of panic in her voice.

"_Let go!" _

The meaning of her words had changed this time. Sephiroth's answer hadn't. A wave of rage ran through him, and he pushed himself against her presence, smothering it, overpowering it. Jenova's hands moved at his will, first unclenching from Marlene's shoulders, then, pushing the child away, then reaching for her own neck. She made a choked, gurgling sound, and Sephiroth felt her resisting, felt her fear as she tried to wrest control from him, to regain control of her body.

But he was in control, and he was _stronger_.

Why hadn't he ever realized? He was stronger than her.

"_Sephiroth—," _her voice was high, wheedling. _"Let go of me. Please. My son. Sephiroth, my son…" _

He was high on power and rage, and the sensation of control. His hands—her hands, clenched tighter, his mind going back to the confrontation on the cargo ship, the time Jenova had tried to choke the life from him.

_I am not your son. _

In the background, Marlene screamed, more out of confusion than anything else. In her struggle, Jenova rolled off the couch, than onto the floor. She kicked her legs out, trying to get her arms to work, but Sephiroth held fast, even as he felt her mind pressing back against him. Something crashed against the floor, breaking. He was dimly aware of her body hitting one of the table legs in her struggle. He poured all his attention to her hands, searching for the mechanism that released her claws.

It was just like unfurling his wing. He found it, felt it as Jenova realized what he was trying to do. He felt her trying to suppress it, but her attempts were getting weaker and weaker, and he pushed.

Her claws came free with a hiss, sprouting from her fingers.

Then Jenova pushed once more, and he found himself suddenly and violently thrown back into the library, back into his own body, all connection with her severed. He stumbled back with his hands over his face, falling onto the floor.

It was quiet, inside his mind and out. Sephiroth stared up at the ceiling, his heart pounding as he tried to process what had just happened. He couldn't sense Jenova. Not in the front of his mind, not in the back of it, and not in the hidden recesses where he had been feeling her presence since Nibelheim. He felt nothing at all. She had released him. Cut him off. His mind was suddenly completely his own.

And more than that, he had controlled her. He had pushed back, taken control of _her_. He had used her own cells, her own abilities, fought with her on her level, and nearly won.

_Nearly_.

The SOLDIER in him, the one that was assessing the situation, reminded himself that she had been caught off-guard. He would never get a chance like that again. Next time, she would be ready.

Next time…

A more urgent thought struck him, and he pushed himself to his feet just as the door burst open, Aerith entering the library. Yuffie hovered behind her, still looking scared. He hadn't managed to kill her.

And she still had Marlene.

"Sephiroth?" asked Aerith, running forward first. He was on his feet before she reached him, turning around and placing his hands out to stop her from touching him. She hesitated, stopping a few feet away. "Are you alright? We heard you fall."

He shook his head, starting forward. "I'm fine. Find Zack. Tell him to get Barret on the phone."

"You're really pale," said Aerith. "What happened? Was it _her_?"

"Aerith." Sephiroth's voice stopped her as she reached forward, attempting to grab at his arm. She looked up at him, her expression worried.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Call Barret," he said again. "She has Marlene."

XxXxX

"_What the fuck do you mean the bitch has my daughter?!" _

Barret, predictably, was upset. His voice rang out of the small PHS, sounding far-off and tinny to Sephiroth's ears. The four of them stood upstairs again, there having been no phone signal in the basement. Sephiroth stood against a crumbling wall, arms folded, and listened as Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie clustered around the small phone. Zack looked up at him for answers, and he inclined his head slightly towards the device.

"Jenova has Marlene," he said again. "They're somewhere in Midgar."

"_Where, fool?!" _demanded Barret. _"Where in Midgar?" _

"I don't know." He ground the words out, keeping his tone as level as possible.

"_You were inside her head, weren't you?" _asked Barret. _"The hell do you mean, you don't know?" _

"Barret…" began Aerith, using the same placating tone she might use when speaking to a child.

"_Don't you 'Barret' me!" _said Barret. _"My little girl's off in Midgar with that freak show! Halfway around the damned world! What the hell do we do about it, huh? What the hell—?" _

"_Barret." _Cissnei's tone was short and clipped, conveying a sense of urgency in its own way. Sephiroth looked up. _"I want to talk to Sephiroth." _

"_Goddammit, Ciss! Talk to your boyfriend on your own damn time! This is important!" _

Cissnei sounded like he felt. Tired, worried, mostly irritated. _"I know it's important," _she said. _"That's why I'm _'asking' _you to give me the phone." _The way she said the word implied that she might not be 'asking' for long.

Barret grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, and he heard the sound of the phone being passed around. Zack looked up, offering it to him, but he shook his head, indicating that it be kept on speakerphone. Zack nodded, turning back to his circle with the others.

"Hey, Ciss," he said.

Cissnei let out a little sigh at the sound of the voice. "Hey, Zack," she said. "Sounds like you're getting into all sorts of adventures."

"Oh, you bet," said Zack, using the same weary, slightly sarcastic tone that she used. "It's great. View's nice up here."

"Cissnei," said Sephiroth, drawing her attention back to the matter at hand.

"_Yes." _

"Midgar," he repeated.

She paused for a moment before he responded, and he could almost picture her standing away from the group with the phone in her hand, her other hand covering her free ear and thinking. _"Yes, I heard," _she said. _"The climate in Midgar isn't exactly favorable towards me right now. I'm going to try and get in touch with Shion." _

"_Try?!" _Barret demanded in the background. _"Dammit, Ciss, you better—!" _

"_I'm __**trying**__, Barret! Okay?" _Cissnei's voice sounded strained, almost to the breaking point. He remembered that she and Shion had been close, and realized that if Jenova had taken Marlene, she would probably have had to go through Shion to do it. _"As I was saying. I'll try to get in touch with Shion. If he's…still capable, he'll be trying to find her. He can point me in the right direction." _

She didn't say anything about what she would do if he wasn't. He thought about flying off to Midgar this instant. He would probably make it before any of them could, and was probably in the best position to act. But he knew what she would say to that almost as soon as she knew he was thinking it.

"_Sephiroth, don't…don't do anything rash," _she said. _"I know you're thinking about flying out there, but—."_

"They would be expecting that," he finished for her. "They would be waiting for me. I'd be alone, in uncertain odds, without back-up." She paused, and he could practically sense her surprise. "I _am _capable of learning, you know," he added. Even then, it was hard to remind himself why he shouldn't go. It wasn't often he came across people who could defeat him. That wasn't arrogance, it was simply a fact of life. Another thought had also occurred to him, cutting through the initial instinct to rush in. They would either kill her or they wouldn't. If she was meant to be used as leverage, she was alive, and would remain alive until the opportunity arose. If they intended to kill her…

Then she would already be dead. And no amount of haste would save her.

But there was another, more chilling prospect. He remembered the pictures of the girl and boy, in the files downstairs. They had been Marlene's age back then. Would Jenova do that, just to torment him?

_Yes. _

He needed to talk about it, but he had a feeling that this was not a possibility that Barret needed to hear right now. If he was on speaker…

"Is Barret there?" he asked.

Something in his tone must have tipped her off, because Cissnei's reply was delayed. _"No," _she said. He heard the sound of the phone's position being shifted, then footsteps, as though she was walking away. _"Do you want that?" _

'Do you want that?', not 'Do you want me to get him?' Nothing that might tip Barret off to the fact that they were talking about him. "No," he said, holding out one hand and gesturing for the phone. Zack handed it over, and Sephiroth pressed it to his ear, turning it off speaker and turning away from the others.

"_Alright," _said Cissnei in his ear. _"What is it?" _

He glanced over his shoulder at Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie. They were all listening, but he didn't see the need to hide any of this from them at this point. He told Cissnei about the children, about how they had gone through the same sort of treatment experienced by Zack and Cloud. She was silent for a few moments after he finished, so quiet that for a while, he wondered if the line had gone dead.

"_And you think something like that might happen?" _she asked.

The others were hanging on to every word. Sephiroth turned further away from them. Do you think that it's possible?" he asked.

"_I…think we should be aware of the possibility," _she said. _"I won't say I can predict how far Jenova and Genesis would go to spite you." _She sighed, and he heard her shift the phone again. _"It's worrying, but…there's not much we can do at the moment. I need to know what's happened to Shion." _

"Agreed," said Sephiroth. He glanced back, and saw that Aerith was moving forward, her expression worried. She glanced pointedly at the phone. Sephiroth turned away. "You'll call back once you know more?"

"_Of course." _

"And…one other thing," said Sephiroth, looking back at Aerith. "The matter of Elmyra Gainsborough."

Aerith relaxed, looking slightly relieved. She took a step back, going to stand with Zack. On the other end of the line, Cissnei spoke. _"I'll see what I can do," _she said. She took in a breath. _"The rest of you should leave as soon as possible and make for Rocket Town." _

"Rocket Town?" asked Sephiroth. "Still?"

"_It's the still best place to regroup," _said Cissnei. _"And…if we want to get to Midgar in a hurry…we'll need a plane." _

Sephiroth didn't bother to ask her where she planned on finding a plane in Rocket Town. He'd learned that sometimes, it was better to just not ask questions. Instead, he nodded, although he knew she couldn't see it. "We'll finish up here and then head out," he said, glancing back at Zack and the others.

A pause. _"Sephiroth…" _she said. _"Where exactly did you say you were?" _

Sephiroth frowned, glancing at the Mansion around him. "No locations, remember?"

Cissnei's tone sounded worried, and just slightly impatient. _"Sephiroth…" _

"I'll call you back." He flipped the phone shut to end the call, then tossed it to Zack. The other ex-First caught it. He raised a brow, but didn't ask questions. Sephiroth knew that just from that, Cissnei would know where they were. Going to Shinra Mansion had not been part of the plan. But they weren't quite finished here.

"So," said Yuffie, breaking the silence. "What now?"

"I don't think we'll find anything more useful in the lab," said Aerith, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked tired and worried, most likely from a combination of being in this place and hearing about Marlene. "…We could try the library."

"There's actually something else I want to see," said Zack, causing the other three to look up. Sephiroth turned towards him.

"What?" he asked.

Zack shook his head. "I remembered something, while waiting up here," he said. "The last time I came down here, back before…all that, I was doing that Seven Wonders of Nibelheim thing. You remember it?"

He nodded. "I remember some rumors about that," he said. "The neighborhood children."

"Yeah," said Zack. "Well, I went into a locked room downstairs and found some coffins."

This made Yuffie shiver, her arms wrapped around herself. "C-Coffins?" she asked.

Zack nodded. "The last time, there was someone sleeping down there. I wonder if he's still there."

Someone sleeping in a coffin? The account sounded ludicrous…but not completely impossible, considering the things that had gone on in this Mansion. It could easily be another one of Hojo's experiments, or worse. "Where was the door?" asked Sephiroth.

"Downstairs," said Zack. "I tried to open it on my way up, but it was locked. I can't find the key. I thought about checking up here, and…there's a locked safe in the other room."

The others exchanged glances.

"Where?" asked Sephiroth.

"Here," said Zack, walking down the corridor. "I'll show you the way."

XxXxX

She drew herself up to her knees as the door burst open, her hands closed over her face. Her claws were still extended, and white hot pain seared through the area around her neck and under her jaw. This body had always been feeble—she'd found it useful for its magical properties alone. The child, that stupid simpering child, had curled herself up into a ball in the corner of the room, whimpering to herself. Footsteps dashed across the room, stopping in front of her, and she looked up to see another flash of red.

"You're hurt." That was Genesis, standing in front of her now and looking down at her. A flash of rage coursed through her. Looking down at _her_. No one should ever be looking down at her. No one should ever see her in this state.

She still couldn't believe it. He had overpowered _her_. Taken control of _her_. He'd made her _afraid_. That could not be allowed to continue.

"Kill him," she said, peeking out from the gaps between her fingers. Her skin bubbled where she had been cut, smoke rising from the gashes.

"Who do you mean?" asked Genesis, playing the innocent as always. She made an irritated noise in her throat.

"You know who," she snarled. "I want him dead! Kill him!"

"You're sure?" asked Genesis, straightening up. He smirked. "You were quite attached to him, as I recall."

"I don't care!" she shrieked. _"Kill him!" _

**END FILE**


	90. File 026: Valentine pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Yeah…I wasn't feeling like writing the Lost Number fight. So I did what I always do when I don't want to write a boss fight. I throw Sephy at it.

Also, it occurred to me that Vincent would have no idea what Sephiroth actually _looks _like, seeing as he was placed in the coffin before Seph was born, so I couldn't do the 'Vincent slams the door on them' thing. Hope it turned out well anyway!

Thanks go to **Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, SakiWatari, Aeris33, Eavenne, RedKaddict, Riku Uzumaki, JazzQueen, DarkSeraphim1, HeartofFyrwinde, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **and **Draconic **for your reviews and support! I'm glad you guys liked the chapter, and the scene between Sephiroth and Jenova. I think Seph has just realized that he _can _overpower her will, which is pretty awesome. I'm excited to see what he does with this (this scene was not in my original plan. XD)

**Irish-Brigid, **that's true, but at least she, Kunsel and Nanaki can stop Barret. If Seph gets it in his head to run off, he will. XD

**SakiWatari, **thank you! I'm really glad that you think so! I try to mimic the style of the canon where I can, but I can't help but put my own spin on things sometimes. And don't worry about not reviewing many chapters. I'm glad to know that you like it anyway~

**Draconic, **yep, the two of them do have a resemblance. XD As Vincent will soon realize. Fun stuff.

XxXxX

**File 026: Valentine**

Marlene huddled in her room, the blanket pulled tightly around her shoulders. After Jenova started hurting herself, the man in red—Genesis—had called someone to put her in here, and no one had come for her since. She wrapped her hands tightly around her knees, trying not to cry. Her face was already wet with tears, and she couldn't help it. More seemed to want to come out, trickling down her cheeks and onto the blanket.

She was scared. She didn't know what had happened to the lady, but she didn't want to see her anymore. The things she was saying, the tone of her voice…

She wanted her Dad. That was what she really wanted. She wanted to go _home. _

The door opened, and she let out a scared whimper as footsteps entered the room. She buried her head in her arms, not wanting to look up to see who it was. The footsteps were heavy, and they sounded like boots, so she thought she already knew. A weight settled at the end of her bed, and she tried not to look up, but when a hand landed on her head, she had to. She blinked tears out of her eyes and sniffled, looking straight into mako blue eyes.

Genesis.

She remembered Sephiroth and Zack talking about him. He was the bad guy. She sniffled again. "Am I in trouble?" she asked.

He smiled at her. She didn't like his smile. It didn't seem much like a smile at all. "In trouble?" he asked. "Why? Have you done anything wrong?"

"N-No," she said. "B-But I made her mad…"

"You didn't make her mad," said Genesis, pulling his hand away. "It was her son."

Marlene sniffled, rubbing at her nose with her hand and looking up at Genesis. "…Miss Jenova has a son?" she asked.

"Yes," said Genesis. "He's been very bad. That's why we're going to…discipline him."

"Like…give him a scolding?" asked Marlene.

"You could say that," said Genesis.

Marlene cringed, tugging her blanket close to herself. "I don't like getting scolded," she said, lowering her head again.

"Well, if you continue to be a good girl, you won't have to be," said Genesis. He stood up, his red leather coat falling around him. "Can you do that for us?"

Marlene tugged the blanket over her head, drawing her knees up close to her chest. "I want my daddy…" she said, more into the blanket than to Genesis.

"Then you're in luck," said Genesis, walking away. He looked back over his shoulder at her, and she looked up, catching the mako-enhanced gleam in his eyes and the not-smile on his face. "I think he'll be coming to visit you. He'll be here very soon. And we'll be ready to welcome him, won't we, Marlene?"

"We'll show him how good you are…"

XxXxX

Yuffie hurried to catch up with Zack at the front of the group as they made their way down the hallway. "Wait, what?" she asked, grabbing onto his arm as she fell into step beside him. "Let me get this straight. You think there's a man sleeping in a coffin downstairs."

"Pretty much," said Zack, nodding.

"And we're going to go _find _him?!" asked Yuffie.

"That's the plan," said Zack with another nod.

Yuffie stared at the ex-SOLDIER, wondering when exactly he had gone completely insane. _"Why?!" _she asked.

"Why not?"

"Why not?!" Yuffie repeated, her eyes wide. "Because he might be a vampire, that's why not!" She shuddered, holding her neck with both hands. "I'm too young and pretty to get the life sucked out of me by a bloodsucking demon!" Zack pushed open a door and entered one of the upstairs bedrooms, still obviously not grasping the gravity of the situation. Yuffie watched as he stepped aside to let Aerith and Sephiroth into the room, then gestured at a safe in the corner. Sephiroth frowned, going forward to inspect the safe as Zack and Aerith took up places behind him. Yuffie stared at them all, incredulous.

"Is no one listening to anything I'm _saying_?" she asked.

The three of them exchanged glances, and Sephiroth and Aerith's eyes fell on Zack. He sighed, unfolding his arms from around himself and turning to her. "I thought girls your age liked vampires," he said.

"That's different!" said Yuffie. "That's like, romance novel vampires! You know. _Hot _vampires. Not shriveled up corpses with fangs that _kill _people!"

"Well, how do you know he's not?" asked Zack.

"Not what? Hot?"

Zack shrugged in response. "Yeah," he said.

Yuffie made a scoffing noise, resting her hands on the waistline of her shorts. "Zack Fair, if there is a hot vampire in there, I will pay you money."

"How much?" asked Zack, grinning.

"20 gil," Yuffie replied.

"Deal." Zack turned back towards the safe. "The combination has to be around here somewhere…" he said. "Maybe it's written somewhere in the library?"

"We could go and check," said Aerith, looking uncertain. "Maybe split up?" She glanced at Sephiroth, who nodded.

Yuffie watched the exchange, starting to feel impatient. She rocked back and forth on her heels, her eyes widening as Aerith mentioned splitting up. No way were they splitting up and going down there again! She strode forward, walking up to the safe. "Oh, for Leviathan's sake!" she said, shoving Zack out of the way so she could get a better look. "Bunch of amateurs! Let me show you how a real th—."

"Thief?" finished Zack, smiling at her. Yuffie shot him a dark look.

"—_treasure hunter," _she said. "deals with a safe! Everyone go stand over there and be quiet for a sec." She gestured at the corner of the room, turning her attention to the safe. When no one moved, she looked over her shoulder. "Well, you heard me! Shoo!" she said, waving them towards the corner again. She noted with a little bit of pride that they actually went, even Sephiroth. Alright, so they didn't go _all _the way in the corner, just shuffled back a bit to give her room to work, but still. Small victories.

She grinned, then turned her attention to the safe. It turned out to be a simple rotary combination lock. Yuffie sniffed in disdain. She expected more from Shinra, really. Passcodes and fingerprint scanners and all that jazz. This wouldn't take her more than a few minutes.

"Alright, let's see what we got," she said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. She crouched down in front of the safe, hoping for at least _some _Materia out of the deal, and pressed her ear to the door. Yuffie began slowly rotating the dials, listening for the clicking sound of the tumblers locking into place. "Right to 36…" she said as the first satisfying _thunk _sounded from the dial. "Left 10…" She twisted the dial again, noticing that the room had gone completely quiet. She wondered if they were watching her, and her smile widened at the thought. "Right to 59 and then left—oh, no wait—_right _to…huh, this is taking a while—oh, there we go. Right to 97."

The safe clicked open.

Yuffie grinned in triumph, getting to her feet. She turned around, facing the other three as the door swung open behind her. "Bam!" she said. "Under five minutes! What do you say to that?"

They didn't say much of anything. Instead, they all seemed to be staring at her in shock. Yuffie blinked. She knew she was good, but she didn't think she was _that _good. And then Sephiroth spoke up.

"Yuffie…" he began.

"What?" she asked. "If you're gonna tell me that Cissnei can do in three, or something, then you can just _can it, _mister! You don't have Turkey right now, you've got me, so you damn well better get used—."

"Yuffie, _get down_!" he barked. Sephiroth sprang into action, drawing his sword from his back. Yuffie blinked, confused, then glanced behind her. Something large and dark was swirling within the safe, making its way out. She shrieked, and jumped out of the way just as Sephiroth came charging through, stabbing the point of his sword through the darkness. Something squealed and hissed as Masamune pierced it, smoke rising out from inside of the safe. Yuffie stared, eyes wide as Sephiroth took a step back, swiping his sword off to the side as the darkness dissipated.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"Hojo's security system." Sephiroth replied, replacing his sword at his back. He shot her a pointed glance. "And was what I was trying to warn you about."

"Oh." Yuffie let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of her neck. "Well…uh…good job?"

Sephiroth didn't look convinced. He turned away from her, reaching into the safe and drawing out two things—a key and a red Materia. Yuffie eyed the Materia hungrily, watching as Sephiroth pocketed the key and turned towards her. She could already sense what he was about to say.

"I opened the safe!" she said.

"I killed the monster," said Sephiroth, pocketing the Materia. He turned away, motioning for the group to start moving down the stairs. Yuffie followed, glaring at the back of his head. She watched as his silver hair swished behind him as he walked, keeping time with his coat. _I know where you sleep, _she thought, shoving her hands in her pockets. _And next time, I'll bring scissors…_

Yuffie had decided from the moment they went down there that she hated the Shinra Mansion's basement. In fact, she'd go as far as to say that she hated the Shinra Mansion, period. The cavern underneath smelled like damp and mold, and the cold air sent a chill straight into her bones. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, repressing a shiver. Whoever was down here, she decided, could very well _stay _down here. She sidled up to Zack, not wanting to be the last one in the group as they walked down the corridor.

"For the record," she said as she reached him. "_I _said this was a bad idea."

The door turned out to be a rickety wooden thing, one that didn't look like it would have been any impediment to a serious SOLDIER. Yuffie folded her arms, frowning as she watched Sephiroth open the door with the key they had found. Looking at the door, she was fairly certain she could have picked the lock as well. But then she remembered the monster guarding the safe and decided she didn't want to know what might be guarding _this _door. The door opened into a dark room. For a moment, she couldn't see anything. Then, she realized that there were dark shapes against the far wall, and as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she realized they were coffins.

Yuffie shuddered, and took a step closer to Zack, putting herself between the SOLDIER and the door. She watched as Sephiroth and Aerith moved forward, walking past each of the coffins. Sephiroth looked slightly skeptical, but he did stop in front of each one, knocking twice on the lid with one hand to see if anyone answered. Aerith moved between each of them, knocking lightly on the lid and calling out with a "Hello?" The two of them together moved through the coffins fairly quickly, and Aerith stood back, watching as Sephiroth rapped on the lid of the last one.

Silence answered him. Yuffie exhaled, letting out the breath she was holding. Aerith frowned, looking up at Zack.

"I don't think there's anything down here," she said.

Sephiroth nodded, turning back towards them. "I agree," he said. "We should head out. The sooner we leave Nibel—." The coffin's lid flew open, flipping over in the air and landing on top of the coffin next to it. Sephiroth turned sharply. Yuffie let out a terrified squeak, grabbing onto Zack's arm.

"To wake me from the nightmare…"

A deep voice sounded from inside the coffin. Yuffie watched, frozen in place, as something inside started to sit up, accompanied by the telltale rustle of fabric. Light reflected against something gold and metallic. "Who is it?" The figure inside sat up.

Yuffie stared, her grip relaxing on Zack's arm. It was a man, not the shriveled up corpse she had been imagining. He had long black hair, kept off of his face by a strip of red cloth across his forehead, and was dressed in red. A gold gauntlet covered one of his arms. His face was pale, his features just slightly Wutaiian, and his eyes, when he looked up at them, were a startling ruby red. The man's eyes moved over each of them, settling over each of them in turn. Her breath caught as those eyes met hers for a moment, before turning away. Still staring at him, she slipped two coins into Zack's hand.

"Never seen you before," he said, turning towards Sephiroth, who was closest. "You must leave."

The four of them fell silent, exchanging glances. Zack started to step forward, but it was Aerith who spoke first.

"Were you…having bad dreams?" she asked.

"A nightmare…?" He shook his head. "My long sleep has given me time to atone."

"Atone for what?" asked Sephiroth.

The man's eyes fixed on him, and something changed in his expression, as though he was reliving a memory. But he shook his head, lowering his eyes to the ground. "I have nothing to say to strangers," he said. "Get out. This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare."

Zack snorted, folding his arms. "You've got that right, at least," he said. The man's eyes fixed on him, and Zack smiled, raising his hand. "Hey. Remember me?" The man continued to stare, as though trying to remember where he had seen him before. Zack shook his head, turning towards Sephiroth.

"Come on, Seph," he said. "Maybe we should just go."

"Mm," said Sephiroth, turning around. "That might be for the best."

The man froze, his fingers gripping the edge of the coffin. He stared at Sephiroth, wearing an expression on his face that Yuffie could only describe as complete surprise, with maybe a little caution in there as well. It was there only for a moment, before his face composed itself. "Seph…?" he repeated.

"Sephiroth," said Sephiroth with a glance at him. He turned away, starting for the door. "We'll let you sleep." He nodded at Aerith, and she started moving towards the door, giving the man one last look. Zack turned as well, a disappointed frown on his face. Yuffie stared, about to turn when something happened.

"Sephiroth?!" the man asked, getting to his feet. "You are…Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth paused on his way to the door, looking back over his shoulder. "Yes," he said, his expression wary. "You…know me?"

"No," said the man. "But I…knew your mother."

"My mother?" Sephiroth repeated. A flash of pain crossed his expression, and he turned away. "I'm sorry," he said. "I have no desire to talk about Jenova today."

The man shook his head. "No," he said. "Not Jenova. Your real mother." He took a deep breath. "Lucrecia."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	91. File 026: Valentine pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thanks go to **Gohan Roxas, the real Marik Ishtar, Riku Uzumaki, Meteor Panda, Furionknight, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, JazzQueen, Eavenne, Irish-Brigid, RedKaddict, SpiritDreamWarriors, Guest, SubZeroChimera, b, Draconic, butterfly-aquamaiden28, Leon Kaye **and **damagectrl.07** for the reviews and support. Yes, Vincent Valentine is on the scene! Glad you liked it!

**Meteor Panda, **well if you think about it, five years ago, teenage girls still liked vampires, so it was a good enough guess. And she did pay Zack, just without saying anything. ^^ Cloud's party will probably be in the next chapter, but I did check in on Cissnei in this one. The scene with Genesis was meant to be creepy, and I think he knows that Barret will soon be on his way, now that he knows Marlene is in their captivity. And to your last two questions…hmm…you'll find out soon enough! Thanks for the review! (And yes, good Sephy!)

**Irish-Brigid, **I didn't see the point to the clues hunting either. I just went for having Yuffie crack the safe open. I could have also had Zack knock the door down, but…eh, the canon has them breaking open the safe, so…

**Guest, **I like Vincent, but I like a lot of characters. Don't worry. It won't be all about him, although he will play his part!

**Draconic, **there are other pretty vampires, thankfully. XD But glad you liked it!

XxXxX

**File 026: Valentine**

The one who finally answered the phone was Elmyra Gainsborough.

Cissnei wasn't expecting that. Shion's communication lines had been set up with all the training he'd acquired in his chosen profession, and all the paranoia that came with it. She wouldn't have expected anyone, least of all, anyone who wasn't a Turk, to pick up the phone. But there it was.

"_Hello?" _said the woman.

Cissnei settled back in her seat, perched on top of a rock with her back to the wall of the cliff, watching as the others went about the business of making camp. Barret paced angrily around the campfire, occasionally looking up to shoot pointed glances her way. She turned away from him, glad to see that Kunsel and Nanaki seemed to both be trying to placate him, and pressed the phone away from her ear, shifting position slightly so that she was facing away from the group.

"Elmyra," she said. "It's Cissnei."

Elmyra wouldn't know the code names they used to refer to themselves when they spoke with each other, and if things were this far gone, there was really no point in bothering. Cissnei drummed her finger on her knee, glancing up as Barret let out a particularly angry sounding bellow. There was a pause at the other end of the line, followed by Elmyra's tentative voice.

"_Cissnei," _she said. _"I remember you." _

"I'm glad to see that you're safe," said Cissnei, choosing her words carefully. Elmyra had never had the best relationship with the Turks, not with Tseng and company continually trying to take Aerith away. "I heard there was a situation."

"_There was an attack in Kalm. Marlene was taken." _The woman sounded worried, but she went through the event with the same matronly practicality that Cissnei had noticed from her before. Elmyra had lived most of her life in Midgar's slums. She was no stranger to hardship.

"I heard about Marlene," said Cissnei. She glanced up at Barret again. "…So has her father. He's worried."

"_We all are." _We, Cissnei noted. Multiple people. And from the clipped tone in Elmyra's voice, it was clear that she didn't approve of all of them. Cissnei's frown deepened. What exactly had happened in Kalm? _"Is my daughter alright?" _

"She's safe, but she's not with me at the moment," said Cissnei. "She's with Sephiroth and Zack. They won't let anything happen to her. We'll be meeting up shortly. She asked after you." 

Elmyra let out a breath at that statement. Without seeing the woman in front of her, it was impossible to tell whether she was relieved or troubled by that information. She thought back to Sephiroth and Zack, probably walking around Shinra Mansion, with all the troubles associated with Nibelheim, and decided she couldn't blame her. She really hoped that the two of them didn't do anything stupid. Sephiroth's way of solving problems was elegant in its simplicity, but hostage situations like this one didn't need broad sword cuts, they needed surgical knives.

"Elmyra," said Cissnei, before the woman could speak again. "I would love to talk to you more about Aerith, but I'm not sure how long this line can stay secure. Is Shion there?"

Something in the older woman's silence gave her pause. Cissnei felt a shiver creep down her spine. Had something happened to Shion? The man had been an institution in the Turks for as long as she could remember. He'd been through serious scrapes before, and had always pulled through. She couldn't imagine…

"Elmyra?" she asked again.

"_He's…out," _said Elmyra, finally. The statement had too many layers for her to want to unravel right now, but none of them pointed to anything good. _"I can hand you to someone else." _

Someone else. "Where are you exactly?" she asked, cupping her hand around the mouthpiece of the phone.

"_Midgar," _said Elmyra. _"In the slums. There's a woman named Eira here. She's an ex-Turk. There are a few here. They say they're looking for Marlene." _

Eira. Cissnei felt her throat seize up, remembering her last encounter with the mercenary woman. She let out a breath, fixing Marlene's face in her mind. "Alright," she said. "Put her on."

XxXxX

Midgar was a dirty brown city, built out of mako and steel. The city had been his home for a good portion of his life, but looking at it now, Shion could barely believe he had lived here for so long. Still, there was a familiarity in the city's dark streets, and in the green glow of the Mako Reactors in the distance. The city had become a part of him now, Shion realized, maybe the only part of him that mattered. The boy from Gongaga was gone, the man from Kalm had never been. And the swordsman…

The fingers of his right hand twitched uselessly. Shion smothered the sudden wave of bitterness that filled him, looking out over the gaping hole left by the fall of the Sector 7 plate.

The swordsman was gone too. He supposed that left only the Turk.

His sword hand might have been useless, but his senses were still sharp. He noticed the blond man walking up to him from the right, approaching him. He was dressed in deep red today, Shion noted, also taking note of the slight bulge under his suit jacket that told him where he kept his nunchucks. Ivan smiled brightly as he drew up to him. Ivan still smiled like the boy he had been, but like the Gongagan swordsman, Shion knew that boy was long dead. Murdered in Bone Village by a mission, a brother's betrayal, and a father's request.

_He could kill me now if he wanted to, _Shion mused, eyeing the gap he stood precariously close to. Shion couldn't fight back, and it would only take a well-placed shove. Thinking about it closely, Shion realized that he didn't particularly care.

"You know," said Ivan, standing next to him. "When you said meet at Sector 7, I thought that was code for something. I kept wracking my brain, trying to understand what you meant by that. Finally, I just decided to come here." He looked out at the wreckage of the plate, far below. "It's a mess, isn't it?" he said, with all the casualness of someone who may have been talking about the weather.

Shion nodded, and Ivan shook his head. "The old President never did play anything by halves," he continued. His eyes fixed on Shion, and they softened slightly, although not by much. Ivan's eyes were wide and blue, and outwardly appeared as innocent as they always had, but Shion could see the hardness in them, underneath the façade. The years had made Ivan hard as iron on the inside, and just as brittle. "How are you holding up?" he asked. "I heard about your injury."

_My injury_, Shion noted. _As if I'll simply come back from this one. _

Ivan's expression matched Chris's, matched Eira's and Nico's and would likely match any of the others if they could see him now. One part pity, one part concern, and one part heartless practicality. He'd never thought that any of these people, his _juniors_, would give him that look. Thinking of his ex-partner darkened his mood even more than it had already been, and he turned away. "Fine," he said simply. "You've heard about the situation?"

"I've heard enough," said Ivan with a nod. "The little girl is in Midgar somewhere, with Genesis and someone who might be the research specimen Jenova." He looked across, his eyes landing on the Shinra Building that Shion had been staring at not too long ago. The look on his face told the older Turk that Ivan had already figured it out. "So, next step, is figuring out how we're going to get down _there_."

Down there. Deepground.

If Deepground was harboring Jenova and Genesis, right under Rufus Shinra's nose, it meant two things. One, that there was another way into Deepground besides the entrance under the Shinra Building, and two, that Weiss and Nero were not as much under Shinra's control as the young president might think.

"Tseng," said Shion. "He still has access to the Shinra Building."

"But if any of us try and get a hold of him, it'll set off alarm bells up and down the chain of command," said Ivan, finishing the thought for him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "The Tsviets have that girl who can do an SND, so Tseng's encrypted channels are out. I could try and catch Reno's eye, one of these days. Or ask the new girl out to dinner." He smiled ruefully. "Although she's probably not ready to play at that level."

_You used to be the loud-mouthed, naïve rookie, _Shion wanted to say, looking at Ivan. Instead, he held his tongue. He missed the days when some of them still had a modicum of innocence. He folded his arms, changing the subject.

"What are you getting out of this?" he asked. "You, Nico, and the others? I don't believe that all of you are in it just to save a four-year-old girl."

"And you can't believe that we might be in it to help you?" asked Ivan, smiling at Shion. When Shion said nothing, Ivan turned his attention back to the gap in front of them. He snorted, the smile never leaving his face. "I used to love this city."

Shion continued to stare at him, waiting. Finally, Ivan looked up at him, sighing. "Information is as good an excuse as any, I suppose," he said. "Particularly when Genesis and Deepground are involved. Is that a good enough reason?"

"It'll do," said Shion, looking back out at the city.

"I can't stay for too long," Ivan said, staring at the view with him. "I already raised some eyebrows coming down here in the first place. But I have a few meetings in the Shinra Building, tomorrow and the day after. I can poke around, see if our friends in Deepground have been up to anything lately. And I can try and get messages across to Tseng. Beyond that…I think you four are on your own. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," said Shion. After a moment of silence, he added. "Be careful."

Ivan chuckled. "When am I anything but?" he asked.

Shion decided not to answer that. Instead, the two of them watched as one of the Mako Reactors across from them spit out a particularly bright plume of exhaust. "Cissnei called today," said Shion, glancing at him. "Did you want to talk to her?"

Something changed in Ivan's expression. It wasn't quite pain, but it did resemble it. Like an old wound that had never truly healed. He shook his head. "I couldn't have said anything to make much of a difference anyway."

"Hm."

They were silent for only a little longer. It didn't take long for Ivan to change the subject. "Speaking of which," he said. "What are you going to do about Chris?"

The name sent another flash of bitterness through him. "What about her?" he asked, looking at Ivan.

"Well, you can't ignore her forever," said the ex-Turk. "Come on. Even I've seen how she looks at you."

"I'd prefer not to think about that now," said Shion, looking out at the city. He felt his maimed hand more severely than before. If he'd been whole, if times had been different…There were too many what ifs.

"Fair enough," said Ivan, nodding. He paused, then let out a dark chuckle just as Shion was getting used to the silence. "Lydia and Xander might get married."

"Lucky them."

"My thoughts exactly," said Ivan. He exhaled, giving the city and the fallen plate one last look. "Well…I'll leave you to your thoughts. The corporate world awaits."

Shion nodded. "Take care."

He listened to Ivan's fading footsteps as the other ex-Turk walked away. The city swallowed him whole, and by the time Shion looked up, he was alone again.

XxXxX

"Lucrecia."

The name hung in the air between the two of them, almost a physical thing. Sephiroth stared, looking back at the man. Memories flashed through his mind at once, being told as a child that Jenova was his real mother, finding her at the Reactor, the confusion of the Nibelheim Incident, her voice in his head at the labs, the encounter at the ship…all this time, he'd wondered. He'd almost accepted that he'd never know, that his mother, his real mother, could remain a nameless, faceless figure, a shadow buried somewhere in Hojo's experiment files.

But now he had a name, and someone who might know the truth.

He turned back towards the man. "Who are you?" he asked.

The man paused, and when he spoke, it was slowly, as though he was recalling words and concepts that he hadn't needed in a long while. "I was with…the Shinra Manufacturing Department of Administrative Research," he said.

The name he used was old, something held over from a time when Shinra was less than it was now, but Sephiroth still understood it. "You're a Turk," he said. He could feel the others' surprise as he said it. Zack stepped closer to Aerith, resting one hand on the hilt of his sword. The man's eyes drifted towards them, before looking back at Sephiroth. He made no move to deny it.

"Formerly a Turk," he corrected. "I have no affiliation with Shinra now. My name…is Vincent. And you?"

"I was with SOLDIER," said Sephiroth. He glanced at his companions, wondering if any of them would speak. Zack, no surprise, went first.

"So was I," he said, lowering his hand from his sword hilt. Yuffie and Aerith said nothing.

"You were both with Shinra," Vincent repeated, looking at both of them. He turned back towards Sephiroth, and once again, Sephiroth wondered exactly what the man knew about him. "And you were with SOLDIER…"

"Yes," said Sephiroth. He didn't want to bring the conversation back onto the subject so obviously, but at the same time, he had to know. He met Vincent's eyes. "You said you knew…my mother?" he asked. The term still felt odd on his tongue. He couldn't say it without picturing Jenova.

"…Lucrecia," said Vincent, nodding. "She was…a beautiful lady. She was an assistant to Professor Gast of the Jenova Project. I was assigned to…supervise their work." There was pain in his voice as he spoke, enough to make Sephiroth wonder exactly how well he claimed to know this woman he said was his mother.

"She was a scientist?" asked Sephiroth.

"Yes," said Vincent. Speech seemed to come easier to him now, though not by much. "Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. She was…apprenticed under Professor Gast. There was no way to cancel the experiment. I couldn't stop her. What happened to you…to her…_that_ is my sin."

He found himself asking the question before he had even fully processed it. "What happened to her?"

Vincent stared at him, and then his eyes drifted towards Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie. Zack caught the hint without even needing to be told. He placed a hand on Aerith's arm, exchanging a glance with her. The two of them made for the door, Yuffie following after Zack shot her a sharp glance. The door was a flimsy wooden thing, but the noise it made as it shut seemed to echo throughout the room. And then they were alone. Vincent stared at Sephiroth as though he still couldn't believe that he was standing there. Sephiroth waited, not moving, until he collected his thoughts enough to tell his story.

"This…is not a pleasant story," he said. "There were secrets…regarding my father's death. Lucrecia…because of guilt, she…" He shook his head, as if deciding that that part of the story was not important. Sephiroth would have had the whole story if he could, some part of him, the part deep down that was still the child that had grown up in the Shinra Building, wanted it. But the part of him that was grown, the part that had spent over seventeen years in and out of combat, that part knew better than to push.

"She became involved with…with Professor Hojo. You know of him?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, a fresh wave of anger moving through him as he remembered the confrontation in Costa del Sol. "I know him," he said simply. He couldn't bring himself to think of Hojo as his father, or to say the words out loud. But that seemed to be where the story was going.

"When she became pregnant…she…_they_…agreed to use the child as a subject for the Jenova Project. Both she and the child—you—were injected with Jenova cells. But then, Lucrecia…" He shook his head again. "She started collapsing. Having visions. Visions of you, she said, doing terrible things. She was in great pain…"

The rest of the words seemed to fade into the background. Sephiroth's mind had caught one sentence, and played it for him over and over again. _Visions of you…doing terrible things. _He'd killed President Shinra. And he alone would know how close he had come on occasion, how easy it would have been to give in. Once here, and then again in the Shinra Building…

Here he thought he had been stopped by Angeal. In the Shinra Building...

_Angeal and Zack, _he realized, his hand curling into a loose fist as he thought about the ex-SOLDIER standing outside the door. He never thought there was a time when he would be indebted to them, and yet…whatever else Zack might have been, he was truly part of Angeal's legacy.

He looked up, focusing on the story again. "Did she die?" he heard himself ask.

Vincent's frown was enough answer. "I don't know," he said. "Before you were born, I…confronted Hojo. He did not…take it well. What happened next left me as you see now. I don't know what happened to her. Or you." Sephiroth knew what had happened to him. The look in Vincent's eyes told him that that was something the other man would eventually want to hear, but it was not a story that Sephiroth wanted to tell. He felt…he didn't know how he felt. He'd always imagined he would feel relieved, hearing the truth about who he was, about who his parents were. But just like when he had killed President Shinra, he didn't feel the relief he'd expected.

He felt the same way he had felt then. Confused. And slightly angry.

_They _decided, Vincent had said. _They. _

Whoever else his mother had been, whatever pain her decision had brought her, whatever else she had meant to Vincent, that one word stood out. They did this to him. Together. His parents.

Hojo and Lucrecia.

Vincent must have seen something in his expression, because he spoke. "I should have stopped her," he said. "But instead, I stood by and watched. I let the one I…cared for, the one I respected the most, face the worst. And this is my punishment." Vincent fell silent. He stared at Sephiroth for a moment, as though something about the conversation had puzzled him. Finally, he said, "You haven't heard this before?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I was told that my mother was Jenova," he said.

Vincent absorbed this information with the air of a man who was used to bad news. His expression changed only slightly as he spoke, and when he did, he sounded wearier than he had at first, as though each piece of information was another small load added to his shoulders. "Then something must have happened to her," he said. "Lucrecia cared for you. She wouldn't have abandoned you of her own free will."

_If she cared for me so much, then why…? _Why agree to the Project in the first place? Why turn him into what he was? The thought crossed his mind, but he didn't want to add to Vincent's burdens. So instead, he simply nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. There were a thousand questions he could have asked, things regarding Vincent, regarding why, if he had known Sephiroth's mother before he was born, he still looked like he couldn't be any older than thirty. But none of those would suit.

"You knew my name," was what he said instead.

"She named you," said Vincent. "Before you were born."

_She named me. _Not Hojo_. _That, at least, was strangely comforting to know. Sephiroth nodded again, not sure what else to say. His emotions blended into each other, a slippery mass of shifting feelings that he had no desire to try and unravel. Jenova wasn't his mother, but neither was his mother blameless—and yet, she hadn't been there, how could she have known—and yet, she had _never _been there. All of the thoughts and memories of the child he had been seemed to return to him, all of the times he had wondered about his mother and was told a lie. Vincent waited, and Sephiroth wondered what he was waiting for.

"I need…to think about this more," he finally said.

Vincent held his gaze for a long moment before slowly nodding. "Why have you come here?" he asked.

Why had he come here? He didn't truly know himself. This whole journey from Midgar had been a mad dash, with only the slightest thread of direction to carry them through. Seeking knowledge, remaining one step ahead of their enemies, fighting, protecting. Kalm, Junon, Costa del Sol, Corel, Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim…It felt almost as though they were being led around by the nose, brought from place to place by some unseen hand, for some hidden purpose. Nanaki's words from Cosmo Canyon came back to him.

_To save the Planet. _

"We have an enemy we need to defeat," said Sephiroth. "Before we can do that, we need to know more about her."

"Jenova," said Vincent. "The Calamity."

_Calamity. _That was the first time he had heard anyone outside of their group refer to Jenova as anything other than an Ancient."You know about her?" asked Sephiroth.

Vincent shook his head. "No more than that," he said. "But you aren't the first to wake me. Jenova is awake?"

The change in subject was subtle, but just enough that he noticed it. Sephiroth had spent enough time in the company of an ex-Turk to know that they kept their secrets close to their chests, and each other's secrets closer still. In that regard, Vincent didn't seem much different. He nodded, launching into a short version of the tale of their journey from Midgar, starting with the Nibelheim Incident and leading up to the encounter in the library. He omitted from his story all of the things he didn't particularly feel like talking about, and everything else that might have been someone else's secret. When he was finished, Vincent simply watched him, seeming to absorb all of this information. He had a look on his face that Sephiroth recognized, the look of someone trying to piece together new information with old knowledge, but it was more reluctant than what he was used to seeing, as if the man himself wasn't sure if he wanted to know or if he wanted to sleep.

"I see," he said. "Hojo has not changed. The experiments conducted here…" He shook his head again. "Never mind. You should go, and leave me to my sleep."

"You can join us, if you like," said Sephiroth. Another stranger wouldn't hurt their already ragtag group. But Vincent shook his head.

"My place is here," he said. "As I am, I cannot help you."

Sephiroth nodded. Like with Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon, he wouldn't press the issue. Nor could he linger. Vincent had given him a lot to think about, but his words to Zack hadn't changed. The sooner they were away from Nibelheim, the better. He'd gladly spend another night on the road rather than stay overnight here.

"Then, goodbye," he said, turning away.

Vincent said nothing, but Sephiroth could feel his eyes on his back as he left the room.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	92. File 026: Valentine pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **This is the chapter where we realize that despite Hojo's evilness, having two scientists as parents gave Sephiroth something useful. Brains. XD Also, quick corrections. Apparently, I can't read Roman numerals. The children are clones 7 and 8, not 6 and 7. I'm going to go back and edit that now, but for those of you who might be confused, this is it.

Also, I know we haven't seen much from Cloud lately. We will. Soon. And Cloti will feature more in the next two discs, I promise.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, b, Irish-Brigid, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, SubZeroChimera, werepuppy, Roza Anne, DarkSeraphim1, Draconic **and **haitechan **for your reviews and support! Always appreciated, and regarding Vincent…well, you'll see~

**JazzQueen, haitechan** and **Riku Uzumaki, **yep. I know in scenes like this people usually write it as though Sephiroth was just glad to know his mother actually existed, but I feel like he'd harbor at least a little resentment for her part in the Jenova Project. This isn't going to be the last time this will come up, I promise!

**b, **_technically _yes, because in the canon version it _would _have been Cissnei that had gone down to the Shinra Mansion to meet Veld and Vincent, but in this version, she wasn't anywhere near Nibelheim while this was happening (it happened when Zack and Cloud escaped), so I don't know if she'll know him by face. Definitely by name, though.

**Irish-Brigid, **Shion has a bit of a samurai mindset about him. Poor guy. And Vinnie…yeah, he does get like that.

**Leon Kaye, **I reserve the right to jump canon at any point, especially in Discs 2 and 3. XD But as for now…I haven't really thought that far ahead yet!

**Draconic, **thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I always like getting into Seph's head!

XxXxX

**File 026: Valentine**

Cissnei made her way over to the fire, her phone in her hand. Eira's words swam in her head, making her feel more tired than she had felt upon first hearing the news. Barret glowered at her, but said nothing, keeping his arms folded. From the looks that Kunsel and Nanaki were giving him, it was clear that the two of them had managed to convince him to at least attempt to quiet down and listen.

"Well?" he asked, grumbling out the word.

She settled into her seat, her grip loosening on the phone. She couldn't keep Eira's words out of her head. Shion. His hand useless. Shion…

"They're working on it," she said, forcing herself to remain calm and professional.

"Working on it?!" asked Barret. "What the hell is _that _supposed to mean?! What the hell is that Shion doing? We gotta get over there and—!"

The veneer of calm professionalism cracked. _"Barret!" _she said, her hand tightening its grip on her phone. She was surprised by how high her own voice sounded, how strained. Barret's mouth shut, his eyes meeting hers. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "There are no less than _four _ex-Turks in Midgar right now trying to help get Marlene back. We're doing the best we can. What more do you want?"

Her outburst startled him, she could tell. He lowered his eyes to the ground, saying nothing for a moment.

"I want my little girl safe," he finally said, saying it more to the ground than to her.

Cissnei sighed. She could feel the day's weight weighing down on her, the things she had learned from Eira, and the things Sephiroth had told her. She felt bone tired. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with Barret's worry, but she knew it had to be done. "I'm doing my best to make that happen," she said. "But I'm only human." She took a deep breath, drawing herself up to her feet. "I need a moment," she said to no one in particular.

Cissnei turned away, walking off into the dark. She glanced down at the phone, thinking about calling Cloud and informing him about the change in situation, but she decided against it. This whole plan, this whole gambit to determine whether or not Shalua was the spy, depended on radio silence on Cloud's end. If she called him even once, it might change the entire outcome. She would just have to tell him at Rocket Town, assuming a nastier surprise wasn't already waiting for them. Continuing on to Rocket Town promised a fight and further complications, but she wasn't sure what else she _could _do, besides carry on.

Her thoughts seemed to assault her at every turn. She flipped her phone open, her thumb hovering over the number 5 for a moment before she changed her mind, flipping it closed again. She forced herself to think through the situation logically, going through each of the details. Marlene had been taken. Shion's hand had been injured in the assault. His right hand. It hadn't healed properly, so he had lost some mobility and function.

He couldn't hold his sword. A katana was designed to be wielded with two hands, the left to provide power, the right to provide direction. Shion had explained all of this to her himself. She folded her arms across herself, looking out at the ocean in front of her. That sword was the one thing he had pride in, even as a Turk. She remembered how much he cared for it. If he couldn't use it anymore…

_They're picking us off like flies…_she thought, her mind going through over each of her old comrades in turn. Veld, Ivan, Shion…

At this rate, there wouldn't be any of them left anymore.

She pressed the phone to her ear, calling the number 5. It didn't even ring. An automated voice asked her whether or not to leave a message. _No reception…_a part of her mind told her. _He must have gone down to the basement…_

The hand holding her phone shook, and she thought about it. The tone beeped, silence resounding from the other end of the line. The words were on the tip of her tongue.

_I need you. Please call me. _

Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes stung, and she told herself it was the salt spray. It couldn't be tears. It had been so long since she had last cried. So long…she couldn't even remember when that had been. She took in a shaking breath, the silence stretching on and on on the other end of the line.

"…I talked to Shion…" she heard herself say. She hesitated, listening to the silence, wondering what else she could say. There was so much she wanted to say, and so much she wished she _could _say. But she didn't even know where to begin.

"Elmyra's safe. They're on it."

Her thumb hit the END CALL button, her hand falling to her side.

XxXxX

Cloud kept his sword sharp.

He had taken to caring for it at night, when the buggy came to a stop and the three of them made camp somewhere in the mountains, polishing and sharpening it the way he had seen Sephiroth, Zack, and Kunsel do. The Force Stealer's blade gleamed in the firelight, the light lending the dark sword an orange cast. Tifa and Shalua sat across from him, Shalua keeping Tifa company as she made dinner. Cloud tried not to look up too often, tried not to watch her too often as he went about his daily tasks, but he couldn't help but glance at her. Cissnei's words came back to him, from Cosmo Canyon, the morning before they left.

"_I've seen you in Midgar and Junon, so I know you can do this," _she'd said, standing with him outside the inn as they watched the sun come up and waited for Shalua to come back. _"I know I'm putting you at risk. If the Tsviets attack, they'll attack you first. If everything goes well, we'll be right behind you, but, there's always a risk we might be delayed. I understand if you don't want to do this…" _

"_No," _he'd told her, cutting her off before she could start. _"I do." _

He wanted to be useful. It didn't feel right letting anyone else do this. It had been his suspicion that had put Shalua under scrutiny in the first place. For better or worse, he needed to see this through.

Cissnei sighed. _"Alright," _she said. _"Remember, the center of town. If the Tsviets attack, don't split up. You and Tifa are better off fighting together than alone. Keep your sword sharp and stay alert. You'll be cut off from us for the trip, so you'll have command…" _

_You'll have command…_

He placed the piece of cloth he was using to polish the blade down, studying its rippling surface. If anything happened, he and Tifa were expected to hold their own in an assault facing at least two Tsviets. Holding his own for just a few moments would be chancy. If back-up was delayed, or if it didn't come…

He had command.

He exhaled, placing his sword down on the ground beside him.

"Cloud," said Tifa, from beside the fire. "Were you listening? Shalua said we'll be arriving at Rocket Town soon."

Cloud nodded. "I heard," he said, placing one hand on the hilt of his sword and leaning against the side of the buggy. He kept his expression relaxed, his eyes on the fire. They would be arriving at Rocket Town soon, and then the truth would come out.

_Keep your sword sharp and stay alert…_

He intended to do just that.

XxXxX

Zack, Yuffie and Aerith were waiting right outside the door, close enough that he could see them as he exited, but far enough away that eavesdropping would be difficult. From Yuffie's sullen expression and the way Zack was holding onto her arm, it was clear that she did at least try. He shut the door behind him, his mind still swimming with that man—Vincent's—words. Zack released his hold on Yuffie when he reached them.

"Is he coming?" asked Zack.

Sephiroth shook his head. "No," he said simply, making his way towards the stairs. "Let's keep moving."

Getting away from Nibelheim was still a priority. Unless he missed his guess, they would be able to leave town and get a good distance away before sunset. If it came to that, with this group, he was sure they could travel in the dark. It hit him that he still needed to decide what to do with the children. He had no qualms about leaving the adult clones in Nibelheim. What had happened to them was terrible, but he couldn't help them all. But the children…

A few years ago, he might have left them behind. But now, knowing what he knew? There had been a child in Hojo's lab once, one that was used to getting left behind.

His hand clenched into a fist. Aerith's words came back to him. The boy was firmly in Jenova's grasp. But the girl…

He reached out tentatively, the same way he had with Jenova, trying to find the clones the same way he found her. This time, however, he felt nothing. It was as if whatever Jenova had done had completely cut him off, from her, and from others with her cells. It was like running headlong into a brick wall. He put the thought out of his mind, climbing the spiral staircase that led back into the Mansion.

Sephiroth looked back at the top of the stairs to see if the others were following. Zack and Aerith moved up the stairs after him, with Yuffie behind them. He heard her voice ring out through the stairwell.

"Hey, you think we should go after him?" she asked, glancing back.

"Let it go, Yuffie," said Sephiroth, continuing to climb.

"But—," she began.

"Let it go," he said again. Vincent had made it clear what his position on this was. While he no longer discounted the contributions their allies had made during their disjointed trek across the face of the Planet, he certainly wasn't about to force someone to go with them. Yuffie pouted, folding her arms against herself, but she agreed, trudging up the stairs after them.

Zack, at least, looked happy to be rid of this place. Sephiroth noticed that as they climbed up the stairs. He wished he could say the same. As much as he hated what the mansion represented, there was a part of him that wanted to go back downstairs, that _wanted _to learn more, to know more, to understand more. He wanted the whole story, about himself, about Jenova, about Lucrecia.

But he had been down this road before. He knew where it led. And the answers he was looking for about Jenova wouldn't be found here.

He glanced at Aerith. She walked with her hand clasped against her chest, her other hand holding her staff loosely at her side. He remembered that she had talked with the elders at Cosmo Canyon, and wondered, not for the first time, what she had found there. The Tsviets wanted to recapture her. For Shinra, or for something else? And Jenova had taken over her mother—the Cetra Ifalna.

Was there something more to Jenova's association with the Cetra than just misidentification? In one of the earlier papers he had read, Professor Gast identified Jenova as a Cetra because of the timing. The rock layer had been 2,000 years old, about the same time as the race's prime.

A prime, he realized with a sudden chill, that had been followed by a sharp decline.

Gast had theorized that the Cetra had gone extinct due to interbreeding and the advent of technology, but _Hojo's_ papers claimed that the Cetra were no different biologically from an ordinary human. That something other than biology appeared to define the Cetra as a race. Bugenhagen referred to the Planet as a being, a living thing, and Aerith claimed a connection to the Planet that went beyond anything he had ever heard of, anything that even Gast had ever written about.

If the Planet _was _sentient, if the Cetra had the power to communicate with it, and if _Jenova_, not technology, not biology, was the reason for the Cetra's decline, if she was awake now, and hunting down the last Cetra…

He remembered the fear he had felt from her earlier, and his mind shifted tracks, interpreting her actions as that of an opponent on the battlefield. Why be so obsessed with the extermination of a race? Up until now, they had been thinking about her as just something evil, something _other_, but nobody did anything for evil's sake. Even Hojo acted in the name of science. Jenova had proven reason, cunning, and even emotion. There had to be something other than malice here, some other reason why she was so obsessed with this girl, with this race.

Fear.

_She's running scared. _

He could only think of two reasons why someone would make it her primary goal to destroy a race. Either she would gain something by the death of the Cetra, or she had a different goal, and she believed that the Cetra were the only ones capable of stopping her.

That Aerith was the only one capable of stopping her.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the figure in black waiting at the top of the steps until he ran forward towards him, a knife in his hand. Sephiroth had a brief moment to catch sight of the number III on the man's wrist before he pulled Masamune from over his shoulder, stepping out of the way and parrying the dagger blade. The man's eyes met his, bright green and malicious, and he spun around, his black cloak trailing behind him as he brought a powerful slash down towards Sephiroth's chest. Sephiroth's eyes widened, and he took a step back, the blades clanging together again. Despite the man's gaunt figure, he moved with surprising strength. The simpering, shaking figure from earlier was gone, replaced by deadly purpose. Looking into his eyes, Sephiroth knew.

Jenova.

He blocked a knife thrust to the stomach, looking over the man's shoulder as Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie came up the stairs. A second man charged Zack, a metal pipe in his hand. The number X showed on his wrist briefly as he swung. Zack brought up the Buster Sword quickly, blocking it. He shouted at Aerith to get behind him and she did, her eyes wide. Her staff already began glowing as she readied a spell.

Sephiroth ducked underneath the man's strike as he swung wide, bringing Masamune up close to himself. He thrust forward, the tip of the sword parting flesh and fabric easily and piercing the man's heart. His eyes widened, and Sephiroth heard a noise in his head like several angry bees buzzing together before he convulsed, falling limp.

He heard the sound of splintering wood and looked up to see Yuffie rolling out of the way just as a clone with IV on his wrist brought his axe down where she had been standing. The axe head sank into the bookshelf, and Yuffie drew herself to her feet, reaching behind her for her shuriken. The axe came free easily, and the man snarled in anger, swinging his axe out at her knees. She jumped back just in time, bringing her shuriken in front of herself for defense. Sephiroth stepped forward, ready to help her, when he caught sight of a flash of black to his left. He jumped out of the way, pulling Masamune free from the dead clone just as clone XI landed where he had been, a Shinra sword in his hand. The sword stabbed into the ground, cutting a long line through the wood as Sephiroth stepped back, bringing his sword up to block the strike.

Lightning crashed on the other side of the room as Aerith raised her staff, sending three bolts out towards the clone attacking Zack. The lightning crashed into him, one striking him in the shoulder, one in the chest, and the last catching the tip of the metal pipe he was wielding. The lightning shot through the metal, crashing into his chest and sending him stumbling back with a loud sound like thunder. Sephiroth blocked Clone XI's next strike, catching sight of a cloaked man sneaking up on Aerith from behind. He turned, swiping out at Clone XI with his left hand and holding a hand out towards the other clone with his right. Without thinking, he called on the Materia he had found in the safe, the one he had taken from Yuffie.

Red light shot out from his fingertips, solidifying into a horse and rider. The rider galloped toward the clone, slashing out with a black sword. There was a flash of light, and Sephiroth again heard that angry buzzing noise, this time accompanied by a dull pain, before the clone fell dead to the ground, the horse and rider disappearing. The clone Aerith had shot was already getting back to his feet, and Sephiroth took a step back, raising Masamune another time to block Clone XI. The clone's strikes were unpracticed and unfocused, but his strength was on par with Sephiroth's own, and the anger and hatred he saw in his eyes belonged to another.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuffie getting backed up further against the wall, her shuriken out in front of her as the clone with the axe advanced. She was obviously starting to tire, her eyes wide and her face pale. Her shuriken hand was shaking. He gripped Masamune with both hands, gauging the distance between him and her. If he took his eyes off his opponent for a second, there was a chance he could get cut, but he would survive. The question was, could he reach Yuffie in time? The clone raised his axe over his head, and Sephiroth prepared to move.

A gunshot like a cannon blast went off, a bullet piercing the back of the clone's skull. It exited through his forehead, burying itself in the wall just over Yuffie's shoulder. Yuffie's eyes widened as she was splattered by blood and gore, but she was too surprised to make a sound. The clone slumped to the ground, accompanied by another buzz and flash of pain.

Sephiroth looked up to see Vincent standing in the doorway, his red cloak slung over one shoulder. He held a gun in his right hand, his expression calm and his red eyes piercing. He looked over at him, meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"I can't sleep," he said simply.

Sephiroth nodded, taking a step to the side. He parried the Clone's next strike effortlessly, holding Masamune with the blade pointed down and outward. The two blades slid against each other, coming hilt to hilt, and Sephiroth stepped to the side, using his right foot to kick at the man's ankle. He fell back, and Sephiroth twisted out of the way of his falling blade. He braced himself for the sensation, bringing Masamune up and over. The blade bit into the man's shoulder and cut diagonally across his torso, and his eyes widened as he fell to the ground. He closed his eyes briefly from the sound and flash of pain, white light erupting behind his eyelids.

Without pausing, he turned, slashing Masamune in front of him. Blood flew off the blade, a line splattering against the wood. The flash of pain and sound was accompanied by another as Zack stepped forward, the Buster Sword slamming into Clone IV. The five of them paused, staring at each other. Yuffie grimaced, pushing the clone's dead body off of herself. Zack spun the Buster Sword over his head, replacing it at his back.

There was another flash of pain, shooting through his head like lightning. Sephiroth's eyes widened, and he turned, looking for another clone, but he found none. That was until he looked out the open door, and saw a line of blood trailing from the porch into the foyer. He kept Masamune out in front of him, crossing the room and peering outside.

Clone Number V was slumped against the door, a sword in his belly pinning him to the ground. His eyes were wide and terrified, and one of his hands was closed around the hilt. His face was pale, his lips flecked with blood. Sephiroth remembered this as the man who had seemed reluctant to move towards him in the square.

It looked like he held onto that reluctance until the end. Sephiroth looked away from the sight, inclining his head slightly in respect. He turned, about to walk back into the room and rejoin the others, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked over his shoulder.

A small figure was shambling towards him, a knife in his hands. _The boy, _Sephiroth realized, standing there. He was advancing steadily, the knife held out in front of him and anger in his eyes. Sephiroth's hand loosened around the grip of his sword, then tightened again. He remained where he stood, conflicted as the boy moved closer and closer towards him. The boy crouched, snarling and brandishing the knife as he prepared to lunge forward. Sephiroth reluctantly readied his sword to defend himself.

A loud _clang _echoed throughout the mansion courtyard.

The boy stiffened, his eyes widening before he slumped to the ground. Behind him stood his sister, her eyes wide. Her hood had fallen down to her shoulders, wisps of black hair framing her face. She panted softly, her face flushed with exertion. She held a frying pan in both her hands, her grip on it so tight that her knuckles were white. She looked up, her eyes darting from person to person until they fixed on his. The girl stared at him for a moment, chest heaving with every breath.

"I remembered," she said. "Everything. I…I—."

The pan slipped from her fingertips, clattering to the ground. The girl dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands and beginning to cry.

**END FILE**

XxXxX

**AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION REQUIRED: **Hey guys! I have another little mini-contest for you with regards to naming people in the story. I already have a name for the girl, but I need a name for the _boy _Sephiroth clone. Feel free to send in your suggestions in your review. I need a first and last name, and yes, the last name will be the girl's last name too. Go for it!


	93. File 027: Seeds of Betrayal pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **First of all, let me just say that I loved all of your suggestions, and if I had enough characters, I would have used them all! But sadly, I only had two to name, so here's the reasoning behind why I chose what I did. For a first name, I really liked **Leon Kaye's **suggestion to have the kids have somewhat 'normal' names, to add to the tragedy, so I decided to go with one of **Eavenne's **suggestions for the boy's name, Allen. I also liked **Amimia's **suggestion of using some of the same names that Sephiroth's name was based on, so…Allen Malkuth it is! But the rest of you had great suggestions, so if you don't mind, I might use them into the story somewhere or another!

Thanks go to **Roza Anne, Eavenne, Irish-Brigid, Littlejr101, JazzQueen, b, Furionknight, SakiWatari, Gohan Roxas, Amimia, Riku Uzumaki, KuroArget, The10thDoctor1964, Leon Kaye, SubZeroChimera, DarkSeraphim1, **and **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **for your reviews and support. Glad you thought Vincent's line was fitting for him, and that you guys liked the clones attacking!

**The10thDoctor1964, **the answer is yes~

**Irish-Brigid, **she does kind of have a Rapunzel vibe going on, at least in that scene. I didn't expect to throw her in there, but you know what, Final Fantasy as a series is no stranger to young party members. Palom and Porom were 6.

XxXxX

**File 027: Seeds of Betrayal**

Sephiroth moved at the head of the group as they made their way to Rocket Town, the remainder of their ragtag group of seven now following him. The gunman, Vincent, was a silent shadow over his right shoulder. He'd taken to guarding their flank as they moved on from Nibelheim, leaving Zack to take up the rear and allowing Aerith, Yuffie, and the children to walk in the center of the group. He glanced back to make sure that they were still following. The girl looked up at him from where she walked next to Aerith, her green eyes wide, but she said nothing. He looked away, turning his attention to the road ahead of them. Sephiroth thought back over everything that had happened over the past few days, and about the events that had taken place before they left Nibelheim.

He knew he should have been focused on what might soon happen in Rocket Town, or what was happening with Marlene in Midgar, but his thoughts were elsewhere, focused on a phrase that the girl had told him, shortly after her awakening.

_The Temple of the Ancients…_

In the end, they hadn't been able to leave Nibelheim before dark. It had taken all of two hours to calm the girl down enough to talk to them without bursting into tears, and by then, the sun had set, and Aerith had glared at him at the notion of leaving town before the girl could get a chance to shower and change into fresh clothes. But they did leave, eventually, all seven of them camping under a ridge in the outskirts of the town—the four of them, the girl, her brother, and Vincent.

It was then that they managed to get a name from the girl. Blaire. Blaire Malkuth. Her brother's name was Allen, and the two of them were survivors from the Nibelheim fire. Blaire had been five years old when the fire burned down their home. Her parents, she guessed, had died trying to get the two of them out of the house before it collapsed, and that was when they had been taken by Hojo. There, she broke down a bit, starting to sniffle again. Aerith offered her a handkerchief and Zack rubbed her back in soothing circles, and she took a deep breath, wiping at her eyes and looking up at him.

He remembered thinking that those eyes were hard, much harder and much more brittle than they should have been on a ten-year-old's face. She was dressed in a little girl's traveling clothes, a plain shirt, shorts, and sneakers, and the tattoo on her wrist was covered up by a strip of blue cloth Aerith had managed to find, but she seemed older than her years, wearier. She reminded him almost of Shelke. Blaire took a breath, and her expression seemed to compose itself slightly. _"I woke up_," she said. _"I saw Allen, and…I knew I had to follow." _She shivered, drawing her arms around her knees and hugging them close to herself. Her fingers gripped onto the fabric of her shorts.

"_I hate him," _she said, her hands trembling. _"I want him to die." _

Aerith placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. There was no need to ask her who she was talking about. Sephiroth got up, about to leave. He had heard enough. On the other side of camp, her brother continued to sleep, mumbling to himself occasionally. Aerith had pronounced him alive but unconscious, and although she healed him, she suggested it was better to let him sleep for now. Jenova still had a hold on him, she said, and neither of them could figure out how to break that hold. He made to go check on him and talk to Vincent while Zack and Aerith dealt with the girl, but Blaire's words stopped him before he could take a step.

"_What's 'the Temple of the Ancients'?" _she asked.

He looked back over his shoulder, frowning at her. "What?" he asked.

She sniffed, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. _"The Temple of the Ancients," _she said. _"She was calling us there. When we finished in Nibelheim, she said. She wanted something from there, I think…Where is it? Can we go there? I want to help." _

He exchanged a glance with Aerith, but she shook her head. Zack frowned, his expression becoming more serious as well. _"I don't know where that is,"_ said Sephiroth, looking back at the girl.

"_But you'll find it, won't you?" _asked Blaire. _"She __really__ wants to go there. You have to stop her!" _

Aerith put the girl to bed shortly after that, but her words lingered. The Temple of the Ancients. It felt as though it was something he should know, but like the words Black Materia, and Reunion Theory, he couldn't quite place where he had heard them before. He shook his head, putting the thought out of his mind. Rocket Town for now. No matter where they went after that, their paths converged at Rocket Town.

But where to after that? Midgar to save Marlene? He knew that that was where Barret would want to go. A part of him did too. But if Jenova wanted something from the Temple, wasn't it more important that she be stopped?

The fate of the world meant more than the fate of one child.

He glanced at Blaire again as she walked, untiring. The experiments had left the girl with much the same enhancements Cloud and Zack had, and she never complained, throwing herself into each of the camp tasks they gave her with an almost wild fervor. When she talked, her questions were always the same. When were they going to the Temple of the Ancients? When were they going to stop Jenova? Twice, he had gotten up to take his watch in the night to find her whimpering in her sleep, curled up in a ball next to Aerith with the older woman's arms wrapped protectively around her. Once, he'd gotten up to find her sitting in front of the pallet where her brother slept, staring at him with a far-off look in her eye. The fourth night since they left Nibelheim, he'd opened his eyes to find that she had dragged her pallet over to his, and was sleeping quietly at his feet. Her brother had woken up the first morning after they left Nibelheim, but he remained the same way he had been when they found him. He didn't respond to his name, and he followed his sister around, occasionally following Sephiroth around as well. He wouldn't let Aerith near him. Blaire said that Hojo would call them Seven and Eight, and he seemed to respond to that, but Sephiroth refused to call the boy Eight. So he took his sister's hand or he took Zack's or even Yuffie's, and he walked with them to Rocket Town.

On the fifth day, they approached the gates of Rocket Town. Blaire drew up beside him as they neared the town, falling into step beside him. She had to take two steps for every one of his, but hardly seemed to mind.

"We're going to meet your friends in that town, right?" she asked, eyes wide as she looked at the town in front of them. The town's signature rocket was easily visible from this distance, rusted and tilting.

He thought back to Cissnei's plan and wondered whether all of them would still be counted as allies by the end of the day, but he decided against sharing that with the girl. Instead, he nodded. "Yes," he said.

"What are they like?" asked Blaire.

"Different," replied Sephiroth, unable to think of any one word to describe the members of AVALANCHE. "Kunsel was a SOLDIER, Cloud an infantryman. They have mako enhancements as well. Then there's Tifa, a martial artist from Nibelheim, Barret, a gunman, Nanaki, a…warrior from Cosmo Canyon, and Cissnei." He turned towards Vincent. "Cissnei is an ex-Turk as well."

Vincent nodded, seeming unsurprised by that information. The gunslinger had been quiet for most of their trek from Nibelheim, sitting at the edge of camp in the evenings and saying little during the day. He took his watches and did camp chores with the rest of them, but he did so quietly. Sephiroth didn't mind—Yuffie, Zack, and Aerith more than made up for the lack of conversation—but he knew that the others often tried to draw Vincent into their circle. So far, he didn't seem to be responding.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," said Zack, turning towards Vincent. "You two should get along then."

Vincent glanced back at Zack. "I was before her time," he said.

Zack looked like he might have said something more, but Yuffie spoke up from where she stood next to the boy, her hands behind her head. "So, did you, like, leave out Shalua because you think she's selling us out to Shinra or something?"

Sephiroth turned towards her, brows raised. "You knew about that?" he asked.

Yuffie shot him an injured look. "_Hello_!" she said. "Super awesome ninja skills here! Sheesh, get with the program!"

He glanced at Zack and Aerith and saw that neither of them looked particularly surprised, though Aerith looked concerned. He knew that Zack had known about the plan, but as far as he knew, Aerith hadn't been informed. Sephiroth paused, giving Zack a long look. Zack turned away, looking sheepish.

"We don't know anything yet," said Sephiroth, turning away from them. "We'll find out soon enough."

They made their way into the town. Sephiroth led them not through the main entrance, but through the woods to the east. One of the houses on the outskirts of town had a back door that was open a crack, a red ribbon tied around a doorknob. He checked his watch to make sure they had the right date and time, then walked up to the door and opened it, peering inside for any unpleasant surprises. Nanaki looked up from where he was lying on the kitchen floor, his ears immediately perking up at the sound of their footsteps. He turned towards them, his tail swishing through the air. His eyes fixed on Blaire, and she froze beside Sephiroth, her own eyes widening as she saw Nanaki.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Nanaki, of Cosmo Canyon," replied Sephiroth, keeping his voice low. "Take your brother, go upstairs, keep your voice down and stay away from the windows." To Nanaki, he said. "I informed Cissnei of the situation."

"Yes," said Nanaki, nodding. "She said you'd bring company." He took his eyes off Blaire as she collected her brother and moved upstairs, giving Nanaki a wary glance and a wide berth. Sephiroth watched her go. He'd told Cissnei as much as possible without causing too much of a security risk—that he'd be bringing the two children he spoke about before, and that another person had joined them. Hopefully that had been enough. Nanaki's eyes moved towards Vincent, and he paused to sniff the air, watching as the gunman made to close the door. "Is this the other one?"

"Vincent," said Vincent with a small nod. He didn't seem at all surprised by Nanaki's appearance. He turned towards Sephiroth. "I would remove the marker, if you're not expecting anyone else. It's a security risk."

Sephiroth nodded, and Vincent untied the ribbon from around the doorknob, shutting and locking the door behind him. The others followed him up the stairs, leaving Nanaki to guard the door. Upstairs, he found Blaire and Allen standing in the back corner, Allen holding on to his sister's hand. His eyes were wide and blank, the same way they had been since Nibelheim, but Blaire's were alert, curious, and slightly wary. She looked as though she wanted to move closer to them, but at his glance, she stayed in place, holding her brother's hand tighter. He nodded at her, then turned towards the others.

Cissnei, Kunsel, and Barret had taken up seats around the upstairs window, Barret with his gun arm propped against his knees. Kunsel had his sword out, propped up against the wall beside him, and Cissnei had her side arm in her hands, Rekka resting on her back. He, Zack, Aerith, and Yuffie immediately moved away from the window as well, taking up places around the room. Vincent entered the room last, one hand on his gun. The others looked up as they entered, turning towards him.

"Who's your friend?" asked Kunsel.

"That's Vinnie," said Yuffie, taking her shuriken off her back and plopping herself down onto a crate. "He's an ex-Turkey. He'll be joining us for a bit."

Vincent gave her a look. "It's Vincent."

Cissnei frowned. "Vincent?" she repeated. "Vincent…Valentine?"

Vincent turned towards her. He stared at her, as if assessing her. "You're…one of Veld's," he finally said.

"I _was_ one of Veld's," Cissnei corrected, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You know him?" asked Zack, turning towards her.

"He was my supervisor's old partner," replied Cissnei. "Veld would tell us stories sometimes."

"Veld told you about me?" asked Vincent, frowning at her.

Cissnei shook her head. "He told us stories of your old Turk days," she said. "We knew there was an incident, but we didn't know about…the mansion." She took a deep breath, lowering her eyes to the ground. "Veld is dead," she said. "I'm sorry."

Vincent didn't appear surprised. He simply nodded, staring at Cissnei in silence for a moment. Looking at him, Sephiroth found that he couldn't tell whether Vincent was stricken by the news or not. After a while, he spoke. "How did he die?" he asked.

"He was shot," Cissnei paused, taking a deep breath. "by one of his own Turks. He'd turned traitor to Shinra."

"That doesn't surprise me." Vincent walked forward, coming to stand next to the window. He kept his distance from the others, but picked a place where he had a clear view of the square outside. "Veld had his own sense of honor." He moved his cloak off of his shoulder to allow him easy access to his gun, giving her a look that clearly said 'we'll talk about this later'. Cissnei nodded, turning away.

"Wait a minute," grumbled Barret, looking up. "You don't look old enough to be her boss's partner."

"It's a long story," replied Vincent, not taking his eyes off the street below. He didn't seem inclined to say anything more than that.

"Have they been briefed?" asked Sephiroth, turning towards Cissnei.

She nodded. "Mostly. They know the gist." To the others, she said, "Cloud's group is the only group that knows to meet in the center of town, by the Rocket. As far as Tifa and Shalua know, we're all meeting them there in approximately twenty minutes. If the Tsviets ambush them there…" She trailed off, meeting everyone's eyes. They nodded.

"What I don't get is why we didn't know about this," said Barret. He looked around, glancing at everyone. "Who knew? You did?" His eyes fixed on Zack.

Zack nodded. "Cloud told me," he said.

"Shit," muttered Barret. "I don't like it."

"The fewer people knew, the better for all of us," said Cissnei. She turned to look back out the window. "Hopefully, this will all be for nothing."

"Here they come," said Kunsel, his eyes fixed on the gates towards town.

Sephiroth craned his head. Sure enough, Cloud, Tifa, and Shalua were making their way into town, lingering by the gate and staring at the rocket. He placed one hand on Masamune, prepared to leap out the window and into the square at the first sign of trouble. Sephiroth glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that Blaire and her brother remained in the corner, then looked back out the window, waiting.

Silence fell, the other members of their group reaching for weapons as well. They watched.

Cloud, Tifa, and Shalua began to move forward, heading toward the square.

XxXxX

The Rocket stood in the distance, marking the center of the town that was its namesake. Shalua called it Shinra No. 26, and said that there was one point where that rocket was supposed to be the first into space. Cloud thought he remembered something about that from his own days as an infantryman, but couldn't quite recall the details of it. His memories from that time were still broken in places, and sometimes it felt as though entire chunks were missing.

He glanced at Shalua as they made their way down the street. She looked calm, perhaps a little excited to get there. He tried to detect any trace of guilt, but if she was hiding something, she didn't show it. He felt a brief flash of doubt—maybe there was nothing to his suspicions after all. But he had to keep alert, just in case. He glanced at Tifa as they walked past, making sure to keep her in his field of view. He hated the fact that he couldn't warn her, but there was never a chance to talk alone while they were out.

Later. He'd apologize later.

If there was a later. He resisted the urge to look around and see whether or not Sephiroth and the others were covering them, but he managed to keep his eyes ahead of him, watching as the Rocket crept closer and closer. And then they were at the center of the square.

Nothing happened.

Cloud took up a position against the far wall, watching as Tifa and Shalua started looking around for the others. He was tense, and had to fight to not reach of his sword. Maybe there was nothing to this after all. Hopefully.

A chill crept down his spine, and he froze. Cloud looked down to see that the shadows around his feet had suddenly thickened, tendrils of shadow wrapping around his ankles.

"So nice of you to come," said a silken voice from over his shoulder.

Cloud looked, one hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. Red eyes peered at him from out of the shadow.

Nero.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	94. File 027: Seeds of Betrayal pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Fight scenes. More fight scenes. This fight will be a little truncated, and you'll see why, probably next chapter. But hope you like it!

So recently, I was checking all of my little plankton samples in their cylindrical jars and making notes in my lab notebook and going through each of their files, watching as they grew in chemically altered water so I could eventually figure out how it affects their biology when it hit me. To plankton, I am Hojo. To that end, I named two of my samples Plankton Zack and Plankton Cloud. XD Ah, the joys of real life science.

As always, thanks go to my reviewers, **damagectrl.07, Furionknight, Isayan, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, b, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, SubZeroChimera, RedKaddict, Eavenne **and **Roza Anne** for your reviews and support! Much appreciated! Glad you guys liked the Cissnei/Vincent interaction. I've been puzzling over how Vincent would treat a former Turk, so I'm glad it works.

**b, **I was already planning something along those lines, but you'll see what it is soon enough! Thanks! ^^

**Irish-Brigid, **actually they were apparently five. And they die. Or they appear to die, anyway. …I don't know what happened to their parents. I know Rydia's died and at the beginning of the game she was about that young too.

**RedKaddict, **oh, I didn't even think about that. XD Still, glad you like the name choices!

XxXxX

**File 027: Seeds of Betrayal**

Everything happened at once.

As soon as Nero was sighted, the room emptied in a flurry of activity. Kunsel found himself following Zack out the window, landing on the street below with his sword already in his hand. He heard a growl from beside him that told him Nanaki had joined the fray, and saw a flash of red above him as Vincent leapt from the window. His mind immediately settled into the same battle mindset that had served him well in the Wutai War, and he found himself looking around, observing for a brief moment.

Time seemed to slow down. Nero stood at the far end of the field, with Cloud, Tifa, and Shalua facing him. Zack was rushing towards them, the Buster Sword drawn and already cutting through the air. Behind him, Barret landed on the ground with a crash. The others were converging on Nero, swarming around him. As Kunsel watched, Nero smirked, and the shadows wrapped around him suddenly snapped to his side, surrounding both him and Shalua.

The two of them disappeared in a blink, leaving the others alone in the square. But not for long, Kunsel knew, with a sinking feeling.

Nero wouldn't have come alone.

He felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up, and turned, looking back down the street. A low growling had started, the sound seeming to come up out of the ground. The shadows converged again, and several catlike creatures appeared, trailing streams of shadow and scarlet smoke behind them as they ran towards the square. Vincent immediately turned, his cloak flapping behind him as he shot one of them. Kunsel saw two shurikens immediately fly, Rekka and Yuffie's shuriken flying in opposite directions and each finding a mark. He heard the clash of swords and turned to see Weiss leap down from the roof of one of the buildings, his two blades meeting Zack's Buster Sword as Zack brought the blade up to meet his. Behind him, Cloud turned, raising his sword just in time to block a shot from one of Weiss's guns.

Kunsel shifted his sword in his hand, getting ready to help them. He felt detached somehow, as though he was watching himself prepare to fight. His mind was still on the implications of this battle, on seeing Shalua disappear with Nero. Had Shalua sold them out? He knew that that was what this seemed to imply, but everything about this felt wrong.

_There's more here, _he thought, even as he raised his sword to catch the teeth of one of the shadow cats. He settled his weight, gripping the sword tightly in both hands and cutting through the creature. Shadow and smoke dispersed as he did, but it only converged somewhere else, forming another shape in the shadows. He spun, blocking another. _We aren't seeing the whole picture…_

But he couldn't quite put his finger on just what felt so wrong about this.

Shalua. Nero. Shelke. Marlene. Jenova and Genesis. There were so many loose threads—too many of them. This all had to come together at some point. But where and how? In SOLDIER, he had always been able to tease out information, figure out certain things about the company and the program. He'd known more than he should have known. But this was different. It was a game with too many players. He cut through another monster, smoke streaming around him. A game of shadows.

A high-pitched buzzing sound drew his attention, and he turned, raising his sword up to defend himself. A shape appeared overhead, and two glowing sabers crashed onto his sword. Kunsel jumped back, keeping his blade at the ready. His opponent landed on the ground as well, bouncing once and flipping her sabers around in her hands. Her mako blue eyes met his, cold and unreadable.

It was Shelke. Kunsel stared at her, watching as she raised her sabers towards him.

"Found an answer yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I have no time for pointless questions," she said.

He pressed on anyway. "Do you have Marlene?" he asked. "Has your sister been in contact with you?"

A flicker of...something wavered in front of Shelke's expression for a moment. Kunsel wasn't sure if it was recognition or not. But it disappeared as quickly as it had come, and Shelke continued to stand in front of him, her eyes blank and her sabers at the ready.

Shelke charged forward, and Kunsel had no choice but to raise his sword, blocking her attack.

XxXxX

Sephiroth was one of the last ones out of the room. He stood there, Masamune in his hand as the others moved quickly out the open window, and turned back towards the children. They stood in the corner, Blaire watching with wide eyes as the sounds of battle echoed in the street below. It wasn't safe for them here, he knew, but neither was it safe for them out there, and with Weiss and Nero in the streets, he couldn't stay. He had to fight.

"Blaire," he said, making a decision. "Go upstairs, into the attic. Take your brother with you and stay quiet. Do it now."

Blaire nodded, her face pale as she grabbed her brother's hands in hers and drew him from the room. He followed meekly, his green eyes wide, as his sister hurried him towards the door. But something made him freeze, and he stopped halfway to the door, his eyes wide as he turned towards the window. Blaire tugged on his hand, but to no avail.

"Al," she said. "…Eight, come on! We have to go!"

A wind gusted from the open window behind him, followed by the sound of rustling feathers. Blaire froze in place, staring at the window. She took a step forward, her hands shaking as she placed herself between the window and her brother.

A scarlet sword appeared out of the corner of his vision, resting just over his shoulder and dangerously close to his neck. He turned his head just enough to see behind him. Genesis stood there, his black wing pulled close to his side and his mako eyes shining. There was a grin on his face.

"Letting the children escape first?" he asked. "How noble of you. But don't you think they should stay and watch the show?"

Sephiroth's grip tightened on Masamune. He met Genesis's eyes.

"No matter where the winds may blow," Genesis intoned, "My friend, your desire, is the bringer of life. The gift of the goddess."

"You always did talk too much." Sephiroth turned quickly, swatting Rapier out of the way with one quick motion and aiming Masamune at Genesis's neck.

XxXxX

Cloud braced himself as the bullet struck the Force Stealer's flat, the force of the blow nearly sending him stumbling back. He jumped back, cutting through the air in front of him as Weiss turned to meet Zack head on, both of his katanas blocking the Buster Sword's next blow. Zack took a step back, slashing the Buster Sword to the side. Weiss stepped away, light as a dancer, his katanas brushing against the Buster Sword's side as he turned.

"Cloud!" said Zack.

Cloud nodded, gripping his sword tightly in both hands and charging in. Weiss raised the sword in his left hand, the two swords scraping against each other as the Force Stealer moved in. With a sudden show of force, Weiss turned, his own blade pushing the Force Stealer's straight at the ground. He lashed out with his right-hand katana, the tip of the blade aimed straight for Cloud's head. Cloud ducked his head, the sword sweeping over his head. Strands of blond hair fell into his eyes, and he jumped back, both avoiding Weiss's next attack and giving Zack an opening to strike.

Zack moved into the space Cloud had given him, bringing the Buster Sword up into a powerful uppercut. Weiss spun out of the way, pulling both katanas close to himself. As he moved to Zack's right, he lashed out, the tip of one of the blades catching Zack in the space between his pauldron and sword strap. Zack let out a hiss of pain and turned to follow him, but Weiss was already gone when the Buster Sword came crashing down, and Zack had to raise his sword to block against two shots, coming from Weiss's gunblades as the Tsviet flipped over in the air and landed back on his feet, bouncing slightly. One of his katanas was stained red.

"Dammit!" Zack growled. Blood dripped down his arm from the cut. "Stay still!"

Weiss grinned but said nothing, tossing his hair out of his face and whirling towards Cloud. Cloud's eyes widened, and he raised his sword just in time to block the attack, but the second sword came immediately after it, almost too fast to see. Pain bit into his side, and he twisted out of the way, collapsing his sword against himself and popping the hilt out at Weiss's chin. Weiss snapped his head back to avoid the blow, but he pulled away just the same, giving Cloud a little room to breathe as Zack closed in on him. He looked at his side and saw that his SOLDIER uniform had been cut, and the wound was bleeding freely.

The clash of swords sounded from just over his shoulder and he looked, seeing Zack and Weiss locked in a dance of blades. Zack held his ground, maneuvering the heavy Buster Sword in front of him and using its size as both a weapon and a shield, but Weiss was lightning quick, and his own lighter blades seemed like nothing more than streaks of steel. Zack jumped back, shifting the Buster Sword to one hand and rolling away from a shot. He lashed out at Weiss's knees, but Weiss leapt over the sword, aiming another shot at Cloud. Cloud blocked it with his own blade, but as soon as he lowered it, he realized that Weiss had closed the distance between them. He saw a flash of blue eyes and a flash of steel and raised his sword just in time to block the blow.

It felt like getting hit by a train. Cloud let out a grunt as his injured side protested, but before he could fully recover, Weiss had struck again. He took a step back, fighting to keep both hands on his sword. He was suddenly reminded of the time he had trained with Sephiroth in Costa del Sol. The other SOLDIER's strikes had felt like this as well. He grit his teeth, feeling himself sliding back, but suddenly Weiss whirled around, and the pressure eased off of him as he went to deal with Zack. He raised his blades high in the air to block Zack's strike as the ex-SOLDIER leaped into the air, swinging the Buster Sword at Weiss's head. The gunblade in his right hand fired a shot at Cloud, and Cloud jumped out of the way, ignoring the pain in his side as he took a roll.

The Buster Sword moved quickly through the air, eight slashes in rapid succession. Cloud saw Weiss impossibly appear to weave between each one, his blades flashing as they parried and brushed against the Buster Sword's sides. Weiss's smirk grew a little wider, his expression a little more manic. Zack took a step back and prepared to close in, and Cloud did the same, the two of them coming at the Tsviet from opposite sides. Weiss took a step back, raising both blades. The Buster Sword came down, the Force Stealer came up. Weiss's katanas caught both of them, steel flashing as the three of them came together. Cloud saw Weiss's eyes flash towards each of them for a moment, before he took a step back, and both guns went off.

Zack ducked, the bullet heading towards him skittering off of his pauldron, but Cloud didn't move fast enough. The bullet grazed his arm, sending a burning sensation from his shoulder down. Cloud's eyes narrowed as he took a step back, and he charged forward, feeling his own power suddenly burst into life from his sword. He stabbed at Weiss, and the point of the Force Stealer connected with the edge of one of Weiss's katanas. His sword began to glow, a bright violet light, and Cloud jumped into the air, slashing upwards.

Weiss blocked the upwards slash with both of his swords, but the blow seemed to unsettle him. He recoiled, giving Zack the opening to strike. The Buster Sword came slicing through the air. Weiss parried it, a little unsteadily this time, but Cloud drew up behind Zack, sliding his own blade through the gaps between the three swords. Weiss twisted to avoid it, but the blade found his side. Cloud felt it bite. The Tsviet's eyes narrowed and he jumped back and out of the way, the Force Stealer coming back red.

The three of them faced each other, Weiss with both gunblades in his hand, his iridescent eyes narrowed in anger, Zack, standing in front of Cloud with the Buster Sword outstretched and Cloud, just a step behind him. Three sets of mako blue eyes flashed, and the blades came together again.

XxXxX

It happened in a second. One moment, she was next to Cloud and Tifa in the streets, facing down Nero. Then, his eyes met hers, and she was surrounded by darkness. And suddenly she was alone.

Shalua found herself standing alone in the dark, her arms wrapped around herself. She took a deep breath, but the air in this place was cold and dark, and tasted strange on her tongue. A shiver traveled down her spine, and she reached for her gun. Her fingers brushed against the grip, preparing to draw it out of its holster.

"I wouldn't bother, if I were you," said a voice from behind her. "Why waste good ammunition on shooting what you cannot kill?"

"Nero," she said.

She'd heard about the Tsviet, seen the damage he had done to Cissnei, but this was the first time she had ever seen him with her own eyes. A dark chuckle sounded from the darkness behind her, coming from everywhere at once. "In the flesh," he said. "Are you…afraid of me?"

"I'm not," she said, but as soon as she said it, she knew that he could hear the lie. As if to prove it, he chuckled again, the sound this time coming from her left. A hand brushed her shoulder, something metallic moving lightly across the side of her face and causing her to jump.

"You need not fear," said Nero. "I don't intend to kill you. Yet. You're far too valuable a resource to waste."

His voice shifted, and for a moment, she thought she saw him—eyes peering out at her from the shadows. "Of course," he said. "You may soon find yourself friendless and alone…"

The gun was out of her holster before she realized it. She gripped it tightly in her human hand, two shots firing off into the darkness. The sound seemed uncommonly loud to her, the muzzle flare illuminating a space right at her feet. The dark closed in almost immediately after, and Nero let out a laugh from the shadows.

"Now, then," he said. "What did I say about shots in the dark?"

The darkness crashed in around her, a sudden wave of fear and terror driving her to her knees. The gun fell from her hands, crashing onto the ground beside her, and she gripped her head, suddenly unable to think from the fear. Her mind filled with images, Shelke dying from a gunshot wound, the gun in her hands, or herself, lying on the ground as her blood sizzled on Shelke's sabers, their parents dying again, the two of them disappearing into the darkness. She saw herself losing her arm again,_ felt _the pain through the stump that was left. Shalua felt a pressure on her chest, making it hard to breathe, and clamped her lips tightly together, fighting the urge to scream.

As quickly as it had come, the pressure eased up, and Shalua found herself able to breathe again. She remained where she was, crouched down on the ground with her arms wrapped around her, her breath catching in her throat. She looked down at her hands as she gripped her shoulders and found that they were trembling.

"Will we be having any more pointless displays?" asked Nero.

"You're a monster," said Shalua through clenched teeth, glaring into the darkness.

Nero materialized in front of her, coming to stand just in front of where she lay. She glared up at him, but he only smirked, his metallic wings stretching out and his guns pointing off into the darkness around them. "You aren't wrong," he said. "But after this, perhaps I won't be the only one seen as such. Now, do behave. It's time for the main event."

Before Shalua could ask what he meant by that, a bright light rippled through the area around them, tearing through the darkness. Nero's eyes met hers, and in the last few moments before the darkness was ripped away completely, she felt the shadows around her buckle, shoving her ruthlessly back onto her feet. The darkness cleared and she turned, realizing the situation she had been placed in.

The sounds of battle rang out all around her, each of the other members of their company engaged in a fight. She was standing in the center of the street, where she, Cloud and Tifa had been just moments earlier, except they weren't there this time, both of them engaged in their own battles. This time, it was just her, standing in front of Nero, looking almost as though the two of them had been talking. Aerith stood off to her right, her staff outstretched and a tired expression on her face as the last traces of light gathered around her.

Beside her, Barret stood, stern-faced. As Shalua watched, he raised his gun arm, leveling it at her.

XxXxX

It was as if all hell had broken loose in the town.

First, it was Nero. Then, it was both Nero and Weiss, and then it was as if the shadows themselves had risen up, attacking everything in sight. Cissnei wove in and out between various shadowcats, her shuriken sweeping out. Her slashes found sides and legs, her thrusts found throats. She twisted out of the way of one of the creatures' claws, the blow coming close enough that she could feel the wind of its passing. Cissnei ducked her head as Tifa kicked one of the monsters through the air, Rekka moving upward and stabbing into the shadowcat's neck. Another cat moved behind her, nearly catching her unawares, but Vincent moved in a swirl of scarlet, and two bullets ripped into the creature, one piercing through its flank and the other through its head. Just to her right, Nanaki leapt into the air, his jaws closing around a monster's throat and dragging it to the ground with him.

"Heads up, Turkey!"

Cissnei immediately ducked down as Yuffie's shuriken came whistling over her shoulder, the points biting into one of the shadow creatures' sides before returning. Yuffie jumped overhead, catching it and flipping over twice before landing on the ground. Cissnei whirled around as two of the creatures converged on her, sending Rekka spinning through the air. She rolled out of the way as claws came crashing down, and Yuffie jumped in to take her place, her slashes catching one creature in the chest and another in the throat. The ninja drew herself up, pushing sweat soaked hair out of her eyes. Cissnei turned, and the two of them stood back to back, shurikens in hand.

"Man," said Yuffie, "They just keep coming!"

"Tired yet?" asked Cissnei, smiling.

"Pfft," said Yuffie. "You wish!"

The two of them charged back into the fray, shurikens whirling and flashing. Cissnei ducked her head as Vincent turned and fired twice more, two more of the creatures going down. Tifa whirled around as well, punching one in the nose and sweeping its feet out from under him before sinking one bladed glove into the next monster's side. She threw Rekka through the air, taking out a creature attempting to sneak up on Nanaki, then rolled out of the way as Yuffie came crashing through, slashing at a creature just behind her.

Yuffie had one thing right. There didn't seem to be any end to them. The creatures just kept coming, and Cissnei took a step back, keeping her back against the wall of a house as Rekka tore through another one. She looked around, surveying the area around them. Nero, Barret, Aerith and Shalua stood in one corner, appearing to be in some sort of stand-off. To their right, Weiss, Zack, and Cloud fought with their blades locked. Just ahead of her, Kunsel and Shelke moved in and out of strikes, Shelke's sabers humming and flashing. Where were the monsters coming from? What was the source?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the creature nearest her until it was nearly on top of her, its claws outstretched. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she ducked down, about to try and jump out of the way when a spear point ripped through its shoulder, shadows rippling around it. The spear moved, tearing open a gash along the creature's side. The shadow dissipated, a gruff-looking blond man pulling his spear behind him. He was dressed in a white shirt, with a denim jacket over it and light green pants, his hair drawn away from his face by a pair of goggles. The man had a cigarette between his teeth, a scowl on his face.

"What the #%& is going on here?!" he demanded.

Cissnei opened her mouth, about to answer, when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, staring as two figures burst out of the upstairs window, their swords locked and wings extended. Sephiroth and Genesis turned, parting in midair and coming together again.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	95. File 027: Seeds of Betrayal pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Thanks go to **Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, Irish-Brigid, Isayan **and **Draconic **for all your reviews and support. I'm so glad you liked the fight scene, and don't worry, the subplot of the spy and Nero will be resolved before the end of this 'book'.

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **I do. You'll find out soon enough though. ^^

**Draconic, **it was really more of a space issue than anything else. This story is so long, and I'm trying to get to the end of Disc One, so I've been paring it down to the essentials. Kunsel and Shelke were meant to be in this chapter, and as for Tifa, I know I haven't been giving her as much screentime as I'd like. I promise that'll change soon (next disc, if not sooner) and there will be a Cloti scene coming up in Rocket Town. It's long overdue.

XxXxX

**File 027: Seeds of Betrayal**

Vincent turned and saw Sephiroth tumbling through the building, wing extended. His opponent had a wing on his back as well, and was carrying a scarlet blade. As he watched, the two of them exchanged a series of quick blows, extending their wings and flying further into the sky. Their blades clashed together then came apart again, the two of them seeming evenly matched in skill. Vincent didn't hesitate. He turned, kicking one of the shadow beasts away from him and dispatching it with one shot through the head, then took off towards Lucrecia's son.

He saw movement beside him and glanced to the right, frowning slightly. The young ex-Turk—Cissnei—was running beside him, keeping pace. She had her shuriken in her hand, her eyes fixed on the battle above. He wondered at that, but said nothing, darting to the left as they neared the area where the fight was taking place. She seemed to understand his intentions, because she darted right, and he saw her jump into the air and grab onto an awning, hoisting herself up onto the roof of one of the nearby houses. Vincent leapt, his enhancements allowing him to reach the rooftop of the opposite building in two bounds. There, he paused, looking across the square at his companion.

The young Turk shifted her shuriken around in her hand, adjusting her grip. Her eyes were fixed on the combatants, or rather one of them in particular. The wind whipped around her as she stood there, and it seemed to Vincent that he recognized the expression on her face. She spun around to put more power behind her throw, then let the shuriken fly, along with a shout of _"Sephiroth!" _Rekka caught fire as soon as it left her hand, becoming a flaming wheel. Sephiroth immediately dropped out of the air and out of the path of the shuriken, and his opponent raised his sword to block it, his eyes widening slightly. Vincent took his cue, shifting his cloak over his shoulder and raising his gun. He fired two shots at the red-haired man's back.

The man swiped the shuriken out of the way, then ducked, avoiding the first of the shots. The second took him in the shoulder, bouncing off his pauldron but doing so with enough impact to hurt. He staggered forward, letting out a shout of anger as he turned towards Vincent. But before he could attack, Sephiroth was rising through the air, a series of well-placed strikes driving his enemy back. And then the girl was there, as the two of them flew through the air, running alongside the rooftops to keep pace with them. She snatched her shuriken out of the air as it wheeled back towards her, then twirled it around behind her like a dancer, throwing it underhand towards the red-haired man again.

Vincent ran to keep pace on the other rooftop, watching as Sephiroth dipped his head to the side to give the shuriken a clear path. Rekka blazed through the air, drawing a line of blood across the red-haired man's face. He let out a snarl as the shuriken returned to Cissnei, pushing back against Sephiroth angrily and driving him towards the building. Cissnei caught the shuriken, turning to watch as the man drove Sephiroth back, but the tables quickly turned as Sephiroth dove out of the way of his strikes, driving him back with a powerful slash. The man flew backwards and up, then turned attention towards the ex-Turk, his blade in his hand.

"You're in my way!" he said, flying towards Cissnei with the blade outstretched. Vincent made to raise his gun, but before he could fire, Sephiroth was already there, driving the man back with three more slashes. The man raised his free hand towards the girl on the rooftop, three blasts of fire shooting from it towards her, but she rolled out of the way, drawing herself up to her feet and throwing Rekka through the flames. The shuriken slipped through just as Sephiroth was pulling back from a slash, grazing across the man's chest before returning to its owner. Sephiroth immediately moved to fill the gap, slashing at the man four different times. Cissnei caught the shuriken as she came up from another roll, dodging a fourth blast of fire. She didn't even look behind her to see if Sephiroth was keeping the opponent occupied, instead letting her shuriken fly again.

He frowned, watching them. They fell easily into their roles, with the sort of confidence he would have associated with long-time partners. He wondered if there might be more here than met the eye.

He would be more hindrance than help here, he decided. Vincent turned his attention away from the fight, looking back at the streets below them. The battle continued, in the streets below, most of the others engaged with their own opponents. The martial artist and Nanaki stood in the center of a ring of shadow creatures, along with the spearman that had joined the fray earlier. The ninja stood alone on the far corner of the square, beset on all sides by four of the shadow beasts. She was bleeding from a cut along her arm and already starting to back up, her eyes wide and panicked as she brandished her shuriken at them. Making his decision, Vincent leapt from the rooftop, unholstering his Quicksilver and firing a shot each at two of the beasts. They went down, and he reloaded his gun in one fluid motion, landing beside the ninja and shooting the third in the head. She turned, catching on, and stood with her back towards his, slashing at the last one with her shuriken. It dissipated, but three more soon joined in, growling and snarling, with others waiting behind them.

"Can you fight?" asked Vincent.

The girl stared at him wide-eyed, uncomprehending. Battle shock, Vincent realized. She probably had never fought anything on this scale before. "Can you fight?" he repeated, louder this time. That cut through to her. Her eyes widened and she blinked twice, then nodded.

"Good," said Vincent, taking a step back. He gestured with his gun towards the two that were approaching their flanks. With the two of them positioned near a building, Vincent's back was only exposed from one angle. That one. "Take care of this side. Kill anything that tries to come through."

Without waiting for a response, he charged into the fray, whirling and shooting. Two went down, three, but it wasn't enough. There were more, they were always more. He turned and killed, shooting three, four, five. One of their claws tore into his chest, another caught in the fabric of his cloak, a third fastened its teeth onto his gauntlet, and he had to swing the creature around to dislodge it. The battle seemed to awaken something within him, a bloodlust that thrummed inside him to the beat of his heart, and the more he fought, the more he was injured, the more he felt something rising to the forefront.

_My curse…_he thought, as he grit his teeth, his eyes flashing scarlet. He glanced back at the girl and saw that she was defending her position well, two dead shadow creatures already dissolving at her feet, although she was glancing back over her shoulder to look at him. He turned away from her, satisfied, then gave in.

The shadows thickened around him, covering him like a shroud. A wind rose up, his cloak fluttering around him. He felt his body beginning to change, felt himself growing taller, broader, more bestial. His skin hardened and changed color, his hair whitened horns sprouted from his head, his fingers and toes tapering off into claws. His mind shifted, the man Vincent Valentine giving way to something darker, something baser, something less than human.

Galian Beast roared and plunged into the fight.

XxXxX

Cloud darted out of the way of Weiss's strike, his sword in his hand. He could feel his breath start to catch in his throat, the wound in his side burning with every movement, but he pressed on. Weiss harassed him, sending another slash his way, but Zack quickly slid the Buster Sword down between the sword and Cloud, blocking the slash. The Buster Sword scraped across the ground, a powerful uppercut heading Weiss's way. Cloud used the opportunity to turn around, shifting so that his right hand was closer to Weiss, and stabbing out at the Tsviet's chest.

Weiss parried Zack's blow and used the momentum to push himself up off the ground, avoiding Cloud's. He leapt through the air, flipping over backwards and landing on the ground. Zack moved forward, raising his sword high over his head and bringing it crashing down, but Weiss spun out of the way, his katanas moving towards Zack's head. Zack took a step back, tilting his head back slightly to avoid the blow, and Cloud used the opportunity to slide in. He gulped down a huge breath of air, sliding into the gap between Zack and Weiss and thrusting out with the Force Stealer. Weiss turned to avoid it, but he felt the tip of the sword slice through the Tsviet's chest. Cloud blinked sweat out of his eyes, taking a step back as Weiss sent two cuts towards Zack.

Zack blocked one, but the second took him in the shoulder, and he let out a pained shout, stumbling onto a knee. Cloud glanced over at Zack as Weiss turned, his eyes widening. The cut was deep, looking deep enough to have cut down to the bone. He saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and jumped back, that same blade passing just barely in front of his eyes. He stumbled back as he landed on the ground, twisting out of the way and ignoring the burning in his side as Weiss advanced. He fumbled with his sword, fighting to get it into a defensive position as Weiss bore down on him.

Zack took a step forward and swung wild, his left hand hanging limply at his side. The blow was enough that even Cloud could have dodged it, but it served to buy them time as Weiss jumped out of the way. Green light already surrounded Zack's wound, matching a green glow coming from one of the Buster Sword's Materia slots. Zack's eyes met his, and Cloud took the meaning, darting out of the way as Zack placed the Buster Sword at his back, launching into a series of punches and kicks. The hits connected, but Weiss didn't make a sound other than the barest grunt of pain, allowing Zack to throw him to the ground. He sprang right back onto his feet, his swords in hand, and whirled towards them again.

This time, Zack was ready. Cloud watched them fight, his breath coming in short pants. The first time he'd seen Zack fight, back in the mountains outside Modeoheim, he'd thought that Zack had been the strongest he'd ever seen. Seeing Sephiroth fight, training alongside them, had changed that, but he still knew that Zack was strong. Against Weiss, though, it was hard to tell. The Tsviet had an easy confidence about him, and he moved both of his complicated weapons around himself with ease, his feet moving so fast that Cloud could barely keep track of them.

Weiss and Nero, the strongest of the Tsviets. He hoped that the group dealing with Nero was doing alright, although he couldn't see them right now. He couldn't see any of the others. The fight against Weiss had taken up all of his attention and time. He heard roars in the background, felt both heat and cold blowing on the breeze as Genesis cast fire and Tifa summoned Shiva, heard the clash of swords in the distance. But the others had their battles.

This was his fight, with Weiss. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up, but he forced himself forward, charging back into the fray with his sword outstretched. Memories flashed through his mind of his time in Shinra. He'd spent so much time in the background, letting the others fight. Not this time.

He came towards Weiss from the right, slashing at his side. Weiss, occupied with Zack, immediately turned to deal with him, but the attack left him open for Zack. His friend didn't waste any time in taking advantage of it, the powerful Buster Sword swatting Weiss's katana away and leaving a long cut along his arm. Cloud gripped his sword in both hands, thrusting at Weiss's shoulder and then slashing at his neck. Weiss deflected both strikes with his sword, but the blows drove him back, and Zack joined in, the two of them keeping the Tsviet at bay. But then, as they had driven Weiss back a few steps, he recovered, gripping his swords tightly and slashing at Cloud. He shot at Zack with one gunblade, the blast sending the ex-SOLDIER back.

Cloud took a step back as well, his sword upraised. Weiss's slashes were powerful, and he found his strength flagging, the Tsviet driving him back with each slash. One cut knocked his sword arm wide, leaving him open. He took a step back, sweat pouring down his face as he looked into Weiss's eyes. Weiss took a step forward, raising one blade, and Cloud prepared to leap to the ground, when the impossible happened.

Weiss stopped.

He caught sight of something in the sky, the blade freezing in midair. Cloud exhaled, chancing a glance behind him as Weiss's eyes narrowed and he stepped back. It was hard to see from this distance, but the day was clear, and visibility good enough to see sunlight reflecting off of a white helicopter, one heading towards Rocket Town.

Rufus Shinra.

XxXxX

Shelke darted forward, her strikes quick and sure, and Kunsel had to raise his sword in a hurry to block them. He didn't have a chance to retaliate in kind. As soon as the blades connected, Shelke was upon him again, slashing out three more times. Each of the blows drove him back, and the Tsviet pressed on, twisting around and cutting through the air with each strike. Her mako blue eyes bored into his, cold and unfeeling, but it seemed to him as though her strikes were more hurried this time, more rushed. She attacked in a flurry of blows and slashes, each one coming in after another, not giving him time to recover and strike back.

And not giving him time to speak.

He gripped his sword tightly in both hands, pushing back against her strikes. She jumped back, flipping over in the air and landing neatly on her feet, before charging in again. This time, he sidestepped, moving out of the way and lashing out at her torso. It was a blow she could easily block, and she did, but the movement forced her to turn to face him, slowing her down just long enough for him to pull away and swipe out at her knees. His sword ghosted over the ground, and she jumped back, pulling her sabers close to herself and flipping over in the air. She landed crouched on the ground, and turned her sabers around again, slashing at him.

Kunsel blocked her first strike with the flat of his sword, leaning back to avoid the second one. He could feel the heat of her saber as it passed in front of his face, and ducked to avoid a thrust as she pulled away from him long enough to send one sailing over his head. He slashed, more to keep her at bay than anything else. The slash had the intended effect, forcing Shelke to jump back, and giving him room to breathe. Above his head, Genesis and Sephiroth flew, locked in a battle. The implications of that sent his mind reeling. Genesis, as Sephiroth had told them, was working with Jenova.

And if the cargo ship was anything to go by, Jenova was _not _working with Shinra.

"Working with Genesis now?" he asked Shelke. "When did you switch sides?"

"My loyalty has always been towards the Tsviets," said Shelke, slashing at him. "The 'why' is unimportant."

He blocked her slash, sending one of his own towards her. He attacked with a combination of three slashes, the last one being enough to make her jump back. She gained distance, and he brandished his sword to keep her there. "Let Marlene go," he said, remembering the shy little girl he'd met at Kalm. "She doesn't have anything to do with this." He remembered his promise to Shalua as well as he watched Shelke. His promise to help her.

"What does it matter to you?" asked Shelke as their blades came together again. They parted just long enough for her to speak, and she took a step back. "You have no relation to her, no connection. Her fate should be irrelevant."

"She's a child!" said Kunsel, pushing harder. He drove her back, forcing her into the air again. "Just like you were."

Shelke's eyes narrowed as she landed on the ground, and when she spoke, her voice had more emotion than he had ever heard in it before. Not a _lot _of emotion, but still enough. "I am _not _a child!" she said, darting forward. Her next flurry of blows came so fast that he could barely see them, and it was all he could do to step back, blocking every flash of orange he saw. One managed to strike home. He felt it burn as it grazed across the flesh of his arm, and he took a step back, fighting to keep a hold of his sword. He regained his footing and returned the blows, forcing her back as well.

"Your sister's here," he said, still trying to get through to her. "She wants to see you. Don't you remember her?"

"I have no sister." Shelke returned the blows, forcing him back this time. All traces of emotion were gone from her face, except for one in her eyes, something that might have been a hint of anger. He'd take anger over nothing.

"Yes you do!" said Kunsel. "Her name's Shalua. Shalua Rui. She's just over there."

"I don't know anyone by that name," Shelke insisted, slashing at him. But he saw something else in her eyes. A flicker of something that might have been recognition, or doubt.

"You do," said Kunsel. "Try to remember! You do."

"I—." Shelke's grip faltered on her swords for a moment. That was all he needed to charge forward, slashing at her. She quickly recovered, jumping back into the fray, before jumping back, her eyes on something in the distance. Before Kunsel could stop her, she sheathed her sabers, jumping back and flipping over in the air to gain distance. Kunsel took a step forward, an arm outstretched.

"Wait! Shelke!"

She ignored him, turning towards the rest of the fight. "Weiss. Nero," she said.

They turned towards her, nodding. Kunsel looked up at the sky, and realized what they were looking at. A white Shinra helicopter was on the horizon, heading towards Rocket Town. Weiss looked angry. Nero, standing between Shalua, Aerith, and Barret, stared at the helicopter with the same intense stare he gave everything, before turning back towards Weiss.

"Someone knows we're here," Weiss said.

"Tseng," said Nero, looking back at Weiss. "This has the Turks' scent all over it."

Weiss nodded, his eyes narrowing in anger. He clenched his fist. "Go," he said, inclining his head towards the exit.

Nero nodded, disappearing in a flash of shadow. Weiss and Shelke ran as well, Shelke jumping over Tifa's head and darting towards the exit. Genesis pushed off from Sephiroth, and Kunsel saw him stare once at the helicopter, shading his eyes against the sun, before leaving as well. The shadow creatures left with them, disappearing in an instant. Shadows like smoke rose up from the center of town, trailing in the air around them.

And then they were alone. Kunsel stared as Shelke disappeared into the distance, then placed his sword at his back again, studying the wound she had managed to inflict. The others were wounded as well, he realized. Wounded and tired. Sephiroth landed on the ground, his wing folding behind him. As Kunsel watched, one of the last creatures on the battlefield, a great hulking beast, slowly began to shrink in size, becoming the crouched form of Vincent Valentine. The gunslinger rose slowly, as though in pain, and holstered his gun. Yuffie stood behind him, her shuriken in both hands and looking out at them from over his shoulder. The entire group of them began to move, shuffling to the center of the square.

There, standing together in the silence, they exchanged glances with each other. And then, to a man, all eyes turned, fixing on Shalua. The scientist stood there, looking back at the others with a helpless look in her eyes, but she said nothing, raising her hands to show that she was unarmed. She looked at Kunsel, wide-eyed, but he found himself unable to speak.

The blond-haired man stared at all of them, dumbfounded. After a moment, he stomped forward, brandishing his spear.

"Will someone just tell me what the #^&% is going on?!" he demanded again.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	96. File 027: Seeds of Betrayal pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **I've decided to keep the Symbol Swearing for Cid, just because…I don't know. XD It feels kind of like Cid. I'm also pleased (?) to note that I joined a prompt challenge, so you should be seeing a one-shot up set in this universe fairly soon. It won't have any pairings, because the prompt was A Resolved Argument, but the next challenge after it will be a First Kiss Challenge. Sadly, I can't write the first kiss you're all waiting for (Sephissnei) because that would spoil the rest of the story, but I'll replace it with another depending on the prompt I'm assigned~

Thanks go to **Furionknight, The Darkness Factor, JazzQueen, SubZeroChimera, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, Leon Kaye, Isayan, **and **IzumiYukimura** for your reviews and support!

**The Darkness Factor, **thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy the story, and that you like the pairing and all of those other aspects you mentioned in your review. The Turks in particular was something that I really tried to emphasize, because of Before Crisis and the fact that they're so central to Cissnei's character. Cissnei being in their party lends them kind of an interesting dynamic. As for commenting on Vincent, don't worry, that's coming. It's funny to think of them being so tired out from all of this that one of their allies suddenly transforming into a monster is kind of a 'low priority' thing for them now.

**JazzQueen, **it was intended to change certain things, but you're right about that. I never intended to make this too light and fluffy. I wanted to keep with the theme and feeling of the original game, so there will be some hardships and heartbreak ahead. Hold on for the ride. ^^

**Irish-Brigid, **AC is where I got the idea, so you can just imagine that if you want. Shadow feline panther-like things seem to be my go to for 'random enemy encounter'. And thanks for the tip about Kunsel! I went back and edited it!

**IzumiYukimura, **thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy the story and wish you luck on your own fanfic! I'm also glad you like the characters. I've tried my best to make them have their good traits and bad traits. Sephiroth's sane, and he does care, but he's not a saint, Aerith isn't perfect, Zack isn't always happy, Cloud can speak up once in a while, Yuffie has her own issues…etc.

XxXxX

**File 027: Seeds of Betrayal**

Rocket Town had gone quiet after the battle, most of the citizens returning to their homes. Shalua sat at the edge of the square, her hands clasped together in her lap and her eyes occasionally traveling towards the other members of their party. They stood together in a huddle, some of them occasionally casting glances at her, and she frowned, keeping her eyes on the ground. She could hear snatches from their conversation, a few angry mutterings coming from Barret, concerned discussion all around, and the occasional unsolicited comment from the gruff pilot named Cid Highwind, of the Space Program fame, but she knew they were all talking about her.

Shalua resisted the urge to fiddle with the strap of her bag, knowing that acting nervous would only make her look more guilty. She knew how bad it looked. Nero had done his job well, and with Shelke in the position she was in, there wasn't anyone else in the group that would make a more perfect scapegoat. But she also knew it was a _lie_. The real danger was out there, somewhere. The question was whether or not anyone would believe her.

She felt more tired than anything, sitting on a bench and staring at the rocket in front of her. It wasn't the first time, she mused, that she had run afoul of AVALANCHE. At least this time, she wasn't afraid for her life. This group wouldn't kill her. But that didn't mean she would ever be able to travel with them as she once did. She studied her prosthetic hand for a moment, her human fingers brushing against the metal ones. _Friendless and alone…_

It wasn't as if that was a state she wasn't used to. Ever since the Turks took Shelke from her, she'd felt friendless and alone. Even traveling with AVALANCHE, _this _AVALANCHE, she'd never felt like one of them.

But she felt like she _could _have been. Maybe that was what hurt.

To pass the time, she studied the group, trying to gauge who might be on her side and who definitely wasn't. Barret Wallace seemed conflicted—she'd seen the anger and betrayal in his eyes as he pointed his gun arm at her, but for all his blustering, he didn't seem completely sure. She'd saved his life once, back when she was still Corel Prison's unofficial 'doctor', and she knew that could be stubbornly loyal when he had to be. Aerith was another one who might have been on her side—the woman spoke little, but when she did speak, it was to shake her head and step forward, wide-eyed. Zack's expression was dark. There was no way of telling where he stood in all of this, and Cloud looked guilty about his deception, but certain. She would find no friend in him this time. Yuffie was another one who seemed uncertain, and Tifa as well, but the women of AVALANCHE were a tight-knit group.

Well, all except one.

Cissnei and Vincent looked…well, like Turks. Their expressions were varied on the outside—Cissnei's concerned and Vincent's serious, but beneath that it was almost impossible to tell what they were thinking about. Chris had been the same way. She'd learned fairly quickly that all Turks had two faces, one that they showed to the world and one that they only showed when they put on the suit. In contrast, Sephiroth's expression was unreadable, but in a straightforward way, like a SOLDIER's. His face was stone, his eyes fixed on the center of the group as he listened to the conversation around him. She knew she'd find no friend in him either. Sephiroth was not a cruel man, but he could be ruthless in his practicality. If he believed, truly believed without a doubt that she was a danger to the group, it was just as likely that she'd find herself short a head.

Still, she thought with another glance at Cissnei, at least Sephiroth would be decent enough to let her see him coming.

No, she thought, lowering her eyes from the others. She wouldn't find any friends here.

Except maybe for one. Kunsel stood in the group with his side facing her, but he occasionally shot her helpless glances, as if to say he was trying, but there didn't seem to be anything he could do. He at least looked like he believed her story, or was thinking about it.

He'd tried to bring Shelke back to her senses too.

Her eyes traveled to the two children that Sephiroth and company had brought back from Nibelheim, and she felt her chest tighten. The boy, it was true, didn't say much and still seemed to be affected by whatever brainwashing Hojo had done, but the girl—the girl was ten years old, bright-eyed and precocious, and reminded her so much of how Shelke _had _been that it hurt to look at her.

She'd lost her world when she lost Shelke. She didn't have much left to live for.

But Kunsel had promised her. He'd _promised _her he would help bring Shelke back. She had that much to hold onto at least. Even if she was forced to leave the group, even if she didn't survive long enough to see it, the knowledge that someone else would carry on the fight helped. It helped a lot.

What would she do if AVALANCHE cast her out, she wondered. She couldn't go back to Corel—as she was, she'd never make it. She could stay here, fine tune her mechanical arm, and maybe even examine the Rocket. The thought made her think back to simpler times. Machinery had been her first love. But the young woman who'd buried herself in study was long gone.

The mutterings slowed, then ceased. Shalua looked up to see the group shuffling, some members shooting her hostile looks. The sea of people parted, and Cissnei walked forward, moving towards her. Shalua tried not to tense, to keep her posture natural, her eyes fixed straight ahead of her. That they'd send the Turk to talk to her, not one of the others, wasn't a good sign. Although, she realized, as Cissnei smiled apologetically and came to sit beside her, she wasn't sure it was a _bad _sign either.

She slid over to the side, giving Cissnei enough room to sit. Shalua rested her hands on her knees, her legs crossed as she turned towards the other woman. She could feel Cissnei's eyes on her, assessing, could sense that on some level, she had put aside her own feelings to do what needed to be done, in a way that only Turks knew how to do, and knew that this entire situation had suddenly become that much more dangerous, but for all that, she didn't think the other woman wished her _harm_. For all that she was an ex-Turk, Shalua did believe that Cissnei was what she claimed to be. Her heart was in the right place—she wanted to help the Planet, to help Sephiroth, to help AVALANCHE. That was her personal mission. But on some level, she was still a Turk, and Shalua didn't want to be the one who stood between a Turk and her mission.

"Do you believe me?" The words were out of her mouth before she even had a chance to think about them. She wondered whether she wanted to take them back, but decided that it didn't matter. She couldn't hope to out-guile Cissnei. The best she could hope for was that if she was as honest as possible, some of that would come through.

Something flashed in front of Cissnei's eyes—regret? Or was it doubt? She couldn't tell, and the young woman's mouth turned down in a slight frown. Of course, she wouldn't get a straight answer to that question. Instead, Cissnei replied with, "I think there's enough doubt to make us think carefully about certain things."

"Meaning you think I'm telling the truth?" asked Shalua.

"Meaning that it's _possible _that you're telling the truth," said Cissnei. "But it's equally possible that you're lying."

That, at least, was honest. Shalua nodded. It was what she would have thought, if someone else was in this situation. "So, what's going to happen to me?" she asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

Cissnei's expression grew apologetic. Shalua thought it might even have been genuine. "You're a security risk, so we can't have you traveling with us," she said. "At least until we get this sorted out. I'm sorry."

Shalua exhaled. It was about what she expected. "Don't be," she said. "It makes sense." But now she didn't know what she would do. She'd been in worse straits before, she decided. Maybe she could make for Cosmo Canyon, or find her way to Midgar and find out what was going on for herself.

"You can stay here if you want," said Cissnei. "Or…if you need a ride, we can leave you the buggy…" Her expression took on an edge of concern, and Shalua almost laughed. She managed not to, but just barely.

"I don't need pity," she said. "I'll find my way."

"I know you will," said Cissnei. "…I could leave you my PHS number, to keep in touch."

"I'd rather have Kunsel's," said Shalua, glancing at her. "No offense."

"None taken," said Cissnei. Her eyes flicked back towards the group. "I could call him over, if you'd rather talk to him."

"No need." Shalua folded her arms on top of her knee. "I already have it." She didn't know what she would say to him, if she were to talk to him right now. In all honesty, all she wanted to do was leave. Get up and walk away with whatever dignity she had left. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"So, you're letting me go?" she asked Cissnei.

Cissnei nodded. "You can go anywhere you like," she said. "We won't stop you."

Shalua looked her in the eye. Cissnei's face might have looked concerned, but her eyes were hard, light brown and unreadable. It was hard to tell how much of that was training and how much of that was real. "Just…answer one question. Honestly."

Cissnei held her gaze, her expression softening slightly. She sighed, but nodded. "What is it?"

"Am I going to wake up with a knife in my back?"

The Turk stared at her, her expression unchanging. Shalua wouldn't say that she hesitated, because there was nothing hesitant about her manner. She simply stared at Shalua for a moment, although whether she was hurt by the question or seriously considering her answer, Shalua couldn't tell. Finally, she said, "If you do, it won't be mine."

It was the best answer she could have hoped for under the circumstances. Shalua nodded, uncrossing her legs and bracing her human hand on the bench so that she could get to her feet. Cissnei rose with her, keeping her eyes on hers. "If it's any consolation, I really do think there's a possibility you're telling the truth. This sort of thing is Nero's style."

Shalua looked into Cissnei's eyes and found that she believed her. This time. "Watch out for him," she said. "He's plotting something. Even if you don't believe me, at least believe that."

Cissnei nodded. "I do," she said. And then, "I will." Shalua turned, about to go, but Cissnei took a deep breath, and this time, she actually looked hesitant. Shalua paused, turning back towards her and waiting. "You should make for Midgar," Cissnei finally said. "If you can."

"Why?" asked Shalua. There were too many implications in that statement, and she couldn't even begin to start sorting through them all. "What's waiting for me in Midgar?"

"I can't tell you," said Cissnei, "But if you're telling the truth, you'll find out," The look in her eye made her meaning clear. _And if you're lying, we will. _

XxXxX

Tifa watched Shalua walk away, folding her arms close against herself. She frowned, looking back at the others. They exchanged glances, a few of them lowering their eyes to the ground. She refused to look at Cloud right now. It was Yuffie who spoke first, one hand rubbing at the back of her neck. "Well," she said. "That could've gone better."

"I still think that was unfair," said Tifa, her frown deepening.

"Shut it, Teef," growled Barret from across from her. "This ain't no time for goin' soft."

"She was one of us," argued Tifa, turning back towards Barret.

"Maybe." The voice from behind her made her look up. Cissnei walked up to them, having rejoined the group. The ex-Turk looked tired, her shoulders slumping slightly as she came to stand with them. "We don't know the full story. But for the moment, this is all we could have done."

The pilot, Cid, took a long drag from his cigarette, smoke wafting through the air. No one had bothered to question what he was doing in their council. As soon as they'd formed up to start talking about Shalua, he'd wedged his way in and that was that. Tifa realized, with another frown, that the children were also standing there, the girl hovering protectively over her brother with wide eyes. She didn't look tired, but she did look scared, and the both of them looked ragged and dirty from journey from Nibelheim. They didn't need to be out here listening to this, she decided, but it was too late for that now.

"Now, mind telling me why the %*$ y'all are out here?" he asked.

"We need to borrow your plane," said Cissnei, turning towards the man. It didn't surprise Tifa that she spoke first. "To get to Midgar."

"There's more," said Sephiroth causing the others to look up. His eyes moved over the group, landing on the children. "The Temple of the Ancients. Jenova is heading there."

"Screw that!" said Barret in response. "We ain't goin' nowhere 'till we save Marlene, fool!"

Sephiroth frowned, with the air of a man who had obviously given this a lot of thought. "Jenova may be heading to this Temple as we speak," he said. "If she's there—."

"I don't care!" said Barret, interrupting him. "I ain't abandoning my baby girl!"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Tifa took a deep breath, about to intervene, when Cid dropped his cigarette butt onto the ground, squashing it beneath his boot. He folded his arms. "Y'all aren't goin' nowhere, because I'm not about to lend you my plane," he said. "The answer's no. _Hell _no. Now get lost."

"What the hell do you mean 'no'?!" demanded Barret, turning towards Cid. "That's my little girl in Midgar!"

"Do I look like I &%#)ing care?" asked Cid. "I said no. The _Tiny Bronco_'s mine, ain't it? I don't have to answer to you! Now beat it, before the President comes."

Barret growled, charging forward. Tifa stepped forward as well, putting herself between Barret and Cid. _"Barret!" _she said, the shout just loud enough and sharp enough to cause the big man to pause, his human hand still clenched into a fist. Cid already had his spear out, the point angled towards the sky, and some of the others had reached for weapons too, she realized. Vincent's hand was dangerously close to his gun.

"We can continue this inside," said Tifa, painfully aware that all eyes were now on her. She glanced at the children again, then gave Sephiroth a meaningful look. "The _children _don't need to hear this, and need to rest. And we can't be out on the street when Rufus gets here." She turned towards Cid. "Is there a place we can stay?"

Cid met her eyes, his own eyes trailing from hers to the clawed gloves she was wearing. He looked back at her, his own eyes hardened in challenge, before he glanced at the children opposite from him. Blaire looked up at him from behind strands of black hair, her arm still wrapped around her brother as he clung to her. He stared at them for a long moment, before sucking in a breath.

"Aw hell!" he said. "Dammit, fine! All of you get inside! The brats too! We'll talk about this later!"

Tifa let out the breath she was holding as the others nodded in assent and started to move, one after another. Barret seemed the most reluctant to go, but he did, turning away with a scowl and a muttered curse as he followed them into the house. Cloud drew up beside her, trying to catch her eye.

She shot him a glare and turned away, walking over to help Aerith with the children.

**END FILE**


	97. File 028: To the Sky pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Cloud and Tifa have some issues to work out! I haven't forgotten about them, and they'll feature in the next chapter, I promise. They'll probably be the last scene before the plot starts moving again.

The next story up will be my prompt oneshot for **Unattainable Dreams**'s prompt challenge. Without spoiling too much, we'll be revisiting Midgar and Sector Seven, and traveling back in time to before Seventh Heaven got squashed.

Thanks go to **Isayan, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, The Darkness Factor, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne **and **Riku Uzumaki **for your reviews and support! Much appreciated, as always!

**The Darkness Factor, **I had a little bit of trouble squeezing that in there with all the action, but yes, Rufus is coming along just as in the original game. ^^

**Irish-Brigid, **haha! I'm tempted to write that in now, except he was totally fine in AC.

**Eavenne, **sadly, I can't answer that question. Sorry…

XxXxX

**File 028: To the Sky**

Cid led the way into the house, throwing the door open so loudly that it slammed into the opposite wall. Beside her, Blaire jumped, and Aerith placed a steadying hand on the girl's shoulder. Zack came to walk on Blaire's other side, his arms folded. The girl looked up at him, then forward again, and Aerith saw her take a deep breath.

"_Shera!_" shouted Cid. "Where the $^& are you?!"

"Right here!" said a voice from inside. A brown-haired woman scurried over into the kitchen, staring at them as they entered the room. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and was in slight disarray, as if she had been in a hurry, and she wore a lab coat and a pair of round glasses. Her eyes widened as she looked over at all of them. "Oh." Her eyes moved over each of them and landed on Sephiroth, widening in recognition. "Oh…" she said again, her tone different this time.

"Don't 'oh' me," snapped Cid, gesturing. "What are you, blind?! We got guests! Get some tea! %*^&!"

Shera shook her head, lowering her eyes to the ground. "I—I'm sorry," she said, walking over towards the stove with her shoulders slumped.

Zack's expression darkened. As Aerith watched, he took a step forward, narrowing his eyes at Cid. Aerith turned towards him, eyes wide, but Sephiroth saw too, and he placed a hand out in front of him. Zack stopped, but just barely. He glowered at Cid, but took a step back. It took Aerith a moment to notice that Sephiroth didn't look happy either. He watched the exchange with his usual stoic expression on his face, but his frown was tighter than usual, his eyes harder.

"…Is that really necessary?" asked Cissnei, turning towards Cid.

"Shut up!" said Cid, rounding on her. "Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!"

This time, it was Sephiroth's turn to glare. Zack took advantage of the distraction by swatting Sephiroth's hand out of the air, stepping forward. "Hey, pal," he said. "That's not what she meant."

"And that ain't any of your $(%*ing _business_!" said Cid, turning towards Zack. Before anyone could respond, he looked back at Shera. "The upstairs room clean?!" he asked.

"Yes," said Shera, setting a pot of water on the stove. "I just cleaned it today."

Cid jabbed a finger towards Aerith and Tifa, both of whom were standing with the children. "The brats can sleep there!" he said. "Hurry up, before the President gets here!"

"I can take her," Tifa whispered as Aerith moved to lead Blaire by the hand. Aerith nodded, reluctantly handing the girl over. Her brother still refused to let her near him, and she knew that the two of them would want to go together. Besides, she thought, looking over the situation in front of her. She needed to stay with Zack. She knew the look on his face. Aerith moved to stand next to him, slipping her hand into his. He glanced at her and continued to glower at Cid, but he said nothing, giving her hand a squeeze.

"You mentioned Rufus," said Barret. "Why's he comin' down here?"

"Probably to hear a petition about the Space Program," said Cissnei, before Cid could respond, taking a step back and folding her arms. Cid turned towards her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"How the hell d'you know about that?" he asked.

Cissnei shrugged in response. "A little bird told me," she said.

Cid squinted at her, as though trying to place where he had seen her before. "You're a %*^&ing Turk, ain't you?" he asked.

"I was," said Cissnei. She met Cid's eyes. "Was I right?"

"Shit," said Cid. "Yeah. The President's my last chance at gettin' the Space Program restarted. So none of you better ^*&*ing mess it up, you hear me?!" He turned towards Shera, shaking his head. "DAMN! I'm pissed! I'll be in the backyard tunin' up the Tiny Bronco!" He turned towards the others, gesturing at them. "The President'll be here in two hours! Get upstairs or get lost! An' you make sure to serve 'em some tea!"

The last shout was directed at Shera, before Cid made his way through the back door. The moment the door slammed, sending an echo through the living room, Zack turned towards Shera, unfolding his arms. His expression softened. "You don't have to put up with that, you know," he said.

Shera shook her head, turning towards Zack. "It's alright," he said.

"Is he like this all of the time?" asked Aerith, her expression concerned. "You keep quiet even when he's like that to you?"

She lowered her eyes. "No," she said. "It's because of my stupid mistake. I was the one who destroyed his dream…"

"What happened?" asked Cloud.

"It was my fault he wasn't able to go to space," said Shera. "While the rocket was about to launch, I was still checking the oxygen cylinders. If…if he'd allowed the rocket to launch, it would have burned me alive. The captain, he…pushed the Emergency Engine Shut Down switch, aborting the mission to save my life. After that, the Space Program was cut back and the launch was cancelled. It's my fault his dream was destroyed. That's why…" She shook her head. "I don't care what the Captain says. I'll live my life for him."

Zack stared at her, as though grasping for the words. He shook his head.

"Shera…" Aerith began.

Shera shook her head again. "No, it's alright," she said. "The tea should be ready in a little bit. If some of you want to go upstairs and rest, you should. Let me know if you need anything."

"Actually, there is one thing," said Cissnei, stepping forward. She shot Sephiroth a meaningful glance, then turned towards Shera. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

XxXxX

The gunslinger had set himself up in one of the empty rooms on the first floor, the pieces of his gun scattered on the empty table in front of him. He went through each one carefully, his red eyes focused on his work as he examined, then cleaned, then put aside each piece. He wasn't looking in her direction at all, so it was hard to tell if he knew she was there. Yuffie hesitated in the doorway, her shuriken and a bottle of polish in her hand. She took a deep breath.

_Alright-y! You can do this, Kisaragi, _she thought to herself.

She held her breath and strode forward, putting her biggest smile on her face. She leaned forward slightly so they were at eye level, raising one hand in greeting when he turned to look at her. "Uh—hi," she said. "Remember me?"

Vincent stared at her, holding her gaze for a moment before nodding, turning back towards his gun. Undeterred, Yuffie rested her elbow on the table next to him, crouching down. "So, um, anyway. I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there. You really saved my bacon! N—not that I could have handled it myself, y'know, but it's nice to have back-up once in a while!"

He said nothing, continuing to work. Yuffie stared at him a moment longer before pursing her lips, straightening back up and placing her hands on her waist. "You could say something, you know," she said. "I'm _thanking _you here! I mean, I know you've got this whole brooding vampire thing going for you, but no need to be rude!"

Vincent frowned, setting down the piece he was working on and placing the cleaning brush next to it. "Your arm," he said.

Yuffie blinked. "What about it?" she asked.

"Is it healing?" he asked, not looking up at her.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced back down at her right arm, where one of the monsters' claws had grazed her. Aerith had taken care of the wound almost as soon as they got inside. With Materia, there wasn't even a scratch left. It was a small wound, so she didn't really think that anyone had noticed. "Uh—yeah!" she said, waving her arm through the air. "See? All better! It'll take way more than that to take me down!"

"Hn." Vincent grunted in assent, going back to his work. Yuffie stared at him, watching as he picked up the next piece and started cleaning it. She hesitated, then dropped down into a seat next to him. Vincent didn't even look at her, continuing to work, but he didn't _tell _her to go away either, so she'd take that as a good sign. She watched him for a few moments more, resting her shuriken on the floor against her leg, before she felt boredom creeping up on her again.

"You don't…talk much, do you, Vinnie?" she asked.

"It's Vincent," said Vincent, without glancing at her.

Yuffie shrugged. "I like Vinnie better," she said. She reached for one of the pieces of the gun to play with, but the glare Vincent shot her made her change her mind, and she pulled her hand back, running her fingers down the table instead. Yuffie might not have been the best at respecting boundaries, but there was having fun and then there was self-preservation. "So, um, that thing you did, when you transformed…" she began. "What was that? Are you like, some kind of werewolf or something?"

"That was my curse," said Vincent, turning away from her. He didn't look at her as he spoke, instead working on reassembling his gun.

"Huh." Yuffie leaned back in her seat, tilting her head back and staring upside down at the door behind her. "Well, whatever it was, you really helped me out back there. So I guess I owe you one!"

"Hn," came the noncommittal reply.

"I mean it," said Yuffie, sitting back up quickly. "Just say the word, Vince, and the Great Ninja Yuffie will swoop down and—_aagh!" _Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a sudden shriek as she felt the chair suddenly give way underneath her, tipping over backwards and depositing her on the floor. She let out a yelp of pain as she struck her head, quickly pushing herself back up off the ground and rubbing it. "Owwww," she groaned from her seat on the floor, slowly untangling her legs from around the fallen chair. Vincent looked over at her, his dark red eyes boring into hers. He raised an eyebrow, and Yuffie offered him a sheepish grin and a chuckle.

"I, uh, meant to do that," she said.

The look he gave her told her that he didn't quite believe her.

XxXxX

Sephiroth made his way up the stairs towards the bedrooms they were using as a base of operations, letting the others continue the argument downstairs. It was clear that nothing he could say would convince Cid Highwind to let them borrow the _Tiny Bronco_, at least until after Rufus Shinra's visit, and he had no desire to be around for that. He turned down the hallway, heading towards where Cissnei had placed her things. He still had to talk to her about the incident at Nibelheim and Marlene, as well as what Blaire had told him about the Temple.

He found the door locked. Sephiroth knocked once and opened it, finding it empty. He turned away, about to head back downstairs, and nearly crashed into her as she was coming back down the hallway. He pulled back just in time to avoid knocking her over, but not quickly enough to stop her from bumping into him. The two of them both took a step back, Cissnei stumbling slightly. He reached out a hand to catch her by the elbow, and only then realized what she was wearing.

Or not wearing.

His mind slowed to a grinding halt. The ex-Turk had wrapped herself in a towel, the clothes she was wearing tucked beneath one arm. Her hair was damp, making it obvious that she had just come out of the shower. _A shower. Of course…she'd want a shower after the fight. _His eyes moved unbidden over her body, ending their trail at her face. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes wide as she stared up at him. He released her, quickly averting his eyes. "Sorry."

"That's—it's fine," said Cissnei. She sounded surprised, and he resisted the urge to look back at her, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. "Is there a problem?"

"No," said Sephiroth. "I wanted to discuss…"

"Our destination?" asked Cissnei. At his nod, she spoke again. "Wait right here. I'll throw on some clothes and be back."

He nodded, not looking up until the door had closed behind her. When he did look up, the hallway was empty, but the image of her was still burned into the back of his mind. He stood with his back to the door, listening to the soft footfalls coming from inside and pushed the thoughts away. His mind produced more images for him, memories of Modeoheim and Midgar and Junon, Costa del Sol and Cosmo Canyon, the way she had fought with him against Genesis.

_The fight. _

He thought back to the way they had fought together just a few hours before. It had been a while since he and Cissnei had been on the same battlefield, and certainly much longer since they had fought together like that. His fighting style didn't lend itself well to fighting in pairs, but today...

Cissnei fought like she acted, in circles. She moved like a dancer, Rekka spinning through the air and finding the gaps between their swords again and again and again. It had been easy, creating those gaps to let her in. He thought back to Nibelheim, to the time when he had almost called Yuffie by the wrong name.

The door opened again. "Ready," said a voice from behind him. "Sorry about that."

He turned, keeping his expression smooth to hide his thoughts. Cissnei had changed into a gray shirt slightly different from what she normally wore while traveling, and dark pants. She'd pulled her unruly hair back into a high ponytail, and while she wasn't wearing any obvious weapons, he knew she had at least a knife or two tucked away somewhere. He shook his head. "It's fine."

Cissnei glanced around uncertainly at the hallway they were standing in. "Do you want to come inside?" she asked, inclining her head back towards the room behind her. "We probably shouldn't talk out in the hallway."

Sephiroth nodded, following her into the room. He stepped around Yuffie and Aerith's combined packs, deciding against commenting about them being in the center of the room. These weren't his soldiers, and he supposed they were entitled to some amount of privacy. Cissnei glanced behind him at the open door. "I can close that if you like," she said.

"Leave it," said Sephiroth, stepping away. Suddenly, he wasn't comfortable with the turn his thoughts were taking with the words 'Cissnei', 'bedroom', and 'closed door'. She shot him a strange look, but nodded, stepping back and bracing both of her hands against the writing desk behind her. She lifted herself up slightly so that she was sitting on the edge. "What's up?" she asked.

"Rufus Shinra is due to arrive here in approximately one hour," said Sephiroth. "We can assume he's already in Rocket Town."

Cissnei nodded. "Dealing with the aftermath of the Tsviets' attack, I'll bet," she said. "Even if Nero and the others hid all the evidence, there's still a group of frightened townspeople that will gladly tell the tale. It'll be an interesting time at Shinra Inc. for the next few weeks."

"Not interesting enough that Rufus would ignore our presence," said Sephiroth.

Cissnei shook her head. "No," she agreed. "Not interesting enough."

"Can we trust them, do you think?" asked Sephiroth, lowering his voice. He glanced out at the open door, to the hallway downstairs.

"Cid and Shera?" asked Cissnei. She frowned, thinking it over, and shrugged her shoulders. "It depends," she said. "I don't think Cid really sees it in his best interests to turn us in. But it's not in his best interests to conceal us either. I think he won't reveal us…but he won't help us if we reveal ourselves."

"So we'll be certain not to do that," said Sephiroth. "And after? Do you think we can convince the pilot to lend us the plane?"

"I don't know," said Cissnei. She smiled faintly, tugging at a lock of hair. "You don't simply _convince _Cid Highwind to do anything. But after Rufus leaves, we might have a better chance. If not…there are other ways. We could pay for passage on a ship bound for Wutai."

"You mean to use Yuffie's influence?" asked Sephiroth.

"I don't think it's impossible," said Cissnei. "Although I wonder how much weight Yuffie actually carries in that nation. She's young, and from what I knew before I left the Turks, she and her father have never seen eye to eye. No, I was thinking more that in Wutai, Shinra's grip would be slightly weaker, with deserted Shinra outposts between the cities and towns. Between Vincent, Yuffie, and myself, it shouldn't be hard to commandeer a chopper."

"You're thinking of stealing a plane."

Cissnei smiled, locking her fingers together and raising them above her head in a stretch. He found his eyes drawn to the curve of her back, and he snapped them quickly back to her face as she spoke again. "Well, if you want to put it that way," she said. "Either way, whether we leave with the _Tiny Bronco _or not, we can't stay in Rocket Town. The question is what we do from there. Barret would have us go to Midgar. But if Jenova is making for the Temple of the Ancients…" She trailed off, her frown deepening. Cissnei looked back up at him, shaking her head. "I don't see a feasible way to do both, unless…"

"If we split the party—," Sephiroth began. He froze, noticing that Cissnei's eyes had suddenly become fixed on something behind him. Sephiroth looked over his shoulder.

Blaire stood in the doorway, staring at them. Her hair was messy from sleep, but her eyes were wide and alert, and she looked torn between being alarmed at their conversation and being embarrassed at being caught. Sephiroth turned towards her, frowning. "You should be in bed," he said.

"You're leaving?" asked Blaire.

"Go to sleep."

Blaire shook her head. "What about me and Al?!" she asked. "What's gonna happen to _us_?"

He exchanged a glance with Cissnei. The ex-Turk pushed herself off of her perch, walking over to Blaire. "We were thinking about leaving you with Shera," she began, her tone gentle.

Blaire took a step back, shaking her head. She looked back at Sephiroth. "I don't want to stay here!" she said. "I want to come with you!"

"Blaire—," Sephiroth began.

Blaire shook her head, her voice becoming higher pitched as she talked over him. "I _won't_! I won't stay here! I don't wanna be left behind again!"

"Blaire," he repeated.

"I can fight! I'm strong, and really fast, and I won't be any trouble, and I won't complain, and I—!"

"Blaire, _go to sleep_," Sephiroth repeated, using the same tone he used to issue orders. The command cut through her tantrum and she stared at him, blinking wide, tear-filled eyes. Her lip quivered, but she kept her mouth shut. Cissnei offered the girl and apologetic smile, brushing past him.

"I'll take her," she said, looking back at Sephiroth. "We can finish this talk when I get back."

Sephiroth nodded, watching as Cissnei placed one hand on the girl's shoulder and led her from the room.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	98. File 028: To the Sky pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I've been taking a scuba certification course and work has really been picking up in the lab, so I haven't had much free time to write. That said, August 15 is the day I head home, so I _should _have more time until grad school starts. Also, my fic for the Resolved Argument prompt challenge, **Break Down** is now up, and can be found by clicking on my author page if anyone's interested. The argument is between Cissnei and Tifa.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, shadowneko003, Eavenne, Furionknight, kitty materia princess, Isayan, Irish-Brigid, Leon Kaye, IzumiYukimura, Riku Uzumaki, The Darkness Factor, Juliedoo, Guest **and **Guest** for your reviews and support! Much appreciated, as always!

**kitty materia princess, **thank you! I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad you liked the pairing. It wasn't something I'd thought of before either, and if you read my author's notes, it wasn't something I started this fic out wanting to do, but along the way, it just sort of clicked. Never apologize for long reviews, I love getting them. ^^

**Irish-Brigid, **unlocked, yes~ Thanks for pointing that out! And yes, Blaire just wants to be with familiar people, poor thing.

**Leon Kaye, **you're welcome! I couldn't _not _add that scene in, it wouldn't be the same without it! As for splitting the party…well, you'll see. This fic is HOPEFULLY drawing to a close soon, I foresee finishing Disc One by the end of the year, and then we can finally get started on Part Two.

**IzumiYukimura, **yep yep. I love writing how Sephiroth is with this kid. XD

**Riku Uzumaki, **you would be right about that.

**The Darkness Factor, **yeah, Cid is kind of abusive to Shera in the beginning of the game. I _believe _he gets better, though I can't really remember that far. I couldn't see Zack just standing by and watching that.

**Juliedoo, **thank you! I'm glad you like it! I'm glad you enjoy the characterization. This fic has really been a challenge for me in that regard, but a fun one, and has really helped me give my own original characters distinct personalities when I write fiction.

XxXxX

**File 028: To the Sky**

_Talk to her, _Zack had told him, and that was what he'd gone to do, but that was easier said than done. Tifa seemed to be making it her mission in life to avoid him. It shouldn't have been hard to find her while confined to a two story house, and really, it wasn't. The problem was finding her _alone_. He'd caught her once exiting a room with Cissnei, another time in the stairwell giggling with Yuffie about something, and a third time even talking to _Sephiroth_, but each of the times Cloud had come up to her, she'd simply brushed past him and gone on to the next task. The look in her eye told him she was still mad at him, but he hoped he'd get a chance to talk to her soon. He'd already caught Aerith telling Zack he looked like a lost puppy.

Then there was the question of what he would say when he did get a chance to talk to her. He knew he should have told her about Shalua, but what was he _supposed _to do? The less people knew, the better, Cissnei had said. And they didn't exactly have a chance to talk about this while travelling. Sure, he might have talked to her while Shalua was away on some camp task, but what if she got back? What if she overheard? The excuses didn't sound very strong to him, especially after finding out that Zack had told Aerith, but his reasons had made sense at the time. They still made sense.

He just hoped Tifa would see that.

Cloud got his chance to explain it to her a few hours in, when she was exiting the room set aside for the children. The sun was already beginning to set, and it wouldn't be long until Cid's planned meeting with Rufus Shinra. If he _was _going to talk to her at all, it would have to be now, because otherwise they would be too busy dealing with the arrival of the President to have any sort of conversation. He took a deep breath and reached out, touching her arm as she stepped out of the room.

Her eyes flicked to his, and he saw both her irritation with him and some uncertainty. He glanced at the clock. It was about twenty minutes before Rufus's arrival. He didn't think they would ever have a better chance.

"Can we talk?" he asked, glancing around in the hallway to see if anyone else might be paying attention.

Tifa looked him in the eye, as if trying to gauge what she saw there. She watched him for a moment, then sighed, nodding. They found a place to talk in a room at the end of the hallway. It smelled like cigarette smoke and had sketches of planes, rockets, and airship schematics on the walls, leading him to think this might be Cid's study. Tifa frowned at the smell but didn't comment on it, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. She folded her arms, giving Cloud a look that told him they might be in here for a while.

He took a deep breath and tried to start.

"I know you're upset—," he began.

"No, you don't," said Tifa, interrupting him. Cloud's mouth snapped shut on cue. "Do you even know _why _I'm upset?"

"Because I didn't tell you about Shalua?" he asked.

"Because you didn't tell me about _any_ of this," said Tifa, frowning at him. "I _followed _you into Rocket Town. If I knew we might be expecting an attack—." She hesitated, trailing off. Tifa seemed to be grasping with the words, but he knew what she was trying to say. _You led me into danger, Cloud, _her eyes said. _And you didn't give me a chance to prepare. _

That had bothered him about this too. But what was done was done. He let out the breath he was holding, lowering his eyes to the ground. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry."

"_Sorry_?" Tifa repeated. "You can say that because we're both here, but what if Nero came up to me instead of you? What would you have done?"

"I would have—," he began, but the words died in his throat. _I would have protected you, _was what he wanted to say, but he didn't need to say it to know how stupid the words would have sounded. It was Nero. Sephiroth hadn't been able to protect Cissnei from Nero, why did he think he would have done any better? _I would have died trying to protect you_ sounded closer to the mark but too dramatic, and _I would have been sitting here hating myself_ wasn't exactly a thought he wanted to express right now.

She looked up at him, her deep brown eyes both angry and hurt. _Promise me if I'm ever in a bind, you'll come and save me. _Those words haunted him right now.

_But I never managed it, _he told himself. _I didn't get into SOLDIER. I never became famous. _

He could have at least held up _that _end of the bargain, though, couldn't he? Or he could have tried. He let out the breath he was holding, shaking his head. "Tifa, I…" he began.

"Why didn't you tell me anything?" asked Tifa.

"Because…" Because what? Because he wasn't _supposed _to? Because _Cissnei _had told him no? There was no way he could answer that question without making it sound like he didn't trust her, and that wasn't the truth at all. If anything, he trusted her too much. He didn't have an answer, so he trailed off again, staring at the floor and hating the way he never seemed to be able to _talk _to her.

Her expression softened slightly, and she let out a frustrated sigh. "Ever since you came back, it's like I don't know what to do with you," she admitted. She took a deep breath, shaking her head and looking down at the ground. "It's like you don't know how to open up anymore. You've changed, Cloud."

_You've changed too. _The words were on the tip of his tongue. _You could probably save yourself better than I could save you. _Thinking about Tifa always made him feel a little bit pathetic. Here he was, with fresh mako enhancements, and all the strength he'd ever wanted, complaining about how little he could do while Tifa soldiered on, fighting off monsters with nothing but her bare hands and a little bit of skill, and the occasional bladed claws attached to her gloves. He couldn't even resist Hojo for a month—she'd spent her five years travelling across the entire world to a city she'd never even dreamed of seeing before, joining AVALANCHE and fighting Shinra all the way, and all while making a name for herself in one of Midgar's roughest slums—all while he wallowed in a vat of mako barely able to muster enough consciousness to scrawl on the walls. Nibelheim had been her whole world, and that quaint little mountain town could fit in Sector Seven's slums with room to spare, but somehow she took to Midgar better than he ever did.

_You should have been the one to try to be a hero, _he almost told her. _You might have succeeded. _

But he couldn't say that, and even if he did, it wouldn't have changed the heart of the matter. He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have said something. I know. It won't happen again."

Tifa stared at him for a moment, then sighed, with a finality that signaled the conversation was coming to an end. "Okay," she said, raising her eyes to meet his. She unfolded her arms, resting her hands on her hips. "Apology accepted, Cloud." _For now, _her eyes seemed to say. "Did you want to talk about anything else?"

He thought there were a million other things he could have said, and maybe someone better at talking than him would have known how to say them. But it was all he could do to stand there, hoping that he didn't look too confused, and hoping at the same time that he didn't look too aloof. He took a deep breath, deciding that he might as well try. "I—," he began.

The sound of a helicopter whirring overhead made him stop, the words dying in his throat. He glanced out at the window as the sound neared, then hurried over to it. Tifa followed close at his heels, their earlier discussion forgotten as Cloud parted the blinds with a finger, peering out into the street.

It was a white helicopter, beginning its descent into the town square.

Rufus Shinra had arrived.

XxXxX

The President's arrival sent the whole house into a flurry of activity.

Sephiroth made it downstairs into the kitchen with Cissnei following close behind him, just in time to hear Barret pound loudly on the kitchen counter and yell at everyone to quiet down before they blew their cover. He shot the loud gunman a glare, then ordered Nanaki to keep watch on the front door of the house, keeping Cloud, Zack, and Kunsel posted in the room in case a battle became necessary. He left Kunsel with instructions to take Aerith upstairs quickly if things went to hell, then settled down to watch as Cid ran out of the house. Cissnei and Vincent had taken up places by the kitchen windows, Sephiroth saw, one to each side and both angled just well enough to see outside without being seen themselves. Both had weapons in their hands.

"Why can't I see out too?!" whined Yuffie, her voice loud and shrill. Zack put a hand over her mouth to quiet her and cursed when she bit his fingers. He glared at both of them. Zack returned it with an injured look as he shook out his right hand. He thought Yuffie looked quite pleased with herself, actually. Cloud and Tifa filtered in sometime after that, neither of them really looking at each other as they took up places near the back of the room.

At Cissnei's suggestion (and a glare from Sephiroth to back her up), Cid had gone outside to await his house guests, standing with his back against the kitchen door as he watched the helicopter. From his vantage point, Sephiroth could barely see what was going on outside, but he could hear everything just fine. The others quieted down at a glance, and Sephiroth kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, watching from his skewed viewpoint as a fat man in a brown suit waddled out of the helicopter. He didn't need to see well to know who this was.

Palmer.

"Hey-hey!" said Palmer cheerfully, his voice ringing out through the kitchen. "Long time no see! So Cid, how ya been?"

"Well, if it ain't fat man Palmer," said Cid, walking up to him. "How long were you figurin' on keepin' me waitin'?!" Even from here, he could hear the excitement in Cid's voice. He glanced around at the others, and was pleased to see that they were all on the alert. "So? When's the Space Program gonna start up again?"

"Hey-hey!" said Palmer again. "I don't know. The President's here, so why don't you ask him?"

" #%&," swore Cid. "Good for nothing fat ^*&$&#)%!"

Sephiroth tilted his head slightly to the side to get a better view, watching as Cid shoved his way past Palmer and walked over to the white helicopter. He immediately pulled his head back, catching sight of a figure in a dark suit standing just over the President's shoulder and watching the house. It was the woman, a slight blond girl that seemed dwarfed by her suit. Elena, he remembered. From the looks of things, Vincent and Cissnei had noticed her too. Cissnei gave Vincent a look as the other ex-Turk moved his hand to his gun, a look that made Vincent raise his eyebrow but relax slightly, the gun sliding a few inches back into its holster.

_No one of consequence, _Cissnei's expression seemed to say. _Rookie. _

The choice of bodyguard made Sephiroth wonder about Tseng's motives as well. The last time he had seen Elena, she seemed too green to be entrusted with the President's safety alone. The only explanation he could think of was that this was not the original plan, but that whoever had been sent with her as back-up was currently dealing with the situation in the town. He had infantrymen with him as well, so it was clear that he wasn't completely defenseless, and if rumors were true, Rufus Shinra was also a decent shot with a gun.

That, or it was a trap.

Rufus said something too softly for Sephiroth to hear, but there was no mistaking Cid's response. "What the—!" he exclaimed. "You got me all excited for nothing?! Then, what did you come here for?"

"I wanted to borrow the _Tiny Bronco_." Rufus's voice was loud and clear this time around, the rest of the room going deathly silent as they gathered around the window to listen. "Today's situation changes things. We'll need to track down Genesis and Jenova, but it seems like we've been going in the wrong direction. Now, however, we think we know where they're headed. But we have to cross the ocean. That's why we want your plane."

Sephiroth tensed. From across the room, Cissnei met his eyes, and he knew they shared the same thought. _The Temple of the Ancients. _

"Fuck that!" said Cid. "First the airship, then the rocket, and now the _Tiny Bronco_. Shinra took outer space away from me, and now you want to take the sky away from me too?!"

"Oh my," said Rufus, his voice deceptively soft. "You seem to forget that it was because of Shinra that you were able to fly in the first place."

"_What_?!" demanded Cid.

His attention was drawn away from the President's response when Shera poked her head into the room, her fingers curled around the edge of the door that led into the rest of the house. "Um, excuse me," she said, causing them to look up. Her eyes met Sephiroth's. "You wanted to use the _Tiny Bronco_, right? I believe Palmer's going to take it. Why don't you talk to him?"

Talk. Not likely. But Cissnei glanced back at him at the words, holding up two fingers. He understood. Two outside, the rest on standby if need be. He pointed at Kunsel and Zack, then pointed at the door. The two nodded, hurrying to the back door. Sephiroth moved to follow, pausing only to watch as Cissnei signaled for Vincent to stay behind. Nanaki joined them in the living room as they clustered around the backdoor, listening as Kunsel and Zack left the room.

As soon as the door opened, Palmer's voice was clearly audible. "Why do I have to do this?" he whined. "I'm the head of the Space Program…"

"Yeah, not anymore, pal," said Zack, striding over to the _Tiny Bronco. _

"We'll be taking that plane," said Kunsel from behind him, drawing his sword.

Palmer jumped as he saw them, nearly falling off the top of the plane. "I've seen you two before…" he said. His eyes widened in recognition, and his face went white as a sheet. "The—The Shinra building!" he said. "The night the President was killed. You were with Se—Seph—_Sephiroth!" _

The last came out in a squeak as Sephiroth stepped out from the door, just enough to be visible. Palmer scrambled back so quickly that his foot slid out from under him, and he tumbled from the top of the _Tiny Bronco _onto the ground. The fat man scrambled to his feet, running across the yard frantically. "Security!" he shouted as he ran. "Security!"

All hell broke loose in the front of the house. Sephiroth heard the sound of running feet, followed by a single gunshot that could only have come from Vincent Valentine. The others clustered in the doorway behind him. Someone—Yuffie, he thought—crashed into him, her hands slamming into the small of his back as she ran for the door.

"Shit," swore Barret.

"So much for stealthy," remarked Zack, placing the Buster Sword back on his back.

"Go." That voice was Vincent's, the tone deep and commanding. "Go now. They're coming."

He moved aside, hurrying out into the garden to let the flood of people through. Looking back, he saw that Vincent, Nanaki, Cloud and Tifa were carrying all of their things between them, their packs having been moved down into the living room in case of an abrupt departure. From behind him, he heard the sound of the _Tiny Bronco _roaring to life. Cissnei immediately darted past him, jumping nimbly from the ground to the wing and up into the cockpit. She slipped into the chair, her hands grasping at the controls. A moment later, he heard her swear.

"It won't shut off!" she said.

"Forget it!" growled Barret. He ran forward, grabbing two of the packs from Tifa with his human hand and flinging them into the cockpit before running at the plane. "Everyone in!"

They didn't hesitate to obey, scrambling towards the plane. Vincent fired two more shots at pursuing SOLDIERs—Second Class, Sephiroth saw, judging by their uniforms—and moved aside to let Nanaki run past. Sephiroth let the creature jump into the cockpit. Zack and Aerith huddled on one wing of the plane, one of Zack's arms wrapped around her as he held onto the bars with the other. Cloud was holding onto Tifa's hand, pulling her up, and Yuffie was running for the plane as it began to move away, the propeller starting up and moving it forward.

Sephiroth ran forward, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and hurling her bodily towards the aircraft. Kunsel caught her as she shrieked, and Sephiroth soon followed, jumping and landing crouched on the other wing. Behind them, Vincent fired one last shot before jumping as well, landing just behind the cockpit in a rustle of red fabric. And then the plane was in the air, the ground falling away beneath them. Cissnei sat in the pilot's seat, her hands on the controls as she flipped several of the switches to her left.

"Hold on," she said, sweeping the plane around the side of the house. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Sephiroth did so, hanging on to the wing with one hand as he looked down at the scene below him. Rufus stood outside of the house with his guards, Elena of the Turks, and Cid, all of them watching with varying degrees of shock and anger on their faces as the plane whizzed by.

"Heads down," said Vincent, raising his gun as the infantrymen prepared to shoot. The sound of gunfire soon followed. Cissnei's brow furrowed in concentration, and she ducked her head, the plane swerving as gunfire echoed through the streets and bullets whizzed past the cockpit. Inside the cockpit, Nanaki, Cloud and Tifa huddled together, heads down. Yuffie shrieked. On the wing next to him, Barret began returning fire, and Zack sheltered Aerith with his body as she clasped her hands together, mumbling under her breath. Flames erupted from the ground below them, startling their pursuers and driving them back.

Cissnei swerved back around through the street, and it was then that Sephiroth saw Cid Highwind keeping pace with the plane, leaping into the air after them. He shifted, moving slightly to the side and holding out a hand. Cid's hand caught his mid-air, clasping his forearm, and Sephiroth drew the pilot up onto the wing beside him. Unsurprisingly, Cid's first word was a curse as he grabbed onto the wing with both hands, shielding his eyes from the wind. So was his second.

"Shit!" he shouted. And then. "Fuck! Damn! Where the fuck are you flyin' this thing?!"

"Make for the ocean," suggested Vincent, raising his gun again. Quicksilver fired, and one of the infantrymen went down.

"That's the plan," said Cissnei, holding onto the controls. "Hold on!"

He turned his face into the wing, about to do just that, when a shout from Tifa made Sephiroth turn around. The martial artist was half-leaning out of the cockpit, pointing down at something in the streets. A dark-haired girl, running on the rooftops after the plane, her hair in her face and breathing heavily. Gunfire sounded after her in the streets, but her eyes were fixed on the plane.

Blaire, he knew.

The infantrymen weren't going to stop shooting. He saw her stumble and duck, her eyes wide as a bullet whizzed past her head. She covered her head with her hands, staring after them. A sudden shock of impact jarred the plane, and Sephiroth held on as he was suddenly thrown into the wing.

"Shit!" Cid swore again from beside him. "The tail's been hit!"

"Blaire!" shouted Aerith, her eyes wide as the girl stumbled again, the plane moving above her head.

Sephiroth looked from one to another. Making his decision, he let go of the wing, his own wing unfurling behind him in a scatter of black feathers as he dropped away from the plane. He swooped down over the streets, scooping the girl up in his arms and swerving around a barrage of gunfire. He hurried after the flagging plane. The ground began to fall away below them, giving way to the coast and to blue water.

Something exploded behind him.

The blast missed them, but the shockwave sent them tumbling end over end through the air. Sephiroth's grip tightened on the girl as she struggled, the ocean coming up to meet them. One moment, he could see the plane soaring overhead, the next, he could feel the sea spray.

There was a splash, then a feeling of cold as the ocean swallowed them whole.

**END FILE**


	99. File 029: Thieves in the Night pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **So, this entire chapter is a Sephiroth POV, and is _kind of _focused on Blaire, but I promise that she won't take over the story, except for what Sephiroth's interactions with her do to his character. And I'm sure you all can guess where this is going. ^^

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne, Furionknight, Isayan, Leon Kaye, SubZeroChimera, SpiritDreamWarriors, Riku Uzumaki **and **The Darkness Factor **for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **yep, sadly, just like in the canon, Cloud and Tifa are going to take a while. *sigh* And Cloud can't spit anything out. And Barret does not understand quiet. XD

**Eavenne, **actually, I don't think I'll be censoring as much now. The story is rated T after all, so some cursing is allowed, and Cid's potty mouth is canon.

**Leon Kaye, **all in due time. All in due time~ And yes, I will include Cid's profanity when it fits the scene (and when it doesn't).

XxXxX

**File 029: Thieves in the Night**

Blaire came up spluttering and thrashing.

Sephiroth held onto her as she began to panic, the two of them bobbing up and down on the surface of the ocean. He closed his eyes as one of her hands flung salt water into his face, his grip tightening on her as she slammed a fist into his shoulder and tried to twist away.

"I can't swim!" she gasped, coughing as she swallowed water. "I can't—!"

"Blaire." He turned her to face him. She whimpered, turning away and continuing to thrash. Sephiroth grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slowly but firmly to get her attention. "_Stop moving_," he said, employing the same tone he used to deal with nervous recruits. It had about the same effect. She froze at once, her eyes wide and her face pale. "You'll only sink faster that way. Hold still. You'll float."

She sucked in a terrified breath, but held still, keeping a white-knuckled grip on his coat. Sephiroth waited for a few moments, letting her get accustomed to the movement of the ocean. As he did, he took inventory of their situation, scanning the sea around them for the plane. He was sure he had seen it going down, but anything could have happened in those last few moments. His wing hung behind him, wet and bedraggled. It felt heavy from the weight of the water seeping into it. He flexed it, pulling it out of the water with some effort and scattering water droplets behind him.

When he felt Blaire start to relax, he shifted his grip on her, holding onto her with one arm and considering his options. Rocket Town was closed to them. The others would know that too. That meant moving forward. He looked west, toward where the sun was setting. From his point of view, he saw only ocean on the horizon, but he knew that there was land out there somewhere. The difficulty would be getting to it. Making his decision, he tightened his hold on Blaire, flapping his wing once and propelling the both of them out of the water and into the air. Even following the sun, it was dark by the time they came across the rest of their party, the carcass of the _Tiny Bronco _floating just offshore of a beach. The others had made a small fire and sat around it, all dripping wet and showing varying degrees of concern and irritation. Sephiroth landed on the beach with a _plop_, the weight of his wet coat and feathers dragging him down, and deposited Blaire onto the sand next to the fire. He didn't sit, preferring to stand as the girl scrambled up into a seat, accepting the blanket that someone handed her. She raised her eyes to him, then looked away as his own eyes narrowed at her.

"What possessed you to try a stunt like that?" he asked.

Her face flushed, and she looked away. Sephiroth was aware of everyone's eyes on him, but at the moment, he didn't particularly care. He kept his eyes on the girl, folding his arms as she nudged at the sand with her foot.

"I didn't want to be left behind," she said. "So, I—I…"

"You could have been killed."

She lowered her eyes to the ground, saying nothing. Her lips clamped shut, her eyes squeezing closed as she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. The motion loosened the wristband on her right arm, allowing the letters VII to peek out from underneath. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it anymore, but she was ten years old. He decided she didn't get to make that call.

"You can't go back now. I hope you know that," he said. He waited for her to speak. When she said nothing, he continued on. "You'll do camp chores like everyone else. I don't expect to hear any complaints. Understood?"

She nodded, her eyes still on the fire. As Sephiroth watched, she pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders, saying nothing. Perhaps it was how miserable she looked sitting there, her sodden hair tangled around her face and her hands shaking, but he felt a little bit of his irritation start to ebb. Not all of it, though. What she had done had still been incredibly foolish, and he wasn't about to let that go so easily. "Sit and warm up," he told her as he turned away, facing the group. They stood clustered around the fire, watching him. All of them looked drenched from the crash, although some were dryer and less miserable than most. Yuffie in particular sat curled up on a rock nearest the fire, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes on the ground. For once, she looked almost thoughtful, and didn't say anything as he approached. She barely seemed to be aware of him at all. That made him suspicious, but he ignored it for now. There were more important things.

"What happened?" he asked.

"The fucking plane fell out of the fucking sky. What do you _think _happened, genius?" asked Cid, glaring at him. He had a sodden cigarette between his teeth, and from the looks of things, had been trying to light it for a long time. Sephiroth frowned, but said nothing, his eyes drifting towards Cissnei.

"One of their missiles caught us in the tail," she said. "The plane won't fly, but the engines still work. It floats. We managed to drive it over here."

"Any injuries?" he asked.

Cissnei shrugged. "A few bruises here and there, nothing serious," she said. "Yuffie got seasick. The _Tiny Bronco _still floats, so we can use it as a boat if we have to. It's not _ideal_, but…" She trailed off, gesturing with her hand. He nodded.

"So," said Zack, looking up from where he sat on the sands. "What now?"

"First we gotta figure out where the hell we are," grumbled Barret from where he sat. He had unclasped his gun arm and set it aside, draining the water out of it. Cid snorted from the other side of the fire.

"That ain't too hard," he said.

Vincent nodded. "There's only one land mass west of Rocket Town," he said.

Sephiroth, Kunsel, and Zack exchanged glances. The other two ex-SOLDIERs wore grim expressions, but it was clear that all knew exactly where they were. In the distance, a familiar set of mountains dominated the skyline, with nothing but ocean to the east. The air this time of year was warm and humid, and although the sea breeze was refreshing, Sephiroth could still recall many nights spent sweltering in the summer heat, swatting at mosquitoes and flies. There weren't any soldiers or signs of battle anymore, but the memories remained.

It was Yuffie who spoke, looking up from where she sat. "Wutai," she said. She didn't sound as excited as he thought she might have been at the prospect, but it wasn't his place to wonder why.

"You're familiar with this place?" he asked.

Yuffie snorted, pushing herself off her rock. "Of course I am," she said, pointing at the mountains. "If we go through there, we'll hit the capital city. Two or three days, if we take the pass. I know the way."

"Lead us there," said Sephiroth. He looked at the others. "We'll replenish our supplies in Wutai and find transportation back to the mainland. From there…" From there what? Barret wanted to go to Midgar, that much was clear, but he couldn't ignore the clear threat that Jenova posed earlier. A question for another day. He put the thought aside, focusing on immediate concerns. "We leave tomorrow," he said. "Get some rest."

Yuffie frowned at him, her expression unreadable. For once, she didn't question his orders or attempt to argue. Instead, she simply nodded, then turned around and curled up next to the fire, going to sleep.

The next day dawned overcast and dismal. Sephiroth let Kunsel and Zack deal with the remnants of the fire, sending Blaire out with Tifa to find fresh water. He let Cid and Barret deal with moving the plane somewhere more protected, choosing to keep Blaire and Cid as far apart as possible. The last thing he needed was a foulmouthed ten-year-old. Blaire took to her tasks without complaint as promised, although she refused to meet his eyes. By midmorning, the marks of their presence were as hidden as they were ever going to be, and they set out through the woods with Yuffie as their guide.

The ninja was significantly livelier this morning, although her smiles never seemed to meet her eyes. She moved ahead of the rest of the group, occasionally pointing out some flora or fauna to one of the others or spouting some local trivia. He glanced away from her, looking over at Blaire. The girl walked along the mountain pass, seeming to disappear between Vincent and Nanaki. When she saw him looking, she quickly turned away, her eyes downcast.

Sephiroth saw her again at lunch, when he took some time for himself to train. He stood in a clearing in the woods, Masamune in hand and flashing in the sunlight as he went through his katas, one after another. The katas were simple enough things, increasing in complexity with each number, and built for regular katanas instead of a sword of Masamune's length, but they were some of the first things he had learned, and when pressed for training ideas, he still reverted to them, perfecting each movement until his sword was an extension of his arm, moving fluidly from one to the next. He was finishing up the fifty-ninth form when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Sephiroth turned and saw her there, standing next to a tree and staring at him in rapt attention. She stared, wide-eyed, at the sword in his hand. As soon as he stepped towards her, however, her attention turned back towards him. Her mouth opened, as though she wanted to say something, but she quickly changed her mind, snapping it shut again. As he moved towards her, she turned and ran.

It was Aerith who first brought it up. He'd just finished giving her a staff lesson, and the sun was starting to set. The two of them stood, staves in hand, and Aerith leaned on hers as she took a drink of water. "You need to do something about Blaire," she said, glancing over at the girl. Sephiroth followed her eyes. Blaire sat near what would soon be the fire, listening as Barret explained how to make it, but she fiddled with her hands, seeming listless. He looked back at Aerith.

"I've done what I can," he said. "I can't bring her back to Rocket Town."

Aerith shook her head. "That's not what I mean," she said. "I mean…you should talk to her or something. She really looks up to you."

Sephiroth frowned. "I don't understand why," he said. "I haven't done anything to her."

"You saved her," said Aerith, "Her and her brother. And you know what she's been through. Think about how it was for her. She doesn't have any family left but Allen, and he's been unresponsive this whole time. And now she's out here alone. You're the closest thing to family she has right now."

There was a look in Aerith's eye that he didn't quite understand. It took him a moment to realize what it was, and what Aerith was hinting at. Sephiroth shook his head. "No," he said, handing the practice staff back to her. "This isn't the same. This isn't Elmyra Gainsborough finding you on a train platform, or Barret taking in his best friend's daughter. I'm in no position to care for a child."

"My mom wasn't, when she took me in," said Aerith. "And I'm sure Barret still doesn't feel like parent material. But that didn't stop them."

"Neither of them were raised by Shinra," said Sephiroth. "I train soldiers, not children." _And I refuse to make a soldier out of a child. _Even if, _especially if _that child had mako eyes and had come out of Hojo's lab. His mind presented him with the image of Blaire, standing there and watching as he trained. Her eyes had been transfixed on Masamune, and he knew what she wanted. Or at least, what she thought she wanted.

"I'm not saying you need to adopt her, or even train her," said Aerith, frowning at him. "But you do need to pay _some _attention to her. She just wants to feel _useful, _Sephiroth. Like she's in control of something for once."

"She's ten."

"And for five years, she's had no choice. No control. Nothing. She couldn't even be in charge of her own _mind_." Aerith turned towards him. "I know why you wanted to leave her in Rocket Town. _I _wanted to leave her in Rocket Town. But you know why she followed you."

_Because she thinks I can teach her how to fight. _It wasn't the first time the thought had occurred to him. He remembered the look in Blaire's eyes, when she spoke of Hojo and Jenova. She wanted vengeance, somehow, and in her young mind, strength was probably the only way to attain that. Those, at least, were thoughts he could understand. In her position, he pursued strength because it was what was expected of him. But he understood being afraid as a child, and now, as an adult, he understood being angry.

Ten wasn't too young to learn to fight, but it was, he decided,too young to learn to kill. If he trained Blaire, he didn't know whether or not he could make that distinction. _I should send her back, _he thought, remembering how he had felt as an adult, understanding finally what Hojo had done to him. _I should find a place for her somewhere, here, or in Midgar, or with one of Cissnei's contacts. _She should be allowed to grow up somewhere where she had a choice, with someone who could give her that.

He should have, but instead he found himself telling Aerith he would think about it, and walking back to camp. Blaire was nowhere in sight, but he found Cloud, Zack, Kunsel, Barret, and Cid engaged in some sort of dice game. Cid was apparently winning, from the grin on his face. From the sound of it, he cursed when he won as well. Cloud and Zack looked up as he approached, Zack with a slightly questioning expression on his face.

"We're finished for now," said Sephiroth, turning towards Zack. "She says she'll clean up before she comes back."

Zack nodded, turning back to his game. Sephiroth looked around, scanning the group. Besides the others here, Vincent sat alone, Tifa and Cissnei sat together, and Nanaki lay by the fire, occasionally joining in Cissnei and Tifa's conversation. He counted them off in his head. "Where's Yuffie?"

Cid shrugged. "Brat ran off somewhere," he said, rolling the dice again.

"She said she'd be back," clarified Kunsel. "Scouting ahead."

Sephiroth nodded, about to ask after Blaire when something caught his eye. The group's packs were piled outside of their tents—six tents, with two people each. For the moment, Blaire shared a tent with Tifa and Aerith, but that wasn't what had caught his eye. There was a sword hilt sticking out of one of the packs, peeking out from under the flap. Cloud's.

"What's this?" asked Sephiroth, walking over to it.

"I got it in Rocket Town," said Cloud. "An old man gave it to me for listening to his story. It's a good blade, but I don't use katanas."

He frowned, reaching for the hilt. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Cloud shrugged, gesturing at it. "Go for it," he said, going back to his game.

Sephiroth pulled the katana out of the pack. It came with a sheath and a sword belt. He gathered up the belt loosely in one hand, holding onto the hilt. He tugged lightly, pulling the blade out of its sheath. Sephiroth turned the blade, inspecting it. Sunlight rippled off of the katana's sharp edge, highlighting the folding in the steel. He tested its balance, slicing once or twice through the air. The sword moved, cutting with ease. The blade was perfectly balanced, and with his strength, it felt light as a feather. He turned it over, noticing two Materia slots near the hilt. The sword's name was also engraved there, in two kanji characters.

_Yoshiyuki. _

Luck on one side, action on the other.

He gave the blade a final slash through the air out of habit, clearing it, then slid it back into its sheath. It had been so long since he had last used a standard katana, but his fingers remembered the movements. He lowered the sword and sword belt to his side, looking over at Cloud.

"Can I buy it from you?" he asked.

Cloud blinked, looking up. "You can have it," he said. "If you think you can use it."

"I'll pay you back for it someday then," he said, walking away.

It didn't take him long to find Blaire. At his direction, she hadn't gone far from camp, although she did pick a slightly secluded clearing a little bit away from where they were set up. He didn't fail to note the similarity between this place and the place he had trained earlier that day, a small clearing in the woods. She had a frustrated expression on her face and a stick in her hand, about the same relative length to her as Masamune was to him. He watched as she moved, clumsily trying to copy the first few movements of the kata he had performed.

Her movements were raw and unrefined, but there was strength in there, strength from the mako she had been enhanced with. The stick whistled as it cut through the air, but every movement carried over too far, every movement forced her to correct her balance, and every movement threatened to send her falling over. He'd seen it before, in a lot of new SOLDIER recruits. He'd seen it in a lot of old ones. An overreliance on strength in place of skill. And why not? Strength came easily to a SOLDIER, skill was hard. The straight-edged standard issue swords favored by most SOLDIER recruits were forgiving. They didn't care, so long as they could cut.

Katanas were less so.

He stepped forward, sheathed sword in hand. At the sight of him, Blaire froze, turning towards him with wide eyes and a mortified expression on her face. Her grip loosened on her stick. She said nothing, continuing to watch him as he walked over. She had the same look about her as a frightened animal, one that could bolt at any time. He studied her, but didn't say anything until he reached her. At last, his eyes dropped to the stick in her right hand.

"That's a stick," he told her. "Not a sword."

She glanced away for a moment, looking embarrassed, but then her grip tightened on her wooden stick and she looked back up at him. "I don't have a sword," she said.

He handed her Yoshiyuki, holding the sword out by its sheath.

"You do now."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	100. File 029: Thieves in the Night pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **ONE HUNDRED CHAPTERS! And we're closing in on 1,000 reviews too! Thanks so much for helping this story get this far! I couldn't have done it without all of you! I'm also super happy that the hundredth chapter contains a scene I've been planning to write for a long time. Hope you all enjoy it ^^ (No, it's not the Sephissnei kiss, sorry.)

Thanks go to **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, SubZeroChimera, The Darkness Factor, Isayan, JazzQueen, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, Irish-Brigid, ryuukoshi, Riku Uzumaki, Draconic **and **Eavenne **for your reviews and support! For everyone wondering what happened to Allen, I promise I'll mention him when the group gets a break. For now, just know he's with Shera in Rocket Town. He's not going to do much in this file, but this isn't the last we'll see of him. I'm glad you liked Sephiroth's POV. This chapter is all Yuffie.

XxXxX

**File 029: Thieves in the Night**

Yuffie felt sick.

_Seasickness, _she tried to tell herself as she walked on ahead of the group, forcing a smile on her face and waving at them to hurry up. Her stomach churned uncomfortably, and she wondered whether or not she would end up losing her breakfast. _It's just seasickness, that's all. It doesn't mean anything. _Sure it had been over 24 hours since they were out on the water, but hey, who was to say that seasickness couldn't affect her after that much time? It certainly couldn't mean she was feeling guilty, or having second thoughts, or anything like that. No, not at all.

She folded her arms, taking a deep breath to settle her stomach as she led the group through the pass. The mountains of her homeland stood to either side of her, watching her, judging her, although she couldn't tell whether they wanted her to succeed or fail. The thought was so startling that for a moment, she had to stop. Of _course _they wanted her to succeed! What was she thinking? It wasn't like there was anything _wrong_ in what she was doing, and anyway, hadn't that been the plan from the beginning? Hadn't this been the only reason why she had traveled this far? Besides, it wasn't like she was leaving them _defenseless_—half the people in their group barely _used _Materia and Aerith…it wasn't like everyone wasn't falling all over themselves to protect her anyway.

Her stomach churned and she dropped her eyes, thinking of the way they had all fought together on the Junon cargo ship, and then hanging out later with everyone in Costa del Sol. Even in Cosmo Canyon, she, Cissnei, and Tifa had managed to have a good time, and in Nibelheim—

In Nibelheim she had even fought _alongside _Sephiroth, without even realizing it. For a little while, she'd almost forgotten the plan, almost forgotten that she wasn't supposed to be part of this, that she wasn't _here _because she wanted to fight Jenova, or bring down Shinra, or—or try to do something crazy like saving the world. _No, _she told herself, inwardly shaking her head since she couldn't do it on the outside. _No, that was all part of the plan. Come on, Yuffie, you're so close! You can't fail now! _

Wutai needed her, and what kind of princess would she be if she let her country down for the sake of a bunch of foreigners. _SOLDIER _foreigners! She might as well go back and join her father, start rubbing elbows with Rufus Shinra.

Yuck. The thought nearly made her want to throw up in her mouth.

A hand landed on her shoulder, making her jump. Yuffie whirled around, clamping her lips down on the squeak that threatened to escape her. Kunsel stood behind her, his brow creasing slightly in concern as he looked into her eyes. "You alright?" he asked, his hand falling away from her. "You've been really quiet lately."

She resisted the urge to shove him, looking behind him. The others were clustered around, walking in a ragged line up the mountain roads. As usual, Cloud, Tifa, and Zack—the resident country hicks—were in the lead or close to it. Sephiroth lingered in the middle of the group, walking next to Cissnei and keeping an eye on Blaire as she jogged up to the edge of the road, peering down at the rolling cliffs below them. She nearly stumbled as her katana knocked into her knees. The sword was a little too long for her, but she'd taken to wearing it around her waist to get used to it, causing her to bump into just about everything. She even _slept _with the sword next to her.

_A mini-Sephiroth in the making, _thought Yuffie with a slightly derisive snort, resting her hand on her waist and looking over at Kunsel. She'd need to be very careful with how she acted here, she knew. They trusted her, which was going to make what had to happen that much easier, but if Cissy or Vinnie caught wind of what she was doing, it would be over before it even began. It was just dumb luck that led them here, and a happy coincidence that made Sephiroth decide that she could lead the way, and by Leviathan, she wasn't going to waste this chance.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said, a little too chirpily as she turned towards Kunsel. "Just thinking about Wutai. You guys'll love sushi, I just know it."

Kunsel's eyes followed the track hers had just made over the group. Vincent was standing just a little behind Sephiroth and Cissnei, and they immediately landed on him. His eyes widened in what might have been understanding, and he grinned. Yuffie rolled her eyes, tugging her pack up her shoulder. Let him think she was into Vincent, it saved her the trouble of having to come up with an excuse. Not that the 'vampire' wasn't easy on the eyes, but if she really thought about it, so was Sephiroth, and if he was burning in the desert and she had a glass of water, she'd drink it.

_You didn't hesitate to help him out in Nibelheim. _

The thought came unbidden into her mind, and she clenched her right fist, her nails digging into her palm. Suddenly, she was feeling very irritated, at everything. "Don't give me that look," she snapped at Kunsel. "Sheesh, it's not like you know everything."

"I didn't say anything," said Kunsel, still smiling as she looked away. "I mean, it's not like you were trying to sit next to him at dinner last night or anything."

"Oh, like you're one to talk?" Yuffie sniffed. "Don't pretend you weren't checking out that girl in Costa del Sol."

"I keep telling you," said Kunsel, "She dropped her groceries and I was helping her pick them up."

"Yeah, right," said Yuffie, giving him a sly look. "And the fact that her top was coming undone didn't mean anything." Kunsel flushed, but Yuffie wasn't done. "And like I don't know you have a thing for _Shalua_," she said, drawing out the name. "Heard anything from her lately, lover boy?"

The hand farthest away from her made a gesture that looked suspiciously like someone putting away their phone. "That's none of your business," he said.

"Sure it isn't, Kunsie," said Yuffie. She smirked, wagging her fingers at him. "I'm gonna go check out what's ahead. Smell ya later!"

She jogged ahead before he could protest, leaping nimbly over a pair of boulders in her path and scrambling up the rest of the pass. Once she was far enough away from the others, she paused, taking a moment to think under the pretext of scanning the valley ahead for any dangers. Zack had been coming up to them, and she didn't think she could take anymore playful ribbing, especially not if Zack were going to join in. That was something friends did, and princesses didn't have friends, especially not friends that had fought a war against her country not much longer than seven years ago.

_They're all the same, _she told herself. _Zack, Kunsel, Sephiroth, they're all just as bad._

Her hand passed over the pouch at her waist, filled with the leaves she had collected yesterday. She eyed the setting sun, the collection of caves set into the mountainside. They were almost there, and there wouldn't be a much better time than this. It was all for Wutai.

All for Wutai.

She exhaled, her dark eyes setting in determination. Yuffie stuffed her hands in her pockets, mostly to keep them from shaking. Princesses might have gotten scared, princesses might have had shaking hands, second thoughts, but she wasn't a princess tonight. Tonight, she was a ninja of Wutai.

She turned around, putting a grin on her face as the members of their party crested the hill, beginning to walk towards her. Yuffie waved them over, pointing at the caves on the mountainside. "I think we should stop here," she said, turning towards Sephiroth. She pointed at the caves. "The caves'll keep the rain off, and the next part of the pass gets really nasty at night."

Yuffie met the SOLDIER's eyes as he frowned at her, resisting the urge to look away. This was the lynchpin that held her plan together. If Sephiroth said no, if she insisted that they keep walking, then she would be screwed. It had rained almost every night since they had entered the mountains, which meant that everyone was sleeping in tents instead of out under the stars like they used to. And everyone sleeping in their own tents meant tighter spaces and more security, both enemies of an ambitious thief. The caves in this part of the mountain would provide shelter from the rain, and give everyone an excuse to huddle up together and put all their bags in one place. But only if Sephiroth said yes. If he was on to her, if he said no…

He held her gaze for a moment, and Yuffie held her breath. Then, he nodded.

"Very well," he said. "We'll stop here for the night. Pick out a cave."

Yuffie grinned. "You got it," she said, racing down the mountainside. As she ran, she breathed a silent prayer of thanks to Leviathan.

"Oh, by the way!" she said, as she turned around to face the group. She patted her pouch. "I found some tea leaves on our walk over. When we get there, I'll put on a pot and make some tea!"

XxXxX

It wasn't hard to get everyone to drink the tea—definitely much easier than it should have been. Cid gulped his down—no surprises there—and loudly asked for a second cup, at which point she had to deny him. She made only just enough tea for everyone to have a cup each—she didn't want to _kill _anyone. Yuffie had been a little nervous with how much tea she could serve Blaire, but in the end, she decided on giving her a cup that was only slightly smaller than the adults'. The mako in her blood would lessen the effects—she hoped. Vincent had sipped at his and Cissnei, _thankfully_, had drank hers down. Even Sephiroth presented her with an empty cup.

After that, all she had to do was volunteer to take first watch and wait. The tea took a little while to take effect, just long enough for everyone to finish their conversations, yawn, and bed down for the night. Yuffie sat by the fire, her heart pounding so loud she was afraid everyone could hear it, listening as their breathing eventually evened out and the only sound left in the cave was the light rain that had begun to fall. She sat with her hands on her knees, glancing at her watch and counting down an hour. Once she was sure that everyone, even Sephiroth, was deeply asleep, she got up, slinging her pack off of her shoulder and moving around the group.

All of that planning considered, _getting _the Materia was the easy part. A lot of their stash was in the communal pile of baggage in one corner of the cave, and nobody really took much pains to hide it. She left them a little bit of that—just a little bit, enough to see Aerith through the wilderness at least, but pocketed the rest, slipping it into a lined pouch that muffled the sound of the orbs clinking together. The harder part was the Materia embedded in everyone's weapons, but she wouldn't be a ninja if she didn't know how to find the release mechanisms without moving the weapons around much. Cloud's Choco/Mog, Tifa's Shiva, Barret's Ifrit, and Kunsel's Ramuh all found their way into her sack, along with countless other Fires, Bolts and Ices, Restores and Seals, Exits and Aerith's All. It didn't surprise her that Red had a Sense, or that Zack had Cover, but Cissnei's Steal made her grin as she slid it into her pouch, pulling on the string to close it.

After some thought, she decided to leave Sephiroth's Masamune alone. Even in sleep, the ex-SOLDIER had one hand on it, and she didn't know if the drug would be effective enough to keep Sephiroth's paranoia down if she tried to pull his weapon out of his hand. It was a shame. The Masamune was a beautiful piece of Wutaiian swordsmithing, and it had six Materia slots, all of which were filled. She scowled at the thought that one of the best Wutaiian blades had ended up killing so many of her people, slipping the pouch into her pocket and making her way out of the cave. It was raining, but it wasn't raining that hard, and the rain would help mask the sounds of her exit. Behind her, everyone else continued to sleep on, and she felt a thrill of pride run through her at actually getting away with it.

That thrill vanished as she heard the sound of boots thumping on wet grass, and she froze. "What do you think you're doing?" asked a familiar deep voice.

Yuffie tensed, feeling a chill run up her spine. She looked over her shoulder to see Sephiroth standing there, Masamune in one hand. He didn't even look like he had just been sleeping—his eyes, as they landed on her, were as clear as if she were talking to him in the middle of the day. Her eyes widened. That was impossible. She'd seen him drink—or had she? Sephiroth had been out of her sight when she'd handed him the tea, and he gave her back an empty cup, but she didn't know whether or not he _drank _it.

Firelight flashed off the blade in his hand, and Yuffie swallowed hard. It was over now, she knew, feeling her shoulders begin to shake. She could run, but he'd cut her down before she even got far enough away. And if she screamed for help, it would wake the others. The knowledge that she was found out terrified her, but it also brought with it a reckless sense of courage, and her eyes narrowed. She turned to face him. She was the blood of Leviathan, and damn it, she wasn't going to _run_.

"I'm leaving," she said, tilting her chin up in challenge.

Sephiroth stared at her. As usual, she couldn't tell what was going through his mind. Reading his expression was like trying to read a stone wall. Her throat felt dry, and she resisted the urge to swallow, one hand closed protectively around the little sack of Materia. His eyes flicked towards it, just briefly. "With our Materia." It wasn't a question.

"It's for Wutai," she said, her eyes narrowing at him. "You don't understand! How could you, you—you—!" _You killed them all. _So many soldiers, so many of Wutai's finest samurai and ninjas and warriors, horsemen and spearmen, so many of them had met their ends on that blade. _And you let them do this to us. _She took a deep breath, still glaring at him. "They took away our Materia," she said. "And you're not going to stop me from giving that back!"

Sephiroth held her gaze. As Yuffie watched, he raised his sword, firelight flashing over the blade. Her breath caught in her throat. _This is it_, she thought. _This is how I die_. She forced herself to stare at him anyway, to watch, so that he would know what he was about to do. Her own hand reached for her shuriken.

But then his right hand came up, going not for the sword, but for the hilt. The Materia release.

Yuffie barely had a moment to comprehend what was going on when six glowing orbs tumbled out of Masamune's hilt, bouncing and skittering across the rocky ground between them. They were all different colors, green, yellow, blue, and even the red that she knew contained Odin, the Materia he'd taken from her in Nibelheim. Sephiroth said nothing to her, lowering his sword to his side. The six orbs winked at her like stars on the rocks, both an invitation and an accusation. Her hand twitched, but she didn't step towards them, instead her eyes fixed on Sephiroth. For a moment, it seemed like she couldn't speak. When she did, only one word escaped her.

"_Why?" _

"Because I wanted to," said Sephiroth, as if that was enough of an answer. Yuffie stared at him. The Materia spread on the ground between them continued to glow, but she made no move to pick them up. There was something in Sephiroth's eyes—but whether it was guilt or understanding or regret, she couldn't tell. Her throat felt tight, each word was an effort, but she managed them anyway.

"You think _six Materia _can make up for what you did?!" she asked.

He shrugged, a ripple of movement across his shoulders. His expression never changed. "It's a start."

Yuffie scowled at him, but shot forward, picking the Materia up off the ground. She held them in her hand, all six of them, torn between reaching for her pouch and flinging them back into Sephiroth's face. The rain picked up, lashing against them, and she could feel it starting to soak through her clothes, the fabric clinging to her skin. Through all of that, he watched her, his eyes boring into hers. Her fist tightened around the Materia.

"I'm really leaving," she said.

He nodded. "Go, then."

"I'm not coming back!"

"Take care."

She turned with a huff, slinging her pack back over her shoulder and walking away. Her hand closed tightly around the Materia in it, her other hand clinging to the pouch. The Materia jingled as she walked, the orbs scraping against each other. She looked back over her shoulder, but Sephiroth was turning away, slipping inside the cave. She turned again, blinking rain out of her eyes and disappearing into the pass, running until her lungs burned, but the ache in her chest wouldn't go away.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	101. File 029: Thieves in the Night pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **Alright, yes, you've caught me! Splitting the party is what I do when I don't like to have too many voices in one scene! XD Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Isayan, Furionknight, The Darkness Factor, Eavenne, Leon Kaye, SakiWatari, casey, SubZeroChimera, Riku Uzumaki **and **Draconic **for your reviews and support!

**JazzQueen, **I have that as my headcanon as well, although in Seph's case, it's more about genetics than culture. In Vincent's, it might be a little different (I partly subscribe to the fanon belief that Vinnie is half-Wutaiian.)

**Irish-Brigid, **yes, she is.

**SakiWatari, **because emotionally affecting people through writing stories about a game we all know and love is what I do in my free time. XD Or at least what I try to do.

**Draconic, **I don't think Yuffie felt guilty in the game, but I've been emphasizing the emotional aspect of their journey, so it's possible she might feel a little guilty now, especially since she's better integrated into the group? Anyway, I'm glad you like it! And I hope this story doesn't reach 1,000,000 words! I'd eventually like to write the ending I have planned for it, lol.

XxXxX

**File 029: Thieves in the Night**

Waking up was more difficult than usual that morning. Tifa felt like she was floating, and her eyelids felt heavy, making them difficult to open. She wondered briefly whether Cloud had ever woken her up for her watch, drifting in and out of sleep. The next time she woke up, she heard the sounds of others starting to get up as well, the rustle of fabric suggesting that people were going through their packs. She propped an arm under herself, ready to push herself up, but her bedroll was soft and warm, and she exhaled softly, slipping back into sleep.

The next time she woke up, it was to someone placing a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently awake. "Tifa," a voice called. "Tifa. Tifa…"

Tifa groaned, forcing her eyes open. She blinked sunlight out of her eyes, wincing at the sudden brightness. Her mind worked slowly, and she had to fight to take hold of the situation. Sunlight? Why was it daytime? Her watch was supposed to have been at midnight. The hand pushed at her shoulder again and Tifa turned over, looking up into Cissnei's eyes. The ex-Turk was visibly concerned, a fact that cut through the fog in Tifa's brain. She pushed herself off the ground, sitting up in one motion.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Our Materia's gone," said Cissnei, taking a step back. "Yours too, probably. Yuffie took them."

"_Yuffie_?!" repeated Tifa, springing to her feet. Once she was awake, she found out that what Cissnei said had been true. Her Materia, including the red orb that summoned Shiva, were gone, and Yuffie's pack was no longer where it had been last night. The space where the ninja's bedroll had been was empty. Her head spun, and she pressed a hand to it, taking a step back. The pieces suddenly came together. Yuffie, the tea, first watch…

"Yo, we got a problem!" grumbled Barret from the other side of the cave. It didn't take more than a glance at his face to know that he'd suffered a similar fate.

"Damn brat," snarled Cid, already reaching for his cigarettes. Aerith said nothing, staring at her staff forlornly as Zack sighed, scratching the back of his head and looking down at his Buster Sword.

"She took even the Materia in my armlet," said Nanaki, his eyes fixing on the band around his paw. Vincent checked his gun, his frown deepening slightly as he slid it back into its holster. From across from her, Kunsel wasn't saying anything, solemnly looking over his armlet, pack, and sword even as Cloud scowled and ran his fingers over the Force Stealer's hilt. Even Blaire's seemed upset, staring down at her newly acquired sword. Only Sephiroth didn't seem that distressed. He stood with his hand on Masamune, watching the proceedings with the air of a man who was more bemused and curious than upset. Tifa glanced at him, but didn't have time to process that fully. The full weight of what had happened was still sinking in.

"Dammit!" said Zack, straightening up. "She did it again!"

"Again?!" asked Cid, turning towards him. "This ain't the first time?"

Some of the others exchanged glances. "She took Zack's wallet," Kunsel finally offered. "The first time they met."

"And you let the brat come with you?!" asked Cid, incredulous. "What kind of idiots are you? Fuck!"

Blaire winced from where she stood, and Barret glared at Cid. "Hey! Watch your mouth! There're kids here!"

"And that's another thing!" said Cid, wheeling around to point at Blaire. "Why the _fuck _are there brats out here? I thought you were leaving them with Shera!"

Barret strode forward, glaring at the captain. "I thought I said 'watch your mouth'!" he said.

"Oh yeah?" asked Cid, stepping forward to meet him. "%()#ing make me, #$(%*#!"

"Shut up!" snarled Barret, grabbing Cid by the jacket with his human hand. Cid didn't seem fazed by the glare in the gunman's eyes, because he grabbed Barret by the wrist, glaring down at him.

"You shut up!"

"Both of you, be quiet!" said Cissnei. Her voice was quickly drowned out by the two of them as they began to argue with each other.

Sephiroth stepped forward, reaching out with his fist and rapping both of them on the head. Tifa winced as she heard the sound. Both of them sprang apart, pressing their hands to their heads and wincing, but they quieted down, glaring at each other. Cissnei exhaled, lowering her folded arms back to her side. "Thank you, Sephiroth," she said. Sephiroth nodded, but said nothing, stepping back into his place. Cissnei watched him go, then took another breath, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"So," she said. "What do we do now?"

Silence fell after that, the others exchanging glances again. "What can we do?" asked Cloud. "Yuffie's gone. Is this what she planned all along?"

A flash of anger bubbled up inside Tifa. Yuffie, the girl they had taken in, the girl they had fought with, had stolen from them. Taken their Materia and left them in the wilderness. This betrayal seemed even starker than whatever had happened in Rocket Town with Shalua, who only _might _have betrayed them, and she couldn't let this one go. "So, she was after our Materia from the beginning?" she asked. "We can't let her get away with that! We should go after her!"

"I'm with her!" said Cid, pointing at Tifa. "Let's go!"

Others voiced their agreement, one by one. Cloud first, then Zack, then eventually Barret and Nanaki as well. Vincent seemed indifferent, Kunsel undecided. Aerith took a deep breath, her hands twisting around her staff. "Does anyone even have any idea where she went?" she asked.

"I do," said Cissnei, looking up. "Wutai Village. If she's going anywhere, she's going home."

"Then that's where will go," said Zack, arms folded. The others nodded in assent, and within a few minutes, they were off, heading north towards the capital of Wutai.

XxXxX

Cissnei followed along with the others as they made their way through the mountain passes, heading towards Wutai Village. She kept her eyes on the road in front of her, observing the others. Cloud and Tifa walked side-by-side, Vincent walked alone, Kunsel, Zack, and Aerith formed a trio at the head of the group. Nanaki guarded their flanks, and Barret and Cid stood at opposite ends of the party, still grumbling at one another under their breath whenever they had an opportunity to cross paths. Blaire walked with her, a confused expression on her face, and Sephiroth wasn't too far behind. It seemed almost like any other day they had set out, but at the same time, it wasn't. There was something about this entire situation that felt off.

Zack was in the lead. Sephiroth was not.

Cissnei frowned, glancing back at the former SOLDIER. Sephiroth walked towards the rear of the party, his eyes fixed on the road in front of them. He hadn't said anything since they had woken up to find their Materia gone, nothing to either condemn Yuffie or vindicate her. Instead, he'd let the others take the lead, following along beside them on the way to Wutai. She would have thought he'd be at the forefront of a situation like this, and normally, he would have been. The fact that he wasn't made her wonder exactly what had happened last night. Making her decision, Cissnei placed a hand on Blaire's shoulder, nudging in her Aerith's direction. Blaire blinked up at her, a frown on her face.

"Go walk with Aerith for a minute," Cissnei told the girl, smiling. "I'm going to go talk to Sephiroth."

Blaire glanced in Sephiroth's direction but didn't argue, nodding and jogging forward to catch up with Zack and Aerith. It was clear that Blaire didn't fully understand what they were doing, or why Yuffie had taken their Materia in the first place, but she was willing to go along for now. Cissnei watched the girl for a moment to make sure she was alright, then shortened her stride, letting herself fall back towards where Sephiroth was walking.

"Everything alright?" she asked, drawing up next to him.

He glanced at her, saying nothing. His expression changed briefly as he did, though, and that told her enough of what she needed to know. Something had happened last night, something between Sephiroth and Yuffie. Part of her was starting to get a decent feel for what it was. He nodded.

"We shouldn't be far from the capital now," he said, scanning the mountains ahead of them.

That was when it clicked. "You knew," she said. It wasn't a question. Sephiroth had probably been this way before, when fighting in the Wutai War. And the years had taught her enough about Sephiroth to know that he never forgot where he fought.

Sephiroth's silence was answer enough. Cissnei inhaled, the implications starting to come together. "Sephiroth…" she began, but he glanced at her and whatever she was about to say fled from her throat. As a Turk, she'd learned how to keep a cool head under stress, even under torture, but there was something in those green eyes that managed to drive all rational thought from her brain, particularly when he looked at her like _that_.

"Why?" she heard herself ask.

He looked away from her, staring at the road again. "I felt like I had to," he said simply.

Cissnei exhaled, working past the knot in her throat. She wanted to talk, to say something to him, to tell him it was alright, that he didn't have anything to atone for, but her voice died. She looked over her shoulder and saw Vincent glancing her way briefly, those red eyes boring into hers, before he looked back at the road ahead. She looked down at the ground, her hand curling into a fist at her side. Cissnei had just barely stopped herself from reaching for his hand, and hoped he didn't see. Instead, she folded her arms, nodding at his answer.

She didn't say anything more, moving away from him and going back to her place in the middle of the group as they neared the city. Cissnei drew up next to Vincent, keeping pace with him. The other ex-Turk gave her a look, but said nothing, allowing her to walk beside him until they reached the town.

Wutai's capital was a lot like she remembered it. The city was built on several interlocking streams, bridged by red wooden bridges. The buildings were made of red wood themselves, and stood on manmade islands bridged by the water. Wutaiian script was everywhere, _kanji _characters painted on scrolls and over buildings to guide both tourists and natives. There were more tourists then she remembered there being, Cissnei noticed. They stuck out like a sore thumb, walking between buildings and gawking at the architecture. The one thing she didn't see was any sign of Yuffie Kisaragi. She pushed her hair out of her face, coming to stand with the others as Zack called a halt.

"This is what we're gonna do," he said. "We're going to split up and search for her. Teams of three. If we don't find her, we'll meet back here in two hours. If we do find her, we'll keep in contact using our phones." He looked over at Sephiroth, who was watching the proceedings without saying a word. "Does that sound okay?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "It's fine," he said.

"Alright," said Zack. "It'll be me, Kunsel and Aerith."

"Cloud and I can go together," said Tifa, exchanging a glance with Cloud, who nodded. "We'll take Blaire too."

"I'll take Red," said Barret, gesturing. "He can sniff 'er out."

"Hey, that ain't a bad idea," Cid agreed, stamping out his cigarette and walking over to them. "I'll go."

"I guess that leaves us three," said Cissnei, glancing between Vincent and Sephiroth. Both of them nodded, neither of them looked at her or at each other for too long. Cissnei wondered just how much Vincent had figured out about what happened. She watched as the others left, checking to make sure Rekka was still at her back. Her fingers ghosted over the edge of the shuriken, dancing lightly over the blade. "Alright," she said. "Sephiroth, lead the way."

Sephiroth swept past her, walking towards the nearest bridge. Cissnei moved, about to follow him, when Vincent tugged at her elbow, pulling her back. She frowned, looking back at him. He said nothing, his expression fixed directly ahead of them.

Ahead of them was a bar, a large _izakaya_. The bar's sliding door was open, revealing a slice of the interior and letting the smells of food and drink waft out into the street, along with the sound of soft music. And inside the bar, when she turned her head, she caught sight of two things, a dark suit and a flash of bright red hair.

XxXxX

Elena was bored.

Which wasn't to say she didn't _enjoy _being on vacation, but from how she understood it, there was still a lot of work to be done. The events at Rocket Town just a few days ago had thrown all of Shinra into a loop, and both Tseng and the President were still trying to work through the repercussions of that one attack by Weiss and Nero. The Tsviets had been rounded up and taken into custody, coming easily thanks to the Resistor chip that Tseng still held, but there was still no sign of Argento or Shelke, which made her wonder exactly what those two might try to do while out. As if that wasn't enough, Don Corneo had been spotted in this area, and the three of them were supposed to be on the lookout for him as well, but for some reason, all Reno and Rude wanted to do was sit at the bar, drink, and play cards.

She was starting to learn that she was bad at poker too. Apparently, her face gave her away.

The youngest of the Turks threw down her hand, letting out a small shout of frustration. "This is pointless," she said as her companions looked up. "We shouldn't be here right now. We should be back in Junon. Tseng's up there working all by himself…"

Reno and Rude exchanged glances at her outburst, Rude's stare telling Reno in no uncertain terms that he had to deal with it. Reno sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Just chill, will you, Laney?" he said, leaning back in his chair. "S'not our fault Tseng decided he wasn't going on vacation."

"He couldn't have come here anyway," Rude pointed out, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and studying his hand. Reno nodded, waving a lazy hand toward his partner.

"That's true," he said. "Exile and all. Besides, Tseng's the type to keep working till he drops. You'll burn out if you try and keep up with him."

"But—," began Elena. "There are so many other things we _can _be doing. Like finding Argento or Shelke!"

The look Reno and Rude exchanged suggested they knew something she didn't. That just made Elena feel even more frustrated. She knew that she was making mistakes as a rookie Turk, but that didn't mean they had to keep her out of the loop. She was doing a lot better now, and in her opinion, she was doing better than _they _were. She was actually staying focused on the job instead of wanting to sit around and play cards. The thought occurred to her that if it was Lydia sitting here, they wouldn't be keeping secrets. "What?" she asked, more bluntly than she meant to.

"We can do that," said Reno. "But we can do that when we get back on the clock. For now, we're on _vacation_." He spoke the word slowly, as if he was trying to explain the concept to a very small child. "Enjoy it while it lasts, you won't get so many of them. Wanna play another round?"

She didn't _want _to play another round. She wanted to get back to work, get back to doing something. But Reno was looking at her with a look that bordered on dangerous, so she nodded, choking back her pride and another sip of her drink as she let him deal again.

The door opened just as she picked up her hand, and Elena froze, noticing the way that Reno's eyes flicked towards it. His fingers tightened their grip on the cards, just briefly, and he watched the door. As Elena watched, his mouth curved into a lazy smile. "Well, well," he said. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Elena looked over her shoulder, turning towards the door as well. Her eyes widened.

It was Cissnei, Sephiroth, and a dark-haired man she didn't know, and all three of them were clustered around the door, looking at them. As Elena watched, Cissnei stepped forward.

She didn't waste her chance. Her grip loosened on the cards, dropping them to the table. Elena sprang out of her seat, letting her concealed knife drop into the palm of her hand. She heard Reno's shout of "Laney! Don't—!" but barely registered it, keeping her eyes fixed on the prize. Her eyes narrowed, and she drew her hand back, aiming her knife at Cissnei's neck.

It happened in an instant. One moment, her knife was inches away, and Cissnei was staring at her, wide-eyed, the next someone grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted, and suddenly her feet were in the air above her head, and she was falling down. The knife clattered out of her hand as she hit her back hard on the ground, staring up at the ceiling and into a pair of red eyes. She hadn't fully recovered from the impact by the time the man in the red cloak was dragging her to her feet, keeping her arm twisted behind her. She turned towards Reno and Rude for back-up, and noticed that they were halfway out of their seat, Reno's hand reaching for his Electro-Mag Rod. Behind her, she noticed that Sephiroth's hand was at his back, Masamune half-drawn. Cissnei was tense, but she said nothing.

Reno breathed out, sliding his hand away from his Rod and slipping back into his seat. As Elena watched, Rude did the same.

"Sorry about that, Ciss," said Reno, his smile coming to his face again. He gestured at Elena. "You know how rookies are. Act first, think later."

"Some rookies never grow out of that," said Cissnei with a slight grin.

"She's got you there, partner," Rude muttered, hunching over his cards again. Reno's mouth formed an 'o', and he tilted his head towards her.

"Ouch," he said, "After all we've been through?"

Sephiroth glared at Reno, taking a step forward. Elena saw Reno's eyes flick towards the motion and he tensed, his hand nearing his rod again. "You wanna call off your guard dog?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "We're off the clock."

Cissnei frowned, but glanced at the ex-SOLDIER. Her expression softened slightly. "Sephiroth," she said. "It's alright. They aren't going to do anything." The SOLDIER frowned at her, but to Elena's surprise, he nodded, taking a step back and sliding Masamune back into place. He glared at Reno, but said nothing.

Elena squirmed, trying to free herself from her captor, but he held tight. His grip was like iron, nothing she did made it budge. "Hey!" she shouted to Reno. "What about me?"

"Elena, you talk too much," was Reno's answer, his eyes moving towards her for a moment.

"B—But—."

"If you ask nicely, he might let you go," Rude added, his eyes flicking towards the man who held her.

That turned out not to be necessary, because the grip on her arm finally slackened, and the man pushed her forward, back towards the table. She stumbled, but managed to retain her balance and some of her dignity, rubbing at her wrists as she trudged back to her chair. Elena slid into it, glaring at Reno. If he noticed, he didn't react, because his hands moved over the cards on the table, gathering them back up into a deck and shuffling through them. He glanced pointedly at the empty chair across from them, and Elena watched incredulously as Cissnei nodded and walked towards it, calmly sitting across from them. The man in red trailed along behind her, as did Sephiroth, although the SOLDIER seemed more reluctant.

"You still play cards, Valentine?" asked Reno, looking over at Vincent, "Or is that one of the things you stopped doing after thirty years in a basement?"

The man glanced over at Reno, and Elena realized with a shudder that his eyes were red as well. Mako red, the same shade as Nero's. "I still remember a few tricks," said the red-cloaked man flatly.

Reno shrugged. "Then pull up a chair," he said. He dealt five hands, not waiting to see whether or not the man actually did. Elena glanced between the two of them, her eyes widening slightly. Valentine. Why did that name sound so familiar? Valentine…?

"Your guard dog drink?" asked Reno, glancing at Sephiroth. "Or does he just stand there and glare?"

That got a glare out of Sephiroth. Elena stared, finding herself slightly impressed with Reno's daring. But instead of reaching for his sword, Sephiroth instead spoke. "The 'guard dog' has a name."

"Be nice, Reno," said Cissnei, smiling as she picked up her hand. "He bites."

Reno shot her a flash of teeth, as if to say he did too. He pursed his lips, studying his hand carefully. Elena looked down at hers, noticing that, as usual, she didn't have any good cards. She scowled, looking over the table as someone came to offer them drinks. She noticed that none of the newcomers touched their drinks, even though Cissnei and the man called Valentine were also studying their cards. Sephiroth looked out over the table, saying nothing.

"So," said Reno, "What brings you to the middle of nowhere?"

"Yuffie Kisaragi," said Cissnei, placing money on the table with a smile. "You?"

"Like I said," said Reno. "We're on vacation." He pushed his own bet forward. "What d'you need the princess for?"

"Why do you ask?" asked Cissnei. "Seen her?"

"Oh, _maybe_," Reno drew out the word into a lazy drawl, smiling at her as he fingered the edge of the nearest 20 gil coin. "What's it to you?"

Cissnei smiled back, her fingers curling around her cards. She reached down, about to lay her hand on the table when the sliding door burst open again, two Shinra infantrymen rushing in.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	102. File 029: Thieves in the Night pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Poor Sephy is all out-Turked. And I just realized how hard it is to make Sephiroth talk in a group where he doesn't feel the need to and no one talks to him. . He's too comfortable with silence.

He'll talk more next chapter, I promise!

Thanks go to **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Isayan, JazzQueen, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, ryuukoshi, Irish-Brigid, The Dangling Cellist, Meteor Panda, Leon Kaye **and **Eavenne **for your reviews and support! Reno knows about Vincent because he helped Veld and the Player Turk in Before Crisis, and Turks talk (to each other). ^^

**ryuukoshi, **he's the only non-Turk in a group of Turks. XD Sephiroth is spending his time observing their dynamic. Poor guy probably feels a touch out of place. As for the big Sephissnei scene…well, let's just say there's a reason the tension is rising as the story is coming to a close. Watch the end.

**Irish-Brigid, **that's what happens when your cursor disappears in Microsoft Word and you just keep typing. I went back and fixed it. It was supposed to be "from how she understood it".

**Meteor Panda, **oh, it'll happen. Red's tail offers too much potential for a chain smoker like Cid. And Sephy isn't down at this point. He just doesn't have much to say, and he doesn't like Reno. XD

**Eavenne, **because in Elena's mind, there's an order from Tseng to kill her on sight. And she doesn't understand subtlety yet.

XxXxX

**File 029: Thieves in the Night**

Soldiers, Reno decided—and yes, he counted infantrymen in that number—had no sense of subtlety at all. He watched as the two infantrymen burst into the bar, glowering at them over the top of his cards. Across the table from him, Cissnei, Vincent, and Sephiroth had all tensed, although Cissy and Valentine seemed better at playing it cool than their silver-haired counterpart.

"What, yo?" he asked as the two infantrymen came to stand in front of them. "Can't you see we're in the middle of an interrogation?"

The infantrymen scanned the table, taking in the three Turks in uniform, the cards, drinks and coins strewn between them, and the three fugitives on the other side of the table. They blanched as they noticed Sephiroth and took a step back, but the ex-SOLDIER only replied with another stern glare. Reno was starting to believe that that was the only expression he knew. At this particular moment, though, he glared at them too, as if daring them to ask questions.

They didn't. They knew better than that.

"Uh—sorry," one of them said, looking back at him. He coughed into his hand, clearing his throat and straightening up. "Our reports were right," he said, as though nothing else had happened. "He _is _here on vacation. We've finally found him! We need you Turks for back-up!"

Reno sighed, turning his eyes back towards his cards. "What a drag."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elena already getting to her feet. The Turk almost put a hand out to stop her, but he stopped himself. Let her do whatever she wanted. She wasn't a kid anymore.

The infantrymen didn't seem too pleased by that answer. "W—What?" one of them asked, taking a step back.

"Right now, we're off-duty and can't run off to save your butts," said Reno, glancing at Cissnei. She was studying the scene curiously, although she kept her eyes on her cards. So was her shadow. Sephiroth's attention was on the infantrymen, Cissnei's was all on Elena. He hid his smile. _Dangerous team, those two, _he thought.

The infantrymen seemed intent on bargaining. Reno hated those types. "We know you're off-duty," he began. "But…"

"If you knew that, then don't bother us," Reno interrupted, propping one arm on the back of his chair and turning his head towards them. "Looking at you is making me sober."

"But you all have your orders from headquarters to look for him too!" said the soldier.

Elena's head swiveled towards them, looking between Reno, Rude, and the infantrymen. It was pretty obvious from her expression what she wanted. Reno made a point of not looking at her, picking up his glass and taking a long sip. He could see both Cissnei and Vincent's eyes moving towards her, and although their expressions didn't change, he could tell what they were thinking. Even when Elena wasn't talking, her face gave her away.

"Alright, that's it!" said the infantryman. "We'll get him without any help from the Turks, just you see!" The two of them turned to leave, hurrying out the door. Just when Reno thought they could resume their game, one burst right back in. "And don't think headquarters isn't going to hear about this!" he yelled, before disappearing back out into the street.

He had to hand it to them. He didn't even know a sliding door _could _slam.

"Now, where were we, yo?" he asked, leaning back in his seat and shooting Cissnei a grin. Before she could reply, Elena cut in.

"Reno, do you think that was really such a good idea?!" she demanded. "I mean, is that the way a professional Turk would act?!"

_You got no idea how a professional Turk would act, sweetheart, _was what he really wanted to say, but he sighed, forcing himself to hold his tongue as he set his cards face down, twisting around in his chair and turning towards her. "Elena," he said. "Don't misunderstand. A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool."

"Rude…?" asked Elena, turning towards his partner.

Rude slowly shook his head, not saying anything. His eyes were still on his cards. Reno arched one eyebrow. Although Rude's face didn't give anything away, it was pretty clear from the way the man was hunched over that he didn't have a good hand.

"Well, I don't buy that!" said Elena. "I'm going. Goodbye!"

She turned, running out of the bar and into the street. Reno sighed after she left, noticing that their guests were staring. He smiled at Cissnei. "Any chance we could convince you to come back, babe?" he asked.

Cissnei smiled a playful smile. "Thanks, Reno," she said. "But I'm presently occupied."

"I can see that," said Reno, his eyes flicking meaningfully towards Sephiroth. He grinned at her, looking down at his cards. "Where were we?"

"Rude was about to fold," said Cissnei, her eyes flicking towards his partner.

"I was not," said Rude, staring down at his hand. After a moment, he sighed, gathering his hand up into a pile and setting it face down. He and Cissnei shared a smile, and Vincent added his own bet to the pile.

"Regarding Yuffie," said the ex-Turk, drawing the conversation back to the subject of the lost princess. He said nothing more, but his eyes flicked towards Reno as he placed money on the table.

"Right," said Reno. "Her. What about her?"

"Have you seen her?" asked Cissnei, looking up at him.

"Win this round, and I might tell you," said Reno, his eyes flashing. They started betting again.

After a few exchanges, Cissnei smiled and laid her cards on the table, fanning them out neatly in front of her. Reno did the same. The red-headed Turk looked down at the table and had to stifle a laugh. Cissnei had a full house—two aces and three fives. He had three of a kind. "Now, Cissy," he said, wagging his finger at her. "Last I checked, there were only four aces in a deck."

"Hmm," said Cissnei, looking down at the cards. "I wonder how that happened."

"Sorry," said Reno, holding a hand up. "Guess that means you're disqualified."

"Then I win," said Vincent, lowering his cards to the table. He had a flush, five cards all in the suit of hearts. Reno frowned in disappointment, watching as Vincent started gathering the pot towards him. "You were saying about Yuffie?" he said, turning towards Reno again.

Reno sat up. "Oh, fine," he said, after exchanging a glance with Rude. "She's got a little house in the village. You'll probably find her there."

"Show us," said Vincent.

"On one condition." Reno smiled, leaning forward and tilting his head towards the gunman. "You pick up our tab."

XxXxX

Vincent followed behind the unlikely group, keeping his eyes focused on the new Turks. He hadn't met these ones, but he wasn't surprised that they knew of him. When Veld had woken up that first time, there had been a Turk with him—at the moment, he'd forgotten her name. And it seemed like there was at least one thing the Turks from his day and the Turks of now had in common, word got around. When you were prohibited from discussing the details of your mission with anyone not a member of the Turks, and given people's nature to _want _to talk, there was little enough that didn't get shared. There was gossip too, about each other and about others, and it was clear that that was what Cissnei was fishing for as she hung back to talk to the redhead.

Well, that was one thing that hadn't changed about the Turks. The other was an unspoken rule, something that Elena didn't quite seem to grasp about their card game. Everybody cheats at some point. The question was, how smart were you about it, and how did you avoid your fellow Turks catching you out? As they walked, Vincent discreetly let the remainder of the suit of hearts fall into his hand, using his cloak to disguise the movement as he deposited the cards behind a stack of crates and jars.

If you were smart, you didn't cheat with aces. Hearts had been Veld's idea, back in the day. His former partner couldn't quite get over the fact that Vincent's surname was Valentine. It shouldn't have mattered—there was a reason that currently serving Turks rarely used their last names—but after learning about it, Veld was like a dog with a bone. He brought it up whenever he had the chance. Vincent would roll his eyes and reload his gun, and the two of them would turn their attention back to the mission at hand.

But those days were dead and gone, and the two of them were as well. Veld in his own way, and Vincent in his. He kept his hand close to his gun's holster, watching Reno and Rude to make sure they didn't try anything they might soon regret. Reno seemed more intent on catching up—snippets of their conversation occasionally reached him—and Rude seemed more interested in listening and correcting Reno's version of events at times, but they were both experienced Turks. There was often a motive beneath what could be seen, another thing that the rookie seemed determined not to grasp.

She would learn though, or she'd quit or get shunted to a secondary position before the end of her first year. Vincent was no stranger to the sort of subtle hazing a new Turk went through. It wasn't just a matter of putting on the suit. You had to work your way into the club.

His lingering back had brought him side-by-side with Sephiroth. Lucrecia's son seemed out of his depth in this group, another thing that wasn't entirely surprising. He had his eyes fixed on the group of three in front of him, frowning in a way that toed the line between protective and possessive. Vincent didn't miss the way his hand twitched when Reno's arm found itself casually draped over Cissnei's shoulders. Vincent wondered if this would end in blood. When Reno tilted his head back, flashing Sephiroth a quick grin, Vincent decided that yes, it would definitely end in blood.

But when Reno let out a yelp and stumbled back, clutching his side, and Cissnei took two dancer's steps away, tilting her head towards him and offering him a sly smile as she said something under her breath that made Rude chuckle, Vincent found himself wondering who would be the first to shed it.

Thankfully, they reached the house before that became a problem. The house was large compared to some of the other buildings in the village, but small compared to the Pagoda. It was just the sort of dwelling a princess of Wutai might choose if for some reason she didn't want to live in the palace. The Turks immediately fanned out, sweeping the perimeter. Cissnei moved with them, falling easily into a role she hadn't played in a while. Vincent, who had been an ex-Turk for much longer and had been considerably less active during his 'retirement' remained at the front of the house with Sephiroth. The two of them waited, the ex-SOLDIER with the air of someone who was used to letting scouts study the area first before moving in.

After a few moments, the others returned.

"She's not here, yo," said Reno, tapping his rod against his shoulder. The young Turk was left-handed, Vincent noticed, something that probably helped him in fights with people used to expecting attacks from the right. From Cissnei's other side, his partner nodded, adjusting his sunglasses.

"If there's something you need," he said. "Now is the time."

"Well, General?" asked Reno, tilting his head towards Sephiroth.

Sephiroth looked over at Cissnei, who nodded to show that what the other Turks were saying was true. He looked back at Reno. "We go in," he said.

The house was Wutaiian down to its bones. After seeing the ninja, Vincent would have expected something gaudier, but while the house had several colorful decorations, and a few objects in disarray, each screen or tapestry was distinctly Wutaiian, and there were less of them then he might have expected. He nearly took off his shoes at the door. The fact that Reno, Rude, Cissnei, and Sephiroth simply continued to walk stopped him, and he followed them into the house, moving over to one wall to search for their Materia. He moved tapestries aside with one hand, feeling along the wood paneling for the secret switches and traps that Wutai was so famous for. The living room of the house at least appeared to be what it claimed to be.

A shrine to Leviathan caught his eye. Just about every house in Wutai had one, but this one tucked into the corner and ringed with traditional blue cloth was surprising for its austerity. A statuette of Wutai's dragon deity stood on the shelf beneath it. It was old, carved wood, instead of the marble or stone he might have expected from royalty. Next to it was a wooden bowl that contained fresh water, flower petals floating on its surface. It was as distinctive as if Yuffie had lit a candle—it told him that she had been here, and recently. His fingers moved across the worn shelf top, pausing at the third item on the shrine. A framed picture.

He lifted it up, studying it in the light. A woman looked back up at him, her brown eyes smiling. She had a soft, mature face, her hair long, black, and done up in an elaborate knot at the back of her head. The woman was dressed in a kimono, pale pink, embroidered with sakura petals. The picture was old and worn, with the look of something that had been folded up and tucked away many times before finally being framed. Vincent found himself putting it down, suddenly aware that he had looked into something very private, a part of Yuffie that he was not supposed to see.

He turned, about to say something to the others, when Reno's shout from the bedroom made him look up.

"Hey!" the Turk said. "Come in here and look at this!"

Vincent went, slipping into the bedroom between Sephiroth and Rude. Yuffie's room had a duck painted on the floor just outside the door for a reason he couldn't name, a writing desk, a low table that probably contained an electric heater in the winter, and a painted privacy screen to hide her futon from view. He'd half expected Reno had called them over here to look at something immature he'd found in Yuffie's closet, but a quick look around the room told him that was not the case. A door in one wall opened into a set of stairs, leading down into the basement.

"Where do you think that goes?" asked Cissnei.

"One way to find out," said Reno, holding his arm out in a gesture of mock chivalry. "After you."

Cissnei shot him a look, but smiled and rolled her eyes, walking down the stairs. No one stopped Sephiroth from following close behind. That left Vincent at the end of the group, letting both Turks go first.

The basement room made Reno let out a whistle, pausing in the doorway. It wasn't the storage room he'd been anticipating. The main part of the room was an empty space of hardwood floor, lined in the center with tatami mats. Shurikens, regular four-pointed ones, littered the ground, along with kunai and other tricks of the trade. Three different kinds of naginata stood against one wall, along with an array of wooden weapons. There was an empty space that was obviously designed as the wall mount for a _fuuma shuriken. _A scroll hung on the wall across the room, next to a machine, as statues of kitsune looked on.

A dojo. Yuffie had a private dojo in her basement, and one that was obviously well-used, judging from the wearing on the tatami. It shouldn't have surprised him, and Vincent wondered why it did.

"Looks like the princess ain't all talk after all," Reno commented, stepping onto the mat in the center of the room. Sephiroth let out a grunt of reluctant assent, following. Vincent did as well, still studying the walls.

"So," said Reno, moving forward to study the machine. "If I was a hoard of Materia, where would I hide?"

That question never got to be answered. Vincent caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled, his hand reaching for his gun. "Move—!" he started to say, but too late. A dark shape vaulted from one kitsune statue to the door, and a heavy metal cage crashed down onto the ground, trapping them on the mat in the center of the room. Reno attempted to run after the figure but failed, crashing into the bars with a curse and falling back onto the tatami.

From the doorway, Yuffie Kisaragi whirled, grinning. "Thought you could get the better of me, did ya, Turkeys?" she asked, twisting around and walking away. "Well, sucks to be you."

"Hey, you get back here right now!" said Reno, jumping to his feet.

Yuffie looked over her shoulder, sticking her tongue out at him. That only made Reno dart forward, gripping the bars with both hands and shaking. The cage rattled slightly, for all the good that did.

"Where's our Materia, Yuffie?" asked Cissnei.

A look that might have been guilt passed in front of Yuffie's eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. "It's in a safe place," she said. "If you want it, you're gonna have to find it yourself."

"Zack and the others are looking for you," Cissnei warned her. "If you give back the Materia now, we can pretend none of this ever happened."

She might as well have been talking to the wall for all the good it did. Yuffie pretended not to hear, turning her back to them. He saw her shoulders tense, but she began to walk away.

Vincent took a step forward. "Yuffie."

She stopped walking. For a while, it looked like she might turn, but then the moment passed, and she started walking again. Vincent's frown deepened, but he made no attempt to call her back, looking over at the others. They heard the sound of a door closing at the top of the stairs.

"Well, shit," Reno swore, letting go of the bars and turning to face them.

The others stared back at him, saying nothing.

XxXxX

"_Yuffie."_

As soon as Yuffie was outside of the house, she ran, making her way quickly down the steps that led to street level. She wouldn't let anyone see how close she had come to turning around at the sound of that name. It would have been absolutely ridiculous if she had. What the hell was wrong with her? She did not—no way in hell—she absolutely did _not _have a crush on Vincent Valentine.

And she did not want to give their Materia back either. It wasn't like she cared what any stupid ex-SOLDIERs or ex-Turks thought of her. They'd started this with no Materia, it wasn't like they couldn't get _more_. Meanwhile, Wutai—

Wutai didn't have _anything_.

She scrubbed at her eyes with her wrist, running full out down the road towards the storehouse where she kept the Materia. It would be over soon, she decided. She'd go right now, hand the Materia over to Godo, and then she'd send someone to let the Turks, ex-Turks, and Sephiroth out of the trap and escort them out of Wutai. Then, it would be done. They'd hate her forever, but Wutai would have Materia. She would make sure of it.

She darted around a corner, disappearing into a side street. Not much farther now, she thought. Just one building over. It wouldn't be much farther now.

A pair of hands reached out, grabbing onto her shoulders and pulling her back. Yuffie opened her mouth to scream, but as she did so, her captor slipped a ball of cloth into it, nearly choking her. The ninja struggled, thrashing, tilting her head back and reaching for her shuriken.

A hood slipped over her head and suddenly all she knew was blackness.

**END FILE**


	103. File 030: Strange Bedfellows pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I kind of like how this file is turning out! But then again, the Turks as a group have always kind of intrigued me, so this is fun to write. This is Yuffie's character arc as well, so expect some character development on that front. ^^

Thanks go to **SubZeroChimera, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, kitty materia princess, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, JazzQueen, Eavenne, **and **Leon Kaye **for your reviews and support!

**kitty materia princess, **I think the canon reason was that Shinra banned Wutai from using Materia after the war—part of what weakened them so much. That's the reason I'm using anyway. ^^ Glad you liked the chapter, and what famous dialogue?

**Irish-Brigid, **Yuffie loves her country. ^^ As for the Yuffentine ship, that's kind of the direction I'm hoping to take it, at least for this fic. A one-sided crush and an odd friendship. I don't see it progressing farther until Yuffie is older (at least DoC age), but I've changed my plans before.

XxXxX

**File 030: Strange Bedfellows**

Reno stared at the bars, glowering at them as the princess made her hasty retreat. He had to hand it to her, she'd done her homework. The bars were almost too thick for him to wrap his hand around, let alone break. He looked around at the others. "So?" he asked. "Any bright ideas?"

"Sephiroth could cut us out," Cissnei ventured.

Vincent shook his head, just as the SOLDIER reached for his sword. "Too risky," he said. "The bars are holding up the cage."

"Maybe there's a switch?" asked Reno, looking around.

"There." Sephiroth inclined his head towards the far wall, where a machine was located. It was the same machine that Reno had been about to investigate earlier. One of the levers had clearly been flipped. Reno reached into his suit jacket, pulling out his rod.

"Alright, I got this," he said, walking over to the bars on the other side of the cage. He grabbed onto the bar with his right hand for balance, slipping his rod through the bars of the cage and attempting to nudge the lever with it. Reno let out a grunt of frustration as his Electro-Mag Rod fell short, leaning forward and pressing the side of his face into the bar as he struggled to reach it. He stretched out his arm, waving the rod around and balancing himself on his tiptoes. "Uh—just a minute—almost there—."

A sword sliced through the air over his head, Masamune slipping through the bars. The flat of the blade nudged the lever, pushing it back. Reno jumped back as the cage suddenly began to rise, and Sephiroth slipped his blade from between the bars just in time, placing Masamune on his back. Reno shot him an incredulous stare.

"Sorry," Sephiroth said. "I wanted to finish this today."

Reno shrugged, slipping his rod back into his jacket. He looked over at Cissnei. "Shall we?" he asked. Cissnei nodded, taking off toward the steps at a run. Reno followed, wondering as he jogged up the steps exactly what had happened to their nice quiet vacation. _That's what you get for catching up with old friends, _he thought, taking the steps two and a time and running out into the street. The ex-Turk ahead of him skidded to a stop, one hand on her shuriken. She looked around.

"Which way did she go?" she asked.

"North," said Vincent, catching up with her. The gunslinger ran past her, his cloak sweeping out behind him. Cissnei turned, following after him without a word. Sephiroth darted around the two of them, catching up quickly with her and Vincent. Reno ran a hand through his hair, stopping at the base of his ponytail, and paused to give the street one last scan. It wasn't too late to head back to the bar and pretend this hadn't happened.

"Ah, screw it!" he said, turning and running after the trio. He heard the familiar sound of footsteps that told him Rude was right behind him. It was clear from the direction Vincent was heading where he thought the princess might be. Reno immediately changed direction, leaping over some crates and heading towards the door that led to the underground palace. They might not have anything to do with wanting the ninja back, but he'd be damned if he let two ex-Turks and a SOLDIER beat two Turks in active duty. Reno threw open the door as soon as the lock was released, charging in with his rod held out.

He skidded to a stop at the scene in front of him. A man dressed all in black held a struggling Yuffie Kisaragi to himself, her wrists and ankles bound with rope. From the looks of it, she didn't have her shuriken or weapons on her, and didn't look too happy to be there either.

Huh. Personally, Reno would have gagged her too, but to each his own. Yuffie's shrill voice made him feel like his eardrums were about to explode, and he was used to some pretty loud sounds. "Let go!" she shrieked. "I said _let go_! Hey—who do you think you are?! OW! What're you doing?! _Jerk!" _

He took that back. He probably would have just thrown her back, or let Rude deal with her. The others rushed into the room at the sound of the ninja's voice, the AVALANCHE trio with their weapons out. Cissnei slipped in between himself and Rude, Rekka in hand. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Yuffie!" she called.

"Put her down." Sephiroth's voice from behind her was dangerous. He gripped Masamune in both hands, drawing the hilt up close to his ear and pointing the tip of the blade at Yuffie's captor. _"Now_."

"If I were you, pal, I'd listen," said Reno, tapping his rod against his shoulder as he glanced at Sephiroth. He shot Cissnei a quick look. "He bites."

The man holding Yuffie seemed torn between wanting to put her down and run or wanting to press forward. It was difficult to tell for sure, considering he was hiding his face, but Reno wouldn't have been a Turk if he didn't know how to read body language. Right now, the kidnapper in black pajamas was hovering somewhere between _"I'm gonna be in so much trouble" _and _"Oh, shit, this is how I die." _Yuffie chose that moment to squirm in the man's arms, bucking her hips and delivering a swift kick where the sun didn't shine. The ninja let out a yelp—Reno winced in sympathy—and dropped his captive to the ground, doubling over. Cissnei started forward, about to go to her, when the door at the top of the stairs opened, a fat man in a red coat entering the room. Another ninja—where was he finding these guys?!—rushed forward, picking the struggling princess off the floor and hoisting her back up. Reno's eyes flicked towards the fat man, his grip tightening on his rod.

Oh no. Oh _hell _no.

"Don Corneo," said Cissnei, skidding to a stop and glaring at the man.

Corneo didn't seem to appreciate the amount of danger he was in at the moment. Instead of running in fear—which was probably what most people would have done at the sight of Vincent Valentine and Sephiroth glaring at them simultaneously with weapons in hand—he giggled. Reno always knew the man was a little bit cracked. "I've finally got a new chicky!" he said. "Two for one, in fact!"

He let out another laugh, gesturing at a third ninja. This one was holding another girl in his arms. A blond. A blond in a black suit.

Oh shit.

"—Elena!" Reno and Rude said at the same time, both of them taking steps forward. Elena squirmed and struggled in her captor's arms. She didn't even seem to hear them.

"H—Hey, let go of me!" she shouted. "You're gonna regret this!"

Reno grit his teeth, drawing his Electro-Mag back and taking a step forward. The ninja holding Elena immediately raised a knife to her throat, and he froze, turning to glare at Corneo. The fat man giggled again, waving a hand, and then the four of them left, running up the stairs. Reno scowled, taking off at a run after them with Rude close behind him. The redheaded Turk took the steps two at a time, but even then, by the time he reached the top, both ninjas were gone. Only Corneo remained, huffing and puffing to catch up. Reno wasn't going to give him that chance.

He leaped forward, throwing his shoulder into Corneo's back and tackling the man to the ground. Reno landed on his back, grabbing onto a fistful of his coat and pointing his rod at the back of the man's head. "Big mistake there, Slick," he said. "Where'd you take her?"

Corneo squirmed under him, trying to get away, but Reno held fast. "You won't take them from me!" he shouted.

Cissnei stepped forward to join him, arms folded and eyes hard. "Maybe you'll change your mind if we question you _privately_," she said, emphasizing the word by digging the heel of her boot into the small of Corneo's bag. He squealed like a stuck pig. Reno grimaced in disgust.

"If he wets himself, you're paying for dry cleaning," he warned the ex-Turk, keeping his grip on his rod. He jabbed the point of it between Corneo's shoulder blades. "So, what's it gonna be?" he asked.

"_No!" _Corneo spluttered, shaking his head. "I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll talk! I'll—!"

Sadly, Reno never got the chance to hear what Corneo would do. The sliding doors to his right opened, admitting three infantrymen with guns pointed towards them. "There he is!" one of them yelled. "We've found him! He's—!" The man froze, noticing Reno and Rude there, along with Cissnei

Two things happened at once. One of the infantrymen got a little bit nervous and open fired, spraying bullets everywhere, and Corneo threw Reno off him, scrambling to his feet. "Shit!" Reno shouted as he placed both hands on the ground, pushing himself up to his feet and brandishing his rod. Vincent and Sephiroth had already charged forward, weapons drawn, and Cissnei was getting up from where Rude had tackled her out of the way of the gunfire, her shuriken in her hand. Reno glanced at them, then stepped aside to dodge a spray of bullets. "Don't kill them!" he said as one advanced. He knocked the infantryman's rifle off-target, sliding the tip of his rod up against the man's neck. A little bit of electricity passed through the weapon, and the man jerked, falling to the ground. Tseng would already be on his case for losing Elena on vacation, the last thing he needed was having to explain away three dead infantrymen.

Stupid infantrymen, sure, but paperwork was paperwork.

Thankfully, Sephiroth heard. The ex-SOLDIER flipped his sword over mid-slash, catching the first infantryman across the chest. Reno heard the crunch of bones, and he went down, stunned and in pain but alive. Sephiroth took the second down with his right fist, using a well-placed blow to the back of the head as he turned. The man collapsed instantly. Reno stared, exchanging a nod with Sephiroth as the SOLDIER turned towards him.

They didn't waste time with words, the five of them rushing through the door.

By the time they made it out onto the street, however, Corneo was gone. Reno scowled, coming to a stop and looking around for any trace of him. There was hardly anyone out on the street at this time of day, and the few people that were seemed keen on avoiding attention. He gave a few of them the evil eye, watching as they hurriedly turned away. He didn't really think any of them knew anything, but still, he had to take his frustration out on _something. _

"He's gone," he said, turning back towards Cissnei and the others.

"Any idea where they went?" she asked.

Rude pushed his glasses up with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. "…Mountains," he said.

Reno nodded. "S'where I'd go." Not that he _liked _comparing himself to that man, but it was true. "Those two are loud." His ears still rung from Yuffie's shouting. Reno poked his little finger into one, twisting it around and attempting to clear it. He winced. "And even that old fart Godo isn't gonna just sit by and let his kid get kidnapped. If we hurry, we can still catch 'em."

Sephiroth frowned at him. "We?" he repeated.

"They took Elena," said Rude, looking off towards the mountains.

Reno nodded. "It's personal," he said, tucking his rod back into his suit jacket.

Sephiroth stared at them, looking for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but after a glance from Cissnei, he nodded, turning toward the mountains. "Fine," he said. "There's no time. Let's hurry."

Cissnei pulled her phone out of the pocket of her vest. "I'll call Zack," she said, flipping it open. "He'll want to know what happened."

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder. "Have them standby," he said. "This shouldn't take long."

Cissnei nodded, pressing the phone to her ear. They began to move, heading towards the mountains. Reno, watching the two of them, decided that this might turn out to be an interesting vacation after all.

XxXxX

Yuffie Kisaragi was frustrated, dizzy, and miserable.

From what she could see as she and the other girl were being carried out of Wutai, Corneo's men had taken them to Da Chao, the carved mountain outside of the capital. Now, the two of them had been left in one of the caves, still tied up to 'await the master's pleasure'. Ugh. How much more cheesy could a person get? At any rate, Yuffie wasn't in the mood to wait on _anyone's _pleasure, but the wannabe ninjas that had snatched her and the Turk girl from the city knew their stuff—the ropes were tied tight. They'd taken her shuriken too, and all the Materia she had on her. Not to mention, none of the rocks nearby seemed sharp enough to cut through their bonds.

She drew her knees up to her chest, leaning on the back of the cave wall for support. Her throat still felt sore. Yuffie had screamed herself hoarse earlier, shouting all sorts of increasingly colorful threats at their guards, but if they heard, they were silent. It was clear that shouting wasn't going to get her anywhere, so for once in her life, she had to think.

A twitch from her left side told her that her cellmate was waking up. Yuffie stretched out her legs, looking over at the Turk as she attempted to wiggle herself into a sitting position. The side of her face was bruised. She'd nearly managed to squirm out of her captor's hold on the way up the mountain, and he'd knocked her out to stop her from trying again. Yuffie studied her in the dim light of the cavern. She looked young, definitely younger than Tseng or Reno, with blond hair and wide eyes. Her face was pale beneath the bruise. She thought all Turks would look like hardened killers, even Cissnei had that air about her, but this girl just looked angry and slightly scared.

"Uh—hey," said Yuffie as the girl turned towards her. "You alright?"

The Turk frowned, leaning against the wall. "I'm fine," she said. "How bad does it look?"

"Colorful," Yuffie replied. She wondered exactly what she was supposed to say now. What _did _you say in a situation like this? '_Hi, I noticed we've both been kidnapped by the same perverted madman. Can we be friends? I like Materia_.'? Somehow, she didn't think that would fly. "So…" she began.

"Yeah…" said the Turk, seeming to have the same problem. Yuffie saw her wiggle, trying to pry her hands apart. She muttered a curse under her breath when she realized she couldn't. "How long have we been here?"

"I don't know. An hour? Maybe less?" It wasn't like she had a watch down here or even any sunlight to use to keep track of time.

"Some vacation this turned out to be," the girl said, looking down at her hands.

Yuffie stared at her, watching as the girl took a slow breath, probably to keep herself calm. She looked depressed—no surprises there. In that moment, the ninja decided that it didn't matter if she _was _a Turk—for the meantime, they were in this together. She inched closer, wiggling over to the other girl. Yuffie put a smile on her face.

"So, um, I'm Yuffie," she said. "Do you have a name?" Considering they were both fellow kidnap-ees, _Turkey _just didn't seem right.

The Turk girl looked up at her, blinking in surprise. "Elena," she said.

"Well, Elena, don't you worry, because I, the Great Ninja Yuffie, will get us out of here! Somehow," she amended.

Elena didn't look too convinced. Yuffie thought to rectify that. "As soon as I think of a plan anyway," she said. Her mind raced, going through things she hadn't thought of. Da Chao had secret passages that only true Wutaiians would know about, but she wouldn't be able to get very far with her ankles tied together they way they were. She'd already checked for sharp rocks, her shuriken was taken, the ropes weren't coming off on their own, and she didn't have a phone on her. Not that it would matter, because phone service was horrible _inside _Da Chao, and she didn't have anyone to call anyway. Nobody from Wutai knew she was gone, so they wouldn't come looking for her, and—.

Wait, _she _didn't have anyone to call. But…

"Hey," said Yuffie, turning towards Elena. "You're a Turk, right? So that means your buddies will be coming soon?"

The thought of getting rescued by _Reno_ left a bad taste in her mouth, but she'd _kiss _him if it meant getting her away from whatever Corneo had planned. Elena frowned, staring down at her feet.

"I don't know," she said. "I…kind of pissed them off earlier. They don't like me very much."

"Why not?" asked Yuffie, surprised.

Elena shrugged, and for a moment, she looked absolutely miserable. That made Yuffie frown, inching closer. Turks were supposed to be calm and collected, weren't they? They weren't _supposed _to look miserable. "I keep screwing up."

"Oh," said Yuffie. She could get that, kind of. The other ninjas didn't always have the best words for her either. But they would have, if only—Yuffie shook her head, nudging the ground with the toe of one boot.

"What about you?" asked Elena. "You were with AVALANCHE, right? Will they come?"

Yuffie shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I don't know about that," she said, looking down at the ground. "…I kind of…stole all their Materia," she mumbled under her breath.

"Oh," said Elena. There was a moment of silence and then, "Why?"

"You wouldn't get it," said Yuffie, looking away.

This time, it was Elena's turn to scoot a little closer. "Try me."

Yuffie took a deep breath. "It's just—after the war, Shinra banned us from having Materia," she said. "And Wutai became the way you see it now. A tourist town. We used to be so strong. I thought if I—." She shook her head, reminding herself she was talking to a Turk. Besides, they were running out of time. "—Anyway!" she said, turning towards Elena. "Enough of that! If we can't rely on them, you and I are just going to have to escape by ourselves!"

"How?" asked Elena.

"Well, let's see." Yuffie tilted her head back against the wall, thinking. "They took all my weapons. How about yours?"

Elena frowned, and Yuffie heard her shuffling around. "My gun's gone," she said after a while. "Not that it would do me any good. I lost my knife at the bar. Um—oh,wait! I have another one!"

"Another knife?" asked Yuffie, her eyes wide as she turned towards the other girl. Elena nodded, extending her legs.

"A spare," she said. "In my boot. I think it's still there."

"Alright!" Yuffie nearly let out a whoop of triumph, but reminded herself that they had to keep their voices down. She shuffled around, turning her back to Elena and inching backwards towards the Turk. Yuffie scooted back until she could grab onto Elena's boot. "Alright, 'Lena, were almost there!"

Elena tensed. "What did you call me?" she asked.

Yuffie blinked. "Lena?" she said. "I just figured, you know, it's kind of short for Elena?" She felt around the Turk's boot, looking for the knife. Yuffie could feel it there, but couldn't quite figure out how to get at it. "Don't you like nicknames?" she asked as she worked.

"No, I don't mind them," said Elena, shaking her head. "Just—I thought…Reno calls me Laney."

Yuffie made a face. "Ugh," she said. "Hey, Reno and I are nothing alike! We're—_I got it!" _

"The knife?" asked Elena.

"Yep!" said Yuffie. The knife in her hand felt light—she didn't think it would do any real damage, but at least it would cut rope. It was well-balanced too. "Turn around. I'll cut you out."

Elena shuffled around, awkwardly trying to position herself so that the two of them were back to back. Once Yuffie could feel the other girl's hands beneath hers, she traced one finger up to the ropes, trying to gauge where they were before she started cutting. Even with that, Elena let out a hiss of breath, and Yuffie felt wetness dribble onto her fingers as she cut.

"Crap, sorry!" said Yuffie. "Are you alright?"

"It's okay," said Elena, pulling her hands apart. "It's just a scratch." She grabbed the knife from Yuffie's hands, and Yuffie heard her start slicing at the ropes around her ankles. Once she was free, Elena turned, and in one smooth motion, cut through Yuffie's bonds. She flipped the knife over in her hand and handed it over hilt first. Yuffie rubbed at her sore wrists before taking the knife, using it to cut through her ankle restraints. Once she was done, Elena tugged on her elbow, helping her to her feet.

"Alright, let's go!" said Yuffie, kicking the remnants of rope away and grabbing onto the Turk's uninjured wrist. Elena followed close behind her, the two of them running for the door.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	104. File 030: Strange Bedfellows pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Bit of a quick fight scene in this chapter, and more fun with Turks. Hope you guys like it! This chapter was a little delayed due to the release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. If any of you guys play, I'm on Odin as Myst Walker, feel free to send me a PM, friend request, what have you. ^^

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Riku Uzumaki, kitty materia princess, Leon Kaye **and **Eavenne **for your reviews and support! Much appreciated!

**Irish-Brigid, **yeah, it probably would be. I guess you could manage if you were as flexible as Yuffie and got lucky? ^^;

**Kitty materia princess, **Elena is an interesting case. She's canonically very capable—she was top of her class in the Shinra Military Academy—so I'm taking that to mean she has a lot of potential but it's all academic, and not a lot of it is practical. Yuffie's the same way at the moment in my opinion—a lot of training that doesn't immediately translate into the real world. They'll both get better. ^^ And I'm glad you liked it. I'll try and work Vincent's line in, if I can figure out how to make it fit.

**Leon Kaye, **tut tut. Don't accuse me of breaking canon quite yet~

XxXxX

**File 030: Strange Bedfellows**

Da Chao was a twisting maze of tunnels, statues, and tradition, with trails so narrow that one person had to walk with their front pressed up against the mountainside just to walk through and caverns so extensive that the unwary could find themselves lost for days, weeks, and years. The mountain's secrets were supposedly handed down from generation to generation of Wutaiian, the sort of secrets never spoken of to outsiders. Not even Shinra's victory in the war and annexing of the island nation could pry the majority of Da Chao's secrets out of Wutaiian hands. It was enough that they could find their way to the top. The late President Shinra hadn't bothered to fight for more than that.

Standing at the base of the mountain and considering the statues, Cissnei got the distinct feeling that they were unwelcome here. As a Turk, though, it wasn't a feeling she didn't get often. She signaled all clear to the others below, then settled back to wait and thought about that word. Turk. It had been five years since she had defected from the Turks, a year and a half since she had cut off all involvement with those in active duty. But somehow, working with Reno and Rude again seemed to make it all come back. It had been five years since she had worn her suit, two years since she had seen it. And yet…it felt like she had never taken it off, like she was still wearing it. She didn't know what to make of the feeling, so she put it out of her mind.

"_I'm a member of AVALANCHE," _she had told Sephiroth, that one night in Gongaga when he had come out and questioned her methods. But…was it so wrong to want to be both? _You're starting to think like a SOLDIER, _she thought to herself with a wry smile, pushing her hair out of her face. _Alls or nothings, blacks and whites. _The Turk from five years ago wouldn't have given a second thought to the subject of divided loyalty. Shinra and AVALANCHE were factions. Turks were Turks.

Sephiroth though—to him the world was black and white. Ally or enemy. They might shift—today's enemy might become tomorrow's ally—his worldview allowed for that, but never at any point was someone an in-between. She was an ally, maybe even a friend. For her to be more, she would have to choose. Who was she, and who was she becoming?

She shook her head, tugging at a lock of hair. She realized that this was the first time she had ever thought of being _more_, at least so blatantly. Zack and the others must have been rubbing off on her. Cissnei put the thought out of her mind, embarrassed for even having thought it. Whatever she was, on some level, she was still a Turk, and a Turk didn't let their mind wander on a mission. She took a deep breath, letting herself sink back into the practiced calm where the only thing that mattered was herself and her job.

Cissnei turned to face Reno, Rude, Vincent, and Sephiroth as the four of them approached. "Don Corneo left signs of his passing," she said, careful to keep her voice neutral and her eyes off Sephiroth. She couldn't afford her mind wandering any more today. Instead, she indicated marks on the dust trail that showed someone had been dragging their feet on the way up. "He doesn't seem to like mountains. And I found this."

She opened her hand, holding up a card. A crumpled up King of Spades she had found lying on the side of the road. Reno glanced at it. "Elena," he said.

Cissnei nodded in agreement. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" she asked. The last time Elena had been kidnapped, before she had even considered joining the Turks, she had dropped her Elite Emblems on the train. That one might have been accidental, this one was completely intentional. She had paid for her ruse too—there were traces of blond hair on the ground near where Cissnei had found the card.

"She's fighting," Rude noted.

"She's feisty," said Reno. "She'll be okay." It was the closest thing to a compliment Cissnei had heard Reno give her. The redheaded Turk stepped forward, looking up at the mountain. "It's better if we split up. The paths aren't big enough for all of us. Rude and I'll go this—."

"You won't." The voice came from Sephiroth. Reno stopped walking, looking back of his shoulder at the SOLDIER. He didn't seem too pleased to be interrupted, or denied. "Not together, at least," Sephiroth continued.

"We'll split up," added Vincent, turning towards the two of them. His eyes narrowed. "Starting with you."

Reno looked like he might argue for a moment before he relented, apparently deciding that that was a better option than challenging both Sephiroth and Vincent. He shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, whatever, yo," he said. "Who goes with who?"

"I'll take Reno," said Cissnei. "One or both of you can go with Rude." She gave Vincent a look to let him know what she would prefer. There was a part of her that wanted Sephiroth to come with them. But that was the emotional part of her. The logical part of her wanted to be left alone.

Vincent's caught the look in her eye. The look he shot her back told her that he didn't quite approve of it. "Then, the three of us will go this way," he said.

"Three?" asked Sephiroth, looking over at Vincent.

Vincent's eyes never left Cissnei's. "Three," he repeated, turning away.

"Fine," said Reno, shrugging. "Wouldn't be the first time. C'mon, Ciss. This way."

He ran off, jogging up the path to the right. Sephiroth watched him go, his frown deepening. He didn't seem happy with the situation either. Cissnei put a smile on her face, raising her hand up in a wave. "Then, we'll see you guys later," she said, turning to catch up.

"Cissnei," said Sephiroth.

"It'll be alright," she said, looking back at him. "I know how to deal with him."

"Ouch," said Reno from the path above her. "Yo, say goodbye to your boyfriend later! We don't have all day!"

She turned away, pretending she didn't see the flash of anger, irritation, or _something _in Sephiroth's eyes. That wasn't the sort of thing she needed to be thinking about now. Cissnei jogged up the path, meeting Reno at a corner where the path turned away from the main road.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Just about" said Cissnei, frowning down at the dust on her boots and trying to banish away the image of Sephiroth's eyes. She checked to make sure her hidden weapons were still in place, running a hand over her usual hiding places. Without Materia, she would have to be a little more careful. "Ready," she said, putting Rekka in her hand.

He nodded, slipping into a side passage. Cissnei followed him, the two of them entering the mountain.

"So, what's the deal with Elena?" Cissnei asked, after they had climbed for a little while. The caves were narrow and constricting, small enough for her to put a hand on each wall if she wanted, but thankfully, they hadn't encountered any enemies on the way up. She kept Rekka in her hand at any case, keeping one eye on the path behind them. Da Chao's monsters were known to be fierce, and it wasn't just the monsters she was worried about. Corneo might have been a fool, but he didn't skimp on bodyguards. If he had, he would be dead by now.

Reno shrugged, placing one hand on the wall for balance and looking back at her. "She wants to get into the Director's pants."

"_Tseng_?" asked Cissnei, surprised. "Really?"

"You haven't picked up on it yet?" asked Reno. He shook his head. "Nah, don't answer that. You haven't seen her around him before. It ain't hard to spot, let me tell you." He jumped, sliding down a slope onto the flatter ground below. Cissnei followed, bending her knees to keep her balance and watching for traps.

"Does Tseng know?" she asked.

"Who knows with him?" asked Reno. As an afterthought, he added. "He's still hung up on Aerith."

"Still?" asked Cissnei. She frowned, thinking about Aerith and Zack. "That's not gonna end well."

Reno snickered. "He's got no chance," he said, poking at the walls of the cave with his rod first. A barrage of poison darts filled the path ahead, pinging off walls, and both Reno and Cissnei stepped back, the two of them squeezing into a depression in the wall to wait it out. Their conversation barely missed a beat. "That's probably why he likes her though." Reno added.

"Aerith's the safe option," said Cissnei, agreeing. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Tseng was a Turk through and through. And he had been there when Veld had had to bomb Kalm. He had been there when Veld and Elfe had to die. Sometimes wanting what you couldn't have was better than the alternative. Her thoughts turned towards Sephiroth again and Cissnei frowned, forcing them away. She stepped out into the passageway ahead of him, kicking the fallen darts out of the way with her boot. "So, anything else I should know?" she asked, keeping her tone neutral.

Reno smirked. "Rude's got a huge crush on Tifa," he said.

Cissnei stopped walking, her eyes widening. "What?!" she asked. "Since when?"

Reno shot her a lopsided grin. "Since he saw her take out two slum drunks with her bare hands. You know how Rude is with those tough chicks."

"Reno, if you're pulling my leg, I'll push you off this mountain," promised Cissnei.

The lopsided smirk Reno shot her told her she could try.

"Whatever happened to—." Cissnei paused, grasping for the name. "—oh, crap—that girl from the bar? You know the one I mean."

"Chelsea?" asked Reno. "You were there for that. She was an AVALANCHE spy, remember?"

"Not her. The other one," said Cissnei. "Or am I mixing Rude up with someone else?"

"Oh, _that one_," said Reno. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that…didn't work out. She dumped him. Missions and birthdays don't mix, apparently. S'why I don't get mixed up in that stuff. Love 'em and leave 'em. That's my style." He shot Cissnei a playful grin, and Cissnei couldn't help but smile back.

"You're a pig," she said.

"You know you like me," said Reno in reply.

Cissnei's response was to roll her eyes, pushing past him to get a better look at a suspicious pattern on the far wall. She led him to the left as the path branched off and he followed without complaint.

"Speaking of pants," Reno continued, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. "How's leather workin' out for you?"

Cissnei nearly stumbled. "I'm not—!" she said, regaining her balance. "We're not—we don't—_Reno!" _

Reno looked genuinely puzzled. "What?" he asked. "Why not?"

Cissnei was dimly aware that her face was red. She lowered her eyes, trying to hide it, but the knowledge just made her face redden more. "_Because_!" she said, louder than she intended. "What gave you that idea anyway?"

Reno shrugged. "He gave me the evil eye when I walked off with you."

"That's because he's worried you'll try to kill me," said Cissnei.

"Hmm?" Reno smirked back at her as the path began to widen, a breeze blowing from an opening on the far end. "And how do you know I won't?"

"Because you're off the clock, and I know you don't work on your off hours," said Cissnei, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And because I can handle you."

"Oh, really?" asked Reno. He turned back towards her. "Care to test that?"

Cissnei smiled, glad at the change of topic. "The last time we did, you didn't come out of it so well."

"The way I remember it, princess, you went over the edge of the pillar. If it wasn't for your guardian angel, you'd have been toast."

"And the way I remember it," said Cissnei, putting a hand on his chest to push him lightly out of her way. Her other hand tightened its grip on Rekka, in case he decided to attack. "you ended up in the hospital, and I did not."

Reno stopped walking as they made it outside. "Careful, Ciss" he said as she walked past him. "I might break my no working policy, just for you." His teasing tone told her he wasn't serious. Yet. She relaxed her grip on her shuriken, but kept it by her side anyway.

She tossed her head over her shoulder, shooting him a smile as she scrambled up a fallen boulder. "Love you too, sweetheart," she said, jumping down the other side. She heard the scrape of gravel as Reno moved to follow her. He jogged to catch up, his hand landing on her elbow.

"So wait," he said. "I didn't get all of that wrong? You're into Sephiroth?" Cissnei shot him a look, pulling her elbow out of his grip and continuing on. The look in her eye must have said enough, because Reno nodded as if she had admitted it out loud. "Then why are you up here with me instead of over there with him?"

"You're an old friend," said Cissnei, looking over her shoulder. She looked back, continuing to walk. "And you're the safer option."

"Huh," she heard Reno say as she walked away. "I've never been anyone's safe option before."

Cissnei turned back, about to reply, when a bloodcurdling scream made her freeze. It sounded distinctly female, which told her that it wasn't any of their party. Reno jogged to catch up with her, his expression serious now. "That one was yours," he said.

She nodded. The scream had been too shrill to be Elena. "Yuffie."

"They can't be far," said Reno. All traces of levity in his voice had vanished—they were Turks on a mission again. He broke into a run. "C'mon."

Cissnei didn't hesitate to follow.

XxXxX

"Let go of me, you freak!" Yuffie screamed, trying to twist her wrist out of her captor's hold. The enemy ninja only held on tighter, catching her other wrist with his hand when she whirled to punch him in the nose. Off to her left, three of them had descended on Elena. Two had a hold of the Turk's arms, trying to restrain her. The other was one the ground with a knife through his eye. Yuffie lunged forward, attempting a headbutt, but her captor pulled back in time, allowing her a glimpse of his eyes beneath the mask. Her eyes widened. They were brown and almond-shaped, distinctive.

The men had ambushed Yuffie and Elena just as the two of them were exiting one of the tunnels, heading onto a ledge that overlooked one of Da Chao's carved faces. It was a passage that only Wutaiians should know, which was why she'd been surprised to be attacked in the first place. Now, everything made a sort of terrible sense.

"You're Wutaiian," she said.

The ninja said nothing, beginning to pull her towards the cliff face. Yuffie thrashed and struggled, trying to get away. "Let go!" she said. "Let me go! This is treason! Do you know who I am?"

"Oh, they know," said a voice, making Yuffie look up and Elena cease struggling just briefly. The speaker was one of the 'ninja'. He removed his hood, revealing a head of blond hair and hazel eyes. "These are exiles. Traitors from the war. You won't find any friends here, princess." He turned towards Elena, a slippery smile on his face. "I'm the head of Don Corneo's security. I think you know Nicolo. He was my friend." The man placed emphasis on the word 'was'. Elena spat at his feet. Yuffie was past hearing. She hadn't heard any word past 'traitors'.

With a strength she didn't know she had, Yuffie twisted and kicked, hooking her captor's feet out from under him. As he went down, she twisted her hands out of his grip, breaking the hold at its weakest point, where thumb met fingers. Yuffie jumped clear over him, rolling as she landed on the ground and running for Elena's knife. She yanked it out of the downed man's eye, standing on the other side of him with one arm out behind her. She kept her stance wide, well aware of the sheer drop inches behind her as the ninja closed in on her. There were three, not counting the blond man and the two holding Elena.

Yuffie swept the knife from side to side in a serpentine pattern, her eyes narrowed at them. She took in a slow breath as they formed a half-circle around her, trying to calm the cold fear that had settled into her stomach. She'd fought three on one before, but not without her shuriken and those were street thugs, not ninja. Certainly not exiled ninja. The war had bred a lot of traitors, but some of those situations could have been explained, or were at least suspected. Noblemen turned traitor all the time, to each other or to the realm. That was why no one had been surprised by Tseng. But not ninja. Wutai's ninja might deceive everyone else, but they were loyal to Wutai.

Or they should have been.

"So the kitten has claws," said the bodyguard. His expression hardened. "Though they're not sharp enough. Take her."

The ninja obeyed. Yuffie could taste her fear in the back of her throat as they advanced, but she managed to move, ducking under a grab and lashing out with the knife. She knew the basics of knife fighting—every ninja did. Knife fighting was quick and dirty, you killed or you didn't, and she couldn't think of a way to end this without spilling blood. The thought struck her as she moved that she'd never actually killed anyone before. Bile threatened to rise in her throat, and she felt a familiar churning in her stomach. _Not now, _she told herself as she raised her knife. _Leviathan, not now. _

The hilt of the blade felt slippery in her hand, and as she stabbed at what she thought was the heart, the knife struck bone, the shock of impact traveling up her arm, and the man grunted in pain and dropped, but he wasn't dead. His arms were wrapped around his chest, and Yuffie didn't have the time to deal with him in that instant. She whirled around as another ninja advanced on her, grabbing onto his shoulder and sweeping his feet out from under him. Yuffie turned, angling him towards the cliff, and at that moment, she swore he saw the scared look in her eye. His grip tightened on her, meaning to drag her down with him, but the knife _did _move then. It flashed quickly in her hand and stabbed down into the flesh between neck and shoulder and there was blood and Yuffie felt sick. It wasn't her first time seeing blood—she'd _been there_ when Vincent had blown a Sephiroth clone's face out inches away from her, and she'd been grossed out and disturbed, but she hadn't felt as sick as she did now.

But the man dropped down over the side of the mountain, and at least she didn't have to deal with it anymore, but there were still two of them, and Elena was struggling too, and she whipped her hand around, moving purely on instinct. Someone caught her knife hand as she tried to stab down and something else slammed into the back of her head and then all Yuffie knew was blackness and hands trying to hold her up. She saw the bloodied knife fall out of her hands, landing on the ground.

Her sole consolation as she slumped forward and lost consciousness was that when she actually did throw up, she'd done it all over that blond.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	105. File 030: Strange Bedfellows pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I know some of you were hoping for some Yuffentine this chapter, but this was a reconciliation that needed to happen. You'll get Yuffie and Vincent interaction sure enough, I promise. ^^

Thanks go to **Furionknight, SpiritDreamWarriors, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, kitty materia princess, Eavenne, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki **and **Leon Kaye **for your reviews and support. This chapter is a long one! Enjoy! There's one more Wutai file left. I think you can all guess what it is.

**SpiritDreamWarriors, **yes and no. THIS particular fic isn't going to end early enough for Denzel to feature, but yes, I do plan to still have Cloud find him and adopt him, and he has a special role in Our Generation. Hint: He's already been mentioned in that fic, just not by name.

**Kitty materia princess, **which one? That she got kidnapped or that she had high grades at the Academy? If so, she did get kidnapped and did drop an Elite Emblem to clue people in as to where she was. As far as being 'top of her class' goes, she got five Elite Emblems in hand to hand combat, so I was just kind of extrapolating from there.

XxXxX

**File 030: Strange Bedfellows**

Don Corneo had tied Yuffie and Elena to one of Da Chao's faces, the two of them hanging suspended over the eyes. Predictably, Yuffie was screaming bloody murder, struggling and thrashing against her bonds. Vincent's hand dropped to the hilt of his gun, his eyes flicking towards her as he followed Sephiroth and Rude up the path at a run. Masamune was already in Sephiroth's hands—it flashed dangerously in the sunlight as the SOLDIER rushed up the mountainside towards Corneo.

One of Corneo's bodyguards moved to impede them. Sephiroth didn't even use his sword. He kicked without breaking stride, sending the man screaming over the edge of the mountain.

The fat man sat at the edge of one of Da Chao's hands, clapping his own hands together as he studied his captives. "Delicious! Scrumptious! I think I've just found a new _hobby_!" He got up, pacing in front of the two of them, his eyes roving over them as he considered each one.

"Which shall it be?" Vincent heard him say, his voice echoing throughout the mountainside. "Hmm…hmm…should I go with her?"

"H—Hey, I'm one of the Turks!" he heard Elena protest. "Don't think you can get away with this!"

"Or maybe, _her_?"

Yuffie did not stop squirming. "Oh gawd!" she said. "If I knew this was gonna happen, I would've taken rope escape lessons more seriously!"

Sephiroth turned at a fork in the road, running up a slope towards them as Corneo spoke. "Hmm, I've made my choice!" he said. "My companion for the night shall be…the cheerful one!"

"GROSS-NESS!" Vincent was almost sure Yuffie's scream could be heard all the way in the village. "Don't mess with me, old man! You don't even have any Materia!"

"And she's saucy too!" Corneo seemed excited by the prospect.

Sephiroth's blade cut through the air, dispatching the two ninjas that moved to stop them in one quick motion. He leapt from the path, landing neatly on the statue's outstretched hand and flicking the blood off his blade. "Yuffie," he said, looking up at her.

Yuffie's eyes went as round as saucers. "Se—Sephiroth?" she asked.

Sephiroth turned back to Corneo. The man had taken several steps back, so that he was now standing with his back towards the statue's curved fingers. "Wh—What's going on?" he asked. "Why are _you_ here?" Sephiroth said nothing in response to either of them, drawing his sword close to himself.

"Guards!" shouted Corneo, looking around frantically. "Guards!"

"They won't be coming, pal," said a familiar voice from the mountainside.

Vincent looked up just as Corneo, Yuffie, and Elena did. Reno stood on a cliff overlooking the scene, his rod in his hand. Cissnei stood close behind him, the edges of her shuriken wet with blood.

"Now I know why Nico came to work for us," she said.

"Reno…" said Elena, looking up. It was at that moment that he and Rude arrived. The young Turk's eyes turned towards them. "Rude."

"Cissnei," said Yuffie. She turned, seeing him. "Vincent." The ninja slumped against her bonds, her expression caught somewhere between surprise, relief, and shame. "You guys came…"

Vincent didn't glance in her direction, drawing his gun. Corneo's eyes flicked towards each of them in turn, his face going pale when he saw the blood on both Sephiroth and Cissnei's weapons. Sephiroth stepped towards Corneo. "Let them go," he said. There was a very clear threat in that statement.

Corneo wet his lips with his tongue. "You—you're serious," he said. "Good. Good." He took another step back. "This—ain't no time for me to be fooling around either. Your friends killed my little Aps. I'm gonna make you _play_ with my new pet, so you won't get in the way of my search for a bride!"

Sephiroth tensed, raising his sword, but Corneo spread his arms out wide, looking up at the mountain. "RAPPS!" he called. "Come here!"

The creature that screeched and swooped down from above looked like a cross between a bird and a dragon. Sephiroth immediately jumped up, his wing extending as he flew upwards to meet it. Vincent drew his gun, pulling back the safety as Cissnei leapt down from her perch, running towards them with shuriken in hand. The two of them stood together, Vincent with his gun and Cissnei with her shuriken, as the creature let out an ear-piercing shriek, drawing its claws back and rushing toward Sephiroth. Sephiroth raised Masamune, blocking its claws. Rapps reared, flapping its wings, and its tail whipped around, stabbing at Sephiroth's shoulder. Sephiroth flew back, pulling his wing closer to himself. He wove around Rapps's tail, the barb sailing just over his shoulder. His eyes flicked towards it, and as sunlight flashed against the barb at the tip of the tail, Vincent saw it take on the unhealthy sheen of poison. Cissnei let her shuriken fly, and Sephiroth quickly ducked out of the way of the blow, flying upwards into the air as Rekka slashed a line across Rapps' face.

Rapps screamed in fury, tucking its wings close to itself and diving at Cissnei. Cissnei jumped back, catching her shuriken in the air as it whirled its way back to her. Rapps's claws dug into the ground she had just been standing on, tearing gashes in the earth. Vincent whirled, firing two shots. His first caught Rapps below the wing, causing the creature to stumble forward and look over its shoulder at him. The second punched a hole in Rapps's wing just as it turned around. Vincent jumped back, prepared to dodge a blow, when Rapps launched itself into the air, spinning out of the way of a slice from Sephiroth. It flapped twice, sending itself higher in the air, then roared at them, flapping its wings rapidly.

A whirlwind formed from the creature's wings, hitting Sephiroth first. The ex-SOLDIER shielded his face with his arm, the gusts of wind tugging at his wing and sending him flying back end over end. The blast struck the ground, and Vincent raised his gauntlet to protect himself, looking away and letting out a grunt of pain as the impact slammed him to the ground. Across from him, he saw Cissnei crouch down, hiding as much of herself beneath Rekka as possible. Vincent pushed himself up off the ground, flipping over backwards and landing on his feet. He fired at Rapps as Cissnei whirled around and threw her shuriken again, her left hand gripping tightly onto her right shoulder to support it. He saw blood start to seep through her clothing.

As Sephiroth righted himself in the air and flew towards Rapps again, Vincent pulled a bottle of potion out of the folds of his cloak, uncapping it with his thumb and tossing it at her. The bottle flipped end over end in the air, splashing her with the glowing liquid inside. He turned away, not checking to see if the healing had been successful, and fired a shot at the space immediately towards Rekka's right as Rapps dodged the shuriken. Sephiroth insinuated himself into a space between the two projectiles, slashing upward and cutting a gash directly across Rapps's middle. The creature shrieked and lashed out with its tail. Sephiroth moved in time to avoid being struck in the neck, but the tail cut across his chest, and Vincent saw blood as he flew back, one hand on the wound. Sephiroth staggered for a moment, and Vincent was suddenly reminded of the unhealthy sheen on Rapps's tail.

He reached for an antidote, but before he had time to find one, Sephiroth was already moving, gripping Masamune with both hands as he stabbed and slashed at Rapps in quick succession. Rapps dodged the first blow, but let out another screech of pain as Masamune bit into its shoulder, quickly flying back and batting at Sephiroth with its wings. Sephiroth blocked the blows easily, twisting around and stabbing at Rapps's side. The blade struck scales, skittering across them as Rapps lunged, its claws aimed at Sephiroth's middle. Sephiroth pulled back in time to avoid getting struck, flapping his wing to gain distance.

A pair of feminine shouts drew Vincent's attention, and he looked over his shoulder. Yuffie and Elena's wrists had been released—the two of them now dangled upside down on the face of Da Chao. On the ledge above, Reno and Rude were fighting against a group of his bodyguards. Reno's eyes widened as he noticed what was going on, and he kicked a ninja out of the way, turning towards the cliff face. "Elena!" he shouted.

Vincent's eyes narrowed, and he whirled, turning towards Corneo. The man had stepped back so that he was standing on the statue's fingers, his eyes wide as he watched the battle between Sephiroth and Rapps. It was clear that he thought his beat might lose this fight. The look in his eyes was crazed, half-mad, and Vincent stopped himself from rushing at the man as he noticed the device held in his hands. Cissnei had already run towards him, and stopped, a few feet away from him as he looked up at her.

"Why do you think a man like me would plead for his life?" he asked Cissnei, grinning. "Because he's ready to die, because he's sure to win, or because he's clueless?"

"_Vincent_!" yelled Yuffie.

He looked back at the cliff. Rapps had flown even higher now, blotting out the sun, and the creature was flapping its wings again, letting loose another whirlwind. The whirlwind buffeted the two women on the cliff face, sending them swinging back and forth on their ropes like marionettes. Elena yelped as she was thrown back against the mountainside, but one of Yuffie's ropes twisted and tensed with the strain, and Vincent saw it snap. She let out a shriek as her leg fell, leaving her dangling on the cliff by one ankle. Yuffie let out a hiss through her teeth, reaching up and trying to grab onto the last remaining rope.

"Yuffie!" said Elena, reaching out for her.

The blow had unsettled Sephiroth as well, forcing him away from the cliff side. His eyes moved towards the girls, but his attention returned almost immediately to Rapps as the creature soared towards him, snapping at him with sharp teeth. The creature's teeth caught Masamune in mid-swing, and Sephiroth turned, using his slash to throw Rapps off and send it tumbling in the air. The creature righted itself, lunging towards Sephiroth again, and Vincent raised his gun, shooting at the creature as Cissnei's shuriken scored its underbelly.

Sephiroth caught Rapps's bite with his right forearm. Unlike Vincent, he didn't have an armored gauntlet there, and Vincent saw puncture wounds in his gloves as he shoved Rapps back, raising his sword. The blow sent Rapps back, the creature crashing into the face of Da Chao. The blow shook the mountain, sending the two women tied there swinging again. Yuffie's yelp of pain was audible now, and Vincent wondered whether the strain had hurt her ankle. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rapps right itself, bobbing up and down in the air. It lunged towards Sephiroth, the tip of its tail flicking across Yuffie's last rope as it moved.

The tail cut the rope. Yuffie let out a scream as she began to fall, grabbing for the mountainside. Cissnei, Reno, and Rude turned at once, facing her.

"_Yuffie_!" shouted Cissnei, reaching out a hand uselessly. Sephiroth turned towards her, tucking his wing close to himself, but before he could move, Rapps lunged at his side, blocking him in. Vincent ran, leaping off the side of the cliff towards her. He caught her with one arm as she fell, pulling her close to himself. His cloak flared out behind him as he turned, using the statue's nose as a jumping off point and clearing the gap again. He set her down behind him, his red eyes flaring as he whirled around again and fired at Rapps.

The bullet tore through the creature's underbelly and exited out of its back, causing the creature to stagger midair. Behind him, Yuffie sat on the ground, her legs spread out underneath her and one arm curled against her chest as she stared up with at him with wide eyes.

Rapps's staggering was all the incentive Sephiroth needed. The ex-SOLDIER flew backwards, gripping his sword in both hands. He flew towards Rapps, Masamune trailing blinding light in the sky as Sephiroth darted past him, coming to a stop in mid-air. There was a pause, and then seven lines of light appeared on Rapps's body, tearing the creature apart.

It let out one last scream of rage and pain, collapsing onto the ground in front of Don Corneo. Sephiroth landed on the ground beside it, swiping the sword in front of him to clear it of blood as he folded his wing close to himself, black feathers scattering on the ground around him. Corneo took a step back and raised his hands to protect himself, his face pale.

"W—Wait!" he said. "If you kill me, she still falls! I'll drop her, I really will!"

Sephiroth hesitated, his eyes moving towards Elena. The Turk was doubled over now, grabbing at her ankle restraints with her hands. She paused briefly, looking over her shoulder at the drama below. Behind him, Vincent heard Yuffie start to sit up. Corneo glanced at Elena, marking the hesitation. He exhaled, shaking his head.

"Ha, ha, ha!" he said. "Looks like I'm the one laughing last!"

"No, that would be us," said a voice from behind him.

Vincent looked over his shoulder, stepping aside to let Reno pass by. For once, Reno wasn't smiling. His eyes were hard, a frown on his face as he stepped forward and glared at Corneo. Corneo stared at him, as if noticing him there for the first time.

"The Turks!" he said.

"You knew this was gonna happen ever since you leaked that secret," said Reno. "We're going to take care of you. Personally." He moved past Sephiroth, his eyes fixed on the man. Sephiroth let him pass, saying nothing.

"Then she's going with me!" said Corneo, raising the hand that held the device.

A knife sunk into the back of his hand, making Corneo scream. He dropped the device, stumbling back and over the edge of the cliff. The man held on, his fingers grappling for purchase as he struggled to pull himself back up. Reno's eyes flicked towards the knife thrower, who was standing on the path behind the statue's head. "Good timing, Rude," he said.

"It was Elena's," said Rude in explanation, inclining his head towards the knife. He pushed his sunglasses up with one gloved hand, stepping forward. "Let's get to work."

Reno stepped forward, stomping his foot down on the Don's fingers. Corneo looked up at him with wide eyes, held in place by Reno's foot. "Alright, Corneo," he said. "This'll be over quick, so listen up. Why do you think we went through the trouble of teaming up with those guys to get to you? Because we were ready to die, because we were sure of victory, or because we were clueless?" He dug his boot onto the back of Corneo's palm, making the man thrash against the rocks.

"T—Two?!" he asked. "N-Number two?!"

"All wrong," said Reno, stepping back. Corneo's eyes widened further, and he tried to pull himself up.

"No, wait, sto—!" he began.

Reno moved, casually kicking his hand off the ledge. Corneo fell screaming.

Reno remained there until the screaming had stopped. Then he stepped away from the cliff, turning towards his partner. "The correct answer was…" he began.

"Because it's our job," finished Rude.

"I thought you didn't work off the clock," said Cissnei, letting out the breath she was holding as she turned towards Reno.

"I don't," said Reno, tapping his rod against his shoulder. "That one was personal." He looked over his shoulder, eyeing Elena. Her eyes widened, and she turned towards him. Her relief was almost palpable.

"Reno, Rude…" she said. "I didn't expect you two would come. Thank you."

"Elena, don't act so weak," said Reno. "You're a Turk!"

Elena stared. "Y—Yes, sir!" she said.

The sound of a phone ringing cut through the silence. Reno reached into his jacket pocket for it, inclining his head towards Rude. "Get her down," he said, flipping the phone open and pressing it to his ear. Rude nodded, jogging back up the path towards where the ropes were tied.

Vincent kept his eye on Reno as the Turk turned away from them, looking up at the sky. "Yeah," he said into the phone at his ear. "Yeah. Sure. Yeah, I'll get on it." He hung up.

"Was that the company?" asked Elena, looking over at him as Rude started pulling her back onto the ledge.

"Yeah," said Reno, his eyes moving over the four of them. "They want us to track down Sephiroth."

Sephiroth tensed, reaching for his sword. Vincent kept his hand on his gun. Cissnei's eyes landed on Reno, raising her shuriken in front of herself.

"Are we on?" asked Rude.

Reno stared at them for a long moment, his gaze landing on Cissnei the longest. At length, he turned back to his partner. "No," he said. "Today we're off-duty. Pack it up. Let's head back to the bar."

Rude nodded, continuing to hoist Elena back up onto the ledge.

It was only after the Turks were gone that Sephiroth allowed himself to drop to his knees, one hand on the poisoned wound that Corneo's monster had inflicted on him. Cissnei's eyes widened as she saw this, and she immediately rushed over to him, dropping her shuriken and touching her fingers to his forehead. Vincent watched the exchange. Now that the situation was past, he noticed that the ex-SOLDIER was pale and shaking, a sheen of sweat covering his skin.

"Sephiroth, you're burning up!" Vincent heard her say. She rummaged in her pockets, pulling out a small vial. "Here, take this antidote…"

Vincent moved to the side, glancing behind him as he heard Yuffie shift. The ninja sat with her back towards a rock, staring at Sephiroth with an unreadable expression on her face and in her eyes…

XxXxX

When the poison's effects had been cleared and they had rested and recovered for a while, Sephiroth went to see to Yuffie. The ninja was sitting with her back to a rock, her knee pulled up close to her chest and her hands wrapped around her ankle. As he approached, she looked up at him. She at least, had the grace to look ashamed. Her eyes lowered, fixing on the ground instead.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I hurt my ankle." The admission was given almost to the ground instead of to him. Sephiroth dropped down to one knee, reaching for it. Yuffie didn't seem to be in the mood for argument. She said nothing, letting her hands drop away. Sephiroth prodded at it, feeling for the bone. He heard her hiss.

"It's not broken," he said, looking over at her. "It looks like a sprain." She nodded, as if she had been expecting that. Sephiroth went on. "We could cure you, _if _we had our Materia."

She nodded again, her eyes darker this time. Sephiroth got to his feet. Yuffie looked close enough to tears that he didn't want to press the subject right now. Instead, he hooked an arm beneath her knees and another across her back, picking her up. Yuffie tensed, her eyes widening in surprise.

"It's the easiest way to get you back," he said in explanation. Yuffie didn't say anything. Another time, she might have argued, but this time, she simply sighed and nodded, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest. Sephiroth nodded at Cissnei and Vincent, the four of them setting out on their path down the mountain.

They were halfway down the mountain when Yuffie spoke up, lifting her head. Vincent and Cissnei were ahead of them at this point, the two of them scouting out the area ahead. "Hey…Seph?" she asked.

"Yes?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I'm sorry."

Sephiroth said nothing, focusing on the path ahead of him. When he didn't respond, Yuffie drew back, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. "You could say something, you know?" she said. "I'm apologizing here! Sheesh, you're as bad as Vinnie."

"I let you take the Materia," he reminded her.

Yuffie frowned, looking away from him. "I wasn't talking about the Materia." She took a deep breath, watching as the mountainside began to fall away and the village of Wutai drew closer. There was something in her expression, something he had only seen in Yuffie's eyes twice. The first time they met, when she attacked him, and the last time they met, when she'd run off with the Materia. The last two times he had seen it, it had been masked by anger, but that anger wasn't there anymore. Instead, her eyes showed only grief. He looked away, fixing his eyes on the distant village instead.

"Who did I kill?" he finally asked.

He thought he might have been wrong about that, but Yuffie let out a shuddering breath, fiddling with her hands and lowering her eyes to her knees.

"My mother," she said.

That made Sephiroth pause. "Your mother died of an illness," he said.

Yuffie nodded, her fingers interlocking. Her hands clenched tightly together. "She did," she said, her voice heavy. "It was curable. Or it would have been, if we could have left the fort. But the road was blocked by Shinra troops. Yours," she added, as if he'd failed to make that connection. "I was five."

Eleven years ago. He would have been nineteen. A SOLDIER First Class, familiar to the battlefield but still new to command. He remembered closing off the roads that year. The fort Yuffie was talking about was to be their next target—he needed to close off their supply routes in order to begin an effective siege. It was only later that he'd heard that the Empress had died. He didn't know she had died _there_. "I was following orders," he told Yuffie, although he knew it wasn't an excuse.

"I know," she said. "But she died. Godo and I never got along after that. I thought if I…could bring Materia back to Wutai…"

He nodded. She didn't need to explain any more. He already knew why she had stolen the Materia. Yuffie stopped talking, sitting up. She didn't say anything for a while, staring down at her hands. He noticed now that there was blood on them, and on the shielded gauntlet she wore on her arm. "It's hard to kill…" she said quietly.

"Yes," said Sephiroth.

"Does it ever get easier?" she asked.

"It shouldn't."

"But it does?" asked Yuffie, looking up at him.

"That depends," Sephiroth replied.

"On what?"

"On who you're trying to kill."

She nodded, thinking about that for a moment. When she next turned towards him, she met his eyes. "I don't hate you anymore," she said.

Sephiroth nodded again.

"Can I…" Yuffie hesitated, looking almost shy. She bit her lip, looking at the road ahead of them. "Can I still travel with you guys?" she asked.

"You'll have to ask the others," said Sephiroth. "But," he added, looking at the group that had assembled on the road outside of the village. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"_Yuffie!" _shouted a group of voices, making her look up. Yuffie's eyes widened, noticing them. They were all there, standing outside of the town. Zack, Aerith, and Kunsel, Cid, Barret, and Nanaki, Cloud, Tifa, even Blaire. All of them were looking at her expectantly, various degrees of relief, worry, and irritation on their faces.

It was Zack who reached her first, running up to her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Zack?" asked Yuffie, staring at him. "I—I'm fine." Sephiroth paused, and Yuffie placed a hand on his shoulder, indicating that she wanted to be put down. He let her push herself out of his hold, supporting her with his arms so that she didn't put all her weight down on her injured foot. She turned around, studying the others as they all gathered around her. "Really, I'm fine."

"I'm glad," said Tifa, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. "We were so worried." Her expression of relief melted, becoming something more like anger, and the martial artist suddenly pulled back, giving Yuffie a quick slap across the face. "Don't you _ever _do that again. Do you hear me?" she asked.

"Ow," said Yuffie, rubbing at her cheek. "Sheesh, Teef. Yeah, I hear you."

"He didn't do anything ta you, did he, brat?" growled Cid, turning towards her.

"If he did, I'll blow his brains out!" threatened Barret, raising his gun arm.

"Um…a little too late for that," said Yuffie. "Reno kind of pushed him off the mountain."

"Did he do anything to you?" asked Kunsel, his eyes narrowed. Yuffie shook her head, clearly taken aback by this sudden show of interest from everyone.

"No, honest," she said. "I'm fine. Like I'd let a creep like that do anything in the first place!"

Nanaki crept forward, sniffing the air cautiously. "I smell blood," he said.

"It's not mine," said Yuffie, whirling around towards him. "Honest."

"What happened to your ankle?" asked Cloud.

"I—."

"I'll take care of it," said Aerith, striding forward with her staff in hand.

Yuffie blinked, looking over at the rest of them. "You're not mad at me?" she asked.

"Kid, we're effin' furious," said Cid, plucking his cigarette out of his mouth and stamping it out. He shot a glare at Tifa as she looked over at him, his eyes flicking towards Blaire. "What? Effin' isn't a cuss word!"

"But—." Yuffie began.

"We can talk about it later," said Tifa, turning towards her. "You've been through enough today."

Kunsel's hand landed on her shoulder. "Just give us back the Materia, and we're even," he said.

Yuffie blinked in surprise. "Wait? I can still travel with you?" she asked.

A murmur went through the group, several of its members exchanging glances. "You're one of us, aren't you?" asked Barret.

"Unless you want to stay," said Zack, frowning at her.

"You're not leaving, are you?" asked Blaire hesitantly, stepping forward.

"No." Yuffie shook her head quickly. "No, I want to—."

"Lady Yuffie."

The sound of a voice made the entire group fall silent. One at a time, they all turned towards the speaker. Sephiroth looked as well. The man speaking was dressed in typical Wutaiian garb, his long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. He lowered his head to speak, one fist over his heart. From the center of the group, Yuffie turned, the frown on her face telling him that she hadn't been expecting this.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Lord Godo wishes to speak to you," said the man. He hesitated, his eyes passing over the rest of the group before landing on Yuffie. "He wishes for you to remain in Wutai."

**END FILE**


	106. File 031: Leviathan's Daughter pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I'm doing a little bit of exploration into some hidden depths here, because the situation really calls for it. I like the idea of a more emotional Yuffie underneath all the perky brattiness. Hope you guys like what I've done!

Thanks go to **Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Eavenne, ryuukoshi, kitty materia princess, Furionknight, Isayan, **and **some major fan** for your reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **Yuffie's mom was mentioned in the _Ultimania _guide, but all it said was that she died of an illness when Yuffie was young and her name was Kasumi. I extracted that and used it for maximum drama. XD I'm glad you like the Yuffie and Sephiroth scene!

**JazzQueen, **character development was the plan. ^^ Glad you like it!

**Isayan, **well, she's young. I guess the group can forgive her—this time. And my version of Yuffie is more apologetic than how she was in the canon version of this scene, mostly because Sephiroth's presence is dredging up some painful memories.

**some major fan, **oh no! Please don't die! Here's another chapter! Also, I'm glad you like it. As far as the kisses go, Cloti…you'll have to wait a bit. Like in the original game, it takes them up till the end to get together. Sephissnei…well, you won't have to wait quite as long. I should explain that I don't see writing the kissing scenes as the culmination of a romantic arc (I still intend to do things with Zack and Aerith that'll test their relationship further, for example, and I think the emotional attachment between the two parts of a pair counts for more than the kiss), but yes, there will eventually be kisses.

XxXxX

**File 031: Leviathan's Daughter**

Godo's palace was underground, hidden beneath the framework of a temple. The palace was old, centuries older than anything the Shinras had ever built, and was decorated with tapestries, paintings, and other ornaments that Tifa was sure cost more than anything she had ever earned in her lifetime. Tifa had always known that Yuffie was a princess, but standing here in the hallway outside of the Emperor's study drove that fact home.

The palace was beautiful, but despite all that, there was a stifling feeling in the air, something that made Tifa feel like she was constantly being watched. She folded her arms, leaning against the wall and trying to imagine Yuffie, even a younger version of Yuffie—ever feeling at home here.

It was difficult. Tifa wondered if maybe that was why Yuffie had left.

She looked around at the others. All twelve of them, minus Yuffie, were standing in the hallway, clustered around a sliding door and listening intently. The voices on the other side of the door had been soft at first, but now it was almost impossible not to hear them. The man and woman standing guard outside of the study looked like they had a lot of practice pretending to be deaf—neither of them so much as winced when Yuffie raised her voice. Tifa wasn't so graceful, especially not when a deeper voice rose in response. She exchanged a worried glance with Aerith, who was standing on the other side of the hallway next to Zack. The flower girl looked back at her, and Tifa wondered if she even noticed she was holding Zack's hand.

The argument had begun in Wutaiian, which Tifa couldn't understand, but from the looks on Vincent, Sephiroth, and Cissnei's faces, it couldn't have been anything good. As the argument went on, however, the conversation slowly started shifting to Gaian. It was, Cissnei had pointed out when Tifa asked, Yuffie's favorite language for ranting. To Tifa, that didn't sound like a good sign.

Despite the fact that Wutaiian was her mother tongue, if someone had asked before this, Tifa would have said that Yuffie didn't have an accent. Today, she would have revised that answer. She would have said that Yuffie only had an accent when she was angry. The fact that none of them had heard it before meant that she had never been this angry. "I already told you," she said. "I'm leaving! And you can't stop me!"

"I'm doing what's best for Wutai!" replied Godo. "If you would just _see _that, instead of seeing only what you want to see!"

"I see you hiding," said Yuffie. "Since when is _that _best for Wutai?!"

"You don't know anything about what you're saying, Yufi." Godo pronounced her name differently than they did, even slightly differently than she did herself.

"I know you won't even acknowledge me in public, because I'm working against Shinra," countered Yuffie.

"I will not allow you to disgrace this nation further!" growled Godo.

"Oh, _I'm _the disgrace?!" Yuffie's tone sounded incredulous. "You look in a mirror lately, Pops?"

Tifa cringed again at the obvious fury in Godo's voice, and the sound of something, probably a chair, falling over as the man rose to his feet. "You _will _keep a civil tongue in your head when speaking to me, young lady!" he said.

"I'm sorry," said Yuffie, even though she didn't sound like it. Tifa could practically _hear _the sneer in her tone. "My _lord_," she added. "By the way, since when are you _Lord _Godo? What, did you dissolve the monarchy while I was away too?"

"Would that I could," snarled Godo, "If only so that it would never fall _to you!_"

"I'm out of here," said Yuffie, and Tifa heard her stomp over to the door, only to pause when Godo shouted something back.

"You will not leave. I have not dismissed you yet. You will stay in this country until you learn how to have some semblance of respect!"

"Oh yeah?" challenged Yuffie. "Just try and keep me here, then!"

"You will stay!" Godo insisted. "I command it."

"By what authority?" asked Yuffie.

"My authority as Emperor."

"Oh, so now you're Emperor when it's convenient," said Yuffie. "Are you Father when it's convenient too?"

"_Kisaragi no Yufi!" _Godo said something in Wutaiian, his voice ringing through the hallway. From Cissnei's sudden change in expression, it wasn't a minor thing. Tifa looked up, turning towards her.

"He said," said Cissnei, wide-eyed. She shook her head, and when she spoke again, she was calmer. "He said she will stay, if she wants any chance at ever taking the throne."

Nanaki looked up, surprised. "He threatened to disinherit her?" he asked.

"The nerve of that bastard," grumbled Cid, marching towards the door. Kunsel quickly reached out, and held him in place.

Inside the room, it had suddenly gone very quiet. Yuffie said nothing for a few long moments, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft. "You wouldn't," she said.

"I would," said Godo, in Gaian again. "You have no idea of the things you drive me to do."

There was silence. It was silent, for much longer than Tifa had ever heard Yuffie be quiet. The twelve of them exchanged glances, Blaire shuffling closer to Sephiroth and grabbing hold of his coat. He let her, sparing her a brief glance before turning his attention back to the door.

When Yuffie spoke again, her voice was soft, but there was a spark in there that Tifa hadn't head before. "Then I challenge you," she said.

Yuffie's voice was soft. Godo's was even softer. "What?"

"You heard me," said Yuffie. "I challenge you as your heir. I'll take the test of strength."

"You mean to challenge the Pagoda of the Five Gods?" asked Godo. "You, who couldn't even escape from a mere criminal?" Cissnei sucked in a breath. Tifa quickly looked across at her, but she shook her head, clearly not wanting to explain. Sephiroth and Vincent's faces were grave as well, their eyes now fixed on the door.

"If that's what I have to do," said Yuffie. "And if I win, you'll let me leave, and you won't interfere."

"What?" asked Zack, frowning in confusion. He turned towards Sephiroth, looking between him and Vincent. "What does that _mean_?"

It was Vincent who answered. "The Five Gods are Wutai's five strongest warriors," he said, looking over at Zack. "To win the challenge, Yuffie must fight each of them. Alone."

Zack's eyes went wide. "Alone?" he asked, looking back at the door. "Is she out of her mind?"

"It's Yuffie," replied Sephiroth. "The answer is usually yes." He held up a hand, cutting off Zack's response and looking back at the door.

"Then I suggest you prepare, daughter," Godo was saying, his voice like ice. "Tomorrow, we'll let Leviathan decide which one of us has the right."

The sliding door slid open, Yuffie stepping out of it. The guards closed it behind her, pretending not to see her as she stepped beneath their crossed spears, turning towards them. She wasn't smiling. There was definite anger in her eyes as she turned away from the guards, walking towards where they were waiting.

"Kid, are you out of your fucking mind?!" demanded Cid, pulling his arm out of Kunsel's hold and turning towards her.

Yuffie held out a hand, cutting him off before he could reach her, and stopping any others from trying. Tifa watched her, concerned, and realized that she had started walking towards Yuffie as well.

"This is something I have to do," she said. "You guys can stay at my place till it's over."

"Yuffie…" began Aerith.

The others fell silent. Yuffie's eyes moved to each of them in turn, and then she seemed to deflate, folding her arms and lowering her eyes to the ground. Looking at her, Tifa realized just how young Yuffie was.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"I have to try," Yuffie replied.

"You'll need to train," said Sephiroth, looking across at her. "if you want to have any hope of winning."

"I know," said Yuffie. She sighed, a hesitant smile appearing on her face as her eyes moved towards Cissnei. "Help me train?"

Cissnei stared at her, then nodded.

XxXxX

It was still dark when Vincent opened his eyes, a glance at the clock telling him it was only one in the morning, a scant three hours since they had gone to bed. Despite this, he felt wide awake. He had never needed that much sleep, not since first awakening from the experiments performed on him, and outside of his coffin, sleep came with some difficulty in the first place. He stared up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the clock ticking away and Cid and Barret's snoring. After a few moments, when it became clear that sleep would not return, he sat up, moving quietly so as not to disturb his companions, and shuffled out of the room. He slid the door closed behind him, looking out into the hallway.

The house was quiet. After the events of the day, most of its inhabitants were tired, and had gone to bed early—helped, no doubt, by the food and sake that Yuffie had had brought over as an apology. Now, most of them slept—he, Cid, Barret, and Nanaki in futons on the floor of a storage room, Sephiroth, Cloud, Zack, and Kunsel in a guest room, and the women in Yuffie's room. He listened, letting his enhanced hearing take in the sounds of soft breathing, the sounds of the wind brushing up against wind chimes outside of the door and the sounds of people still out on the streets—mostly drunks or tourists laughing and talking amongst themselves—and the sounds of metal thumping against wood, quiet grunts, and rhythmic footfalls.

He frowned at the last set of sounds, making his way down the hall into the living room. He walked in his socks—Yuffie had demanded they all take their shoes off before entering her house—and made very little sound as he stole his way down the hall towards Yuffie's bedroom. He paused, listening as the sounds grew louder, although they would still be considered soft to normal ears, and slid the door open. The girls inside were asleep, most of them hidden behind the privacy screen. He noticed that Cissnei was among them, her shuriken not far from her hand.

The door to the dojo was closed. Vincent opened it, just enough for him to slip into the staircase, and closed it again.

It was once he was inside that he noticed the light. His curse had given him the ability to see well in the dark, so the lack of light in Yuffie's house hadn't bothered him, but now he noticed that the lights were still on in the dojo below. He made his way down the stairs, walking along the sides so that the steps didn't creak, and looked out into the room. Yuffie stood in the center of the tatami, her shuriken in hand. She had obviously been there a long time.

In front of the six statues that watched the dojo, there were now flat pieces of wood dangling from ropes, obviously intended as targets. As Vincent watched, she took a deep breath, facing the scrolls at the front of the dojo, then turned, launching into a complicated series of jumps and flips. Each time she jumped, she let her shuriken fly, the weapon spinning through the air and striking one of the targets. She remained inside of her circle, catching the shuriken each time it returned to her, and transitioning smoothly into the next movement until each of the targets had been hit. Yuffie jumped up into the air, catching her shuriken for the last time as she flipped over backwards and landed on her feet. She stared at the marks on the targets, muttering something under her breath, and wiped sweat out of her eyes. As he watched, she retied the band that held her hair out of her face, breathing heavily as she took a step back to try again.

He stepped out from his place at the foot of the stairs, walking over to the tatami. "You should be sleeping."

Yuffie jumped, nearly dropping her shuriken as she whirled around to face him. Her eyes widened, and her mouth worked, making her look for a little while like a fish out of water. "Vincent!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you training." He paused at the edge of the mat, offering her a Wutaiian bow. Yuffie gaped at him, leaving him frozen there for a few moments before she hastily returned it.

"_O—Onegaishimasu," _she said.

"_Onegaishimasu," _he replied in unaccented Wutaiian, rising from the bow. He bowed again at the scrolls at the front of the room before stepping onto the mat. She took a step back, studying him curiously. Vincent faced her, his eyes moving from the shuriken to her posture to the scrolls on the wall behind her. At length, he said only two words. "Attack me."

Yuffie blinked at him, and when he didn't move, nodded, raising her shuriken and charging at him. She pulled her arm back, aiming for a simple slash at the side of the head. Vincent ducked beneath the slash, sidestepping the blow neatly. He rested a hand on her elbow and the other on her back, sweeping her foot out from under her as he turned. She pitched forward, landing on the ground with a thud. Before she could rise, he'd already taken two steps back. Yuffie stared at him, wide-eyed. He met her eyes, nodding at her from across the mat.

"Again," he said.

She understood the nature of the challenge now. The ninja rushed at him, fiercer this time, and leapt twisting into the air, sending her shuriken flying. Vincent blocked it with his gauntlet, the shuriken sliding off the metal plates and cutting an arc through the air as it moved back towards Yuffie. She caught it as she landed, closing the distance between them with two great strides and aiming the spinning blade at his chest. He caught her hand by the wrist, twisting it away from him and turning her around as he did, sending her on her way with a quick kick. Yuffie let out a grunt as she went sprawling onto the tatami, pushing herself quickly back to her feet and rushing at him again.

This time, she threw a pinch of powder at the ground between them, the powder crackling and forming a cloud of smoke. Vincent turned as she came at him through the smoke from the side, ducking beneath her arm before she could strike and slamming his elbow into her gut. She fell backwards as the smoke cleared, rolling to a stop a few feet away from him. Yuffie glared at him, one arm around her middle as she sat up.

"Try again," he told her.

She stared at him, eyes narrowed, then sprang to her feet, running at him with a shout. Vincent blocked her shuriken with his gauntlet again, preparing for her to close to distance between them, but instead, what she did was catch her shuriken in the air, pulling it behind her. In one swift motion, she raised it above her head, and, while Vincent was still open, slammed her free palm against the ground. Light flared around her, Wutaiian characters tracing themselves in the air above her head.

The ground shook, the tatami buckling and forming a line from her to him. Before Vincent could react, the ground beneath him heaved and buckled, sending him sprawling onto his back. The rumbling quieted, the ground fixing back into place, and he sat up, looking over at her. She was breathing hard, but looked both annoyed at him and pleased with herself, one hand on her shuriken.

"Good enough for you?" she asked, when she'd caught her breath.

He nodded, pushing himself back to his feet. He bowed towards her again. Yuffie returned the bow, readily this time. She pushed sweat-soaked hair out of her face as she rose, then fell backwards, sitting on the mat. She let out a long breath, followed by a laugh. "I'm beat," she said.

"Then sleep."

"I don't think I can." Her smile took on a nervous edge, and it occurred to him that she was more scared than she let on. She looked up at him from where she sat. "Hey, Vince, do you think I can win tomorrow?"

Vince, at least, was an improvement over _Vinnie_. "Maybe," he said, truthfully.

"Is that a good maybe or a bad maybe?" asked Yuffie.

"Neither." Vincent glanced down at her as she stretched her legs out, still looking up at him. He'd seen worse fighters, but he'd seen better. Based on what he'd seen before today, he would have said no, but he had the feeling that Yuffie hadn't yet applied herself fully. To anything. "I haven't decided yet," he admitted.

She nodded, pulling her knees up close to her chest as she considered that answer. "That was pretty awesome back there," she admitted after a while, inclining her head towards the dojo. "Where'd you learn how to fight? The Turks?"

"In part."

"Are you ever going to give me a straight answer?" asked Yuffie, looking up at him.

"Maybe."

Yuffie blinked up at him, her brows knitting together in confusion. "Gawd, Vinnie!" she finally said. "I can't tell if you're serious or not!"

He said nothing, his eyes moving over the decorations on the walls, over the scrolls at the head of the dojo and the three _naginata _mounted against one wall. He looked back at her. "Who was the samurai?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, that," she said, glancing at the wall again. She looked down at the ground, her eyes darkening. "Those, uh, those were my mother's. This whole house was hers actually. Before she married my father."

He nodded. He had been expecting that answer. He thought back to the picture of the woman he had seen at the shrine downstairs, and to the conversation he had tried not to hear as they were making their way down the mountain. Yuffie, he mused, would look like the woman in the picture, given a few years.

He eyed the _naginata_. While he was a Turk, the _naginata _had been considered both a warrior's weapon and a woman's weapon—women of the samurai class had been expected to learn their use in order to defend their homes against attack. Yuffie didn't use one, not that he knew of, but the weapons looked well-tended anyway, freshly oiled and gleaming. It reminded him of the shrine out front. He glanced at her again.

"What was her name?" he found himself asking.

For a moment, he thought that Yuffie might not reply. But then, she wrapped her arms around her knees, her expression becoming far off. When she spoke, she didn't speak to him, speaking instead to the floor at her feet.

"Kasumi. She was…really pretty. She liked butterflies. When I was a kid, she used to…take me out to the gardens in the summers, and we'd watch the butterflies come in. I'd sit on her shoulders and try to catch one. I never did, though. But then she'd stretch out her hand like that…" Yuffie held out her hand loosely, her forefinger extended. "…and one would just land. Right there. Like she'd called it."

She shook her head, letting her hand fall. Yuffie rested it on her knee, sucking in a breath. Vincent waited for her to speak, not interrupting her. He got the sense that this was her story, and if he interrupted her, it was a story he'd never hear again. At length, she continued, taking a deep breath.

"She…used to tell me stories about when she was a girl. About when there wasn't a war, and Wutai was strong and proud, and there were butterflies everywhere. She said she wanted Wutai to come back to that someday. Wanted me to see it. When she died, I thought the world was ending. Do you know how that feels?" He did. He understood very well what that felt like. But it was a rhetorical question, so he didn't answer. Instead, he waited. The next question she asked wasn't rhetorical. She looked up at him. "You heard what I said to Sephiroth?"

He nodded. Yuffie sighed. "If she saw Wutai now, she'd cry," she said, slowly getting to her feet. She turned away from him, facing the scrolls at the front of the room. "I was too young to do anything, but I remember what happened. I used to think…if I was older or faster or smarter, I could have done something. I could have snuck out and got medicine, or—or something. But I can't change what happened then." She straightened up, her back still turned towards him. Her fingers curled into loose fists at her side, and when she spoke, there was determination in her voice that he hadn't heard before. "That's why…I'm going to change what'll happen now. I'm not gonna play around anymore. I'm gonna make Wutai—no, the world—into a place she'd want to see. And to do that, I can't lose tomorrow."

"I'm going to win tomorrow, Vincent." She looked over her shoulder, grinning as she faced him. As Vincent watched, she raised one hand, forming a V with two fingers. "Watch me."

Looking at her now, he believed her.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	107. File 031: Leviathan's Daughter pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Well, here we are! The pagoda chapters! In the interests of length, some of the battles will be skimmed a little bit, because the main showdown occurs at the top of the Pagoda, and that will be a full-length fight. Hope you guys enjoy it (and don't worry, we'll get back to the main plot as soon as this is done. There's not much left on that front ^^).

Thanks go to **Furionknight, SpiritDreamWarriors, JazzQueen, dante67, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, some major fan, Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, Leon Kaye, **and **cor tenebris** for the reviews and support! You guys are awesome ^^

**SpiritDreamWarriors, **Denzel will not be making an appearance in this fic, since canonically, he doesn't appear until about a year after the game ends. But he will be in this universe…just not in this particular fic. Sorry about that.

**Dante67, **yes. ^^ I intended to have it in this Disc, but then I realized that a lot of events were heavily stacked onto Disc One (and the Wutai arc, for example, had to happen so that Yuffie would be a better integrated part of their book), so it's probably going to happen in the sequel. But I do want to add it.

**Irish-Brigid, **blame it on poor (read, no) editing on my part. . Sorry about that. No, Tifa did not develop spontaneous psychic powers and the ability to see through doors, as awesome as that would be XD

**Eavenne, **erm…I can't really say, all I can tell you is that it will happen at the end, or towards the end, or at the start of the next one. Sephissnei is my Disc One pairing, which is why most of the shipping chapters have focused on them, so I want to get them resolved before Disc Two gets underway (which will be probably more Cloti). So it will either be (depending on how the story works out) at the very end of the book in the epilogue OR at the very BEGINNING of Disc/Book Two (in Icicle Inn). I can tell you to expect it as a Christmas/New Year present, though ^^. (Tselena is something I haven't planned for fully, so all I can tell you is don't expect anything for this Disc or the first half of Disc Two).

**Leon Kaye, **glad you like it. ^^ Yuffentine is a bit of a polarizing subject, so I'm glad it's not putting you off on the fic.

**cor tenebris, **thanks! Glad you started reading it!

XxXxX

**File 031: Leviathan's Daughter**

Yuffie was up before dawn.

She wasn't kidding when she had told Vincent she wouldn't be able to sleep. Insomnia was not something the young ninja was continually cursed with, but she'd never been able to sleep before significant events. The night before the peace treaty had been signed with Shinra, she'd been sleepless as well, as she had been the night before she left Wutai for that last time over a year ago, and the entire week after her mother died.

So when she found herself awake at the dubious hour of five thirty in the morning, Yuffie wasn't entirely surprised. She slipped out of the room quietly, not wanting to wake any of the others, and pausing just long enough to tuck Blaire back in under her blankets before slipping outside into the cool morning air. The house's living room had a pair of wide sliding doors that opened out onto a small courtyard and veranda, and she threw those doors open, letting in the breeze and the pre-dawn light. There was no sign of Vincent, which she was momentarily thankful for, so she guessed that either the gunslinger had gone back to sleep or he'd retreated somewhere to wait out the rest of the night. Either way, after a few minutes of sitting at the low table with a warm cup of tea in her hand, Yuffie decided that sitting still wasn't helping her nerves this morning either, so she stood up to take a walk.

She made her way towards a stream where Leviathan's water festival was often held in the summer, settling down on a rock and turning to watch the sunrise. Yuffie watched the mists rise up around her, her thoughts still on the upcoming battle. She stayed until she started feeling restless again, then tossed a coin into the stream for luck and got to her feet. The sun was just beginning to crest the eastern horizon, rays of sunlight starting to touch the city. In the distance, Wutai's pagoda rose up from the mists, an imposing figure. She stared at it, one hand on the rocks, then turned to go, starting the trek back to her own house.

When she arrived, the living room was no longer empty. Yuffie kicked off her shoes into the shoe rack by the door, slipping inside. Red, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Blaire, and Cid were all seated around the low table, in varying states of alertness. All of them looked up as she entered, Cid frowning at her from over a cup of steaming tea.

"Hey, brat, where'd you go?" he asked.

"Zack and the others were looking for you," Cloud explained. "They—uh—thought you went to the Pagoda without them."

"Well, tell them I'm still here," said Yuffie. She wasn't _quite _in the mood for a conversation yet, so she put her best smile on her face, slipping out of the room with the excuse that she needed to get ready. Yuffie drew out washing up and dressing for as long as she possibly could, then, when the noise in her house reached a fever pitch, slipped the last of her supplies into her pack, hoisted her shuriken over her shoulder, and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

_Alright, _she thought, taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly to calm her nerves. _I'm ready. _

She put on a confident smile, stepping into her kitchen.

The conversation didn't die down when she walked into the room—it only seemed to pick up in place. Yuffie did her best to keep up her air of confidence, even managing to grin as she sat down and piled food onto a plate for breakfast. Her stomach roiled at the thought of _eating _any of it, but she kept a smile on her face as she picked up a pair of chopsticks and twirled it around in her hand, looking every part like she didn't have a care in the world.

The look Vincent shot her from where he sat across the room wrapped up in his cape, told her he didn't buy it. She lowered her eyes and did her best to resist the impulse to flush, feeling her face heat up as she gripped the chopsticks tightly in one hand. Her own words from last night came back to her. _"I'm going to win tomorrow, Vincent. Watch me." _Yuffie cringed, wishing she could take them back.Lame! So lame! She turned her eyes away from him before he could see the blush, looking over at the others. Now _so _wasn't the time to obsess over Vincent Valentine. "What's everyone looking at?" she asked, grinning to diffuse the tension.

"You," said Cissnei, matter-of-factly. She gave Yuffie a concerned frown. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Yuffie. Even as she spoke, she did a mental checklist of everything she had with her. An array of potions, some extra weapons, Materia…even then, she wasn't sure if it would be enough.

"Are ya allowed to bring stuff in with ya?" asked Cid. "Or is it just one of them 'clothes on your back' deals?"

Yuffie thought about the rules, hoping that they hadn't changed in the time she had been away. It had been a while since she had heard of or witnessed a Pagoda challenge. "I can bring anything I can carry on my body into the fights," she said. "So, weapons, armor, potions, Materia—those are all in. Oh! And I can take breaks between each fight, to heal and stuff. But I can't leave the Pagoda."

"Can you get help?" asked Aerith. "During the breaks, I mean."

"I think so," said Yuffie. "I just can't get help during the fights."

"Then I'm coming with you," Aerith replied, sitting up. Zack put his hand over hers, where she had clasped them together on top of the table.

"We're all going, Aerith," he told her. "Unless anyone wants to stay behind?" He looked over at the others. To Yuffie's surprise, they all shook their heads. She managed to stop herself from getting choked up by lowering her head and popping a piece of food into her mouth, but it was a close call.

"We _can _all come with you, can't we?" asked Kunsel as she ate. Yuffie nodded.

"I think so," she said. "There aren't any restrictions on witnesses, last I checked. But if anyone interferes with a match, I forfeit. And if I lose any matches, I lose the challenge."

"What happens if you lose?" asked Tifa, leaning forward.

Yuffie's hands tightened on her bowl. If she lost…if she lost, then she would have to remain in Wutai, or lose her claim to the throne. She wouldn't have anything to hold over Godo. If she lost…then he would have finally won, and she would have to remain here.

But none of that mattered, she decided. None of that mattered, because she _wouldn't _lose.

"Let's not worry about that," she said, offering Tifa a smile. She picked up her tea and choked a sip down, because the movement hid the look in her eyes. Yuffie drained the cup, setting it back down. "I'm not gonna lose. Meet you guys at the Pagoda? I've got one last thing to do."

The group nodded, reluctantly dispersing. Yuffie disappeared into the living room, waiting until she heard the sound of them leaving the house before making her way over to the little alcove where Leviathan's shrine was located. She stood there for a moment, staring at her mother's face. The picture had been taken when Yuffie was four years old, just a year before she died. Kasumi Kisaragi looked back up at her, her brown eyes still as warm as Yuffie remembered. The ninja's fingers reached out, brushing the glass that covered the faded photograph.

She wondered what her mother would have said if she was here—who she would side with. The Empress Kasumi had never been known to back down from a fight. She was everything a proper Wutaiian lady should be—noble, courageous, well-mannered, everything Yuffie wasn't. As a child, her tutors had been fond of comparing her to her mother, but Yuffie knew she would never be able to match her. She never tried. Instead, she threw herself into the ninja arts. She learned deceit and trickery, learned the basics of subterfuge and intrigue. She'd never been the daughter that her father wanted, that Wutai wanted.

_But maybe I can be what it needs. _

The thought surprised her, because it wasn't one she had allowed herself to think before. Her eyes traveled from the picture of her mother to the statue of Leviathan beside it, and Yuffie ran her hand over the rough wood, trailing her fingers along the dips and whorls caused by the carver's knife as it moved over the dragon's likeness. She exhaled, pulling her hand back and letting it fall away. The fingers of her other hand curled inward, forming a loose fist.

_Mom…_she thought, her eyes moving back towards the picture. _Watch me._

She took a step back, her eyes moving towards the carving of Leviathan. Yuffie inclined her head in respect, remaining there for a moment. She'd never been much good at praying, and even if she had been, she didn't know if she would be able to take all of her thoughts at that moment and put them into words. But she thought that maybe, just maybe, the dragon god would know what she wanted to say. When she was done, she turned away.

"Ready to go?" asked a voice from behind her.

Yuffie looked over her shoulder. Vincent stood in the doorway of her house, simply watching her. He didn't say anything, nor did he comment on the shrine. Instead, he inclined his head towards the exit, waiting.

She nodded.

"Yeah," she said.

Yuffie walked over to him, grabbing her boots from the shoe rack and slipping it on. He waited for her to finish, not saying a word as she left her house and closed the door behind her. The gunslinger fell in step behind her, walking just over her right shoulder as she made her way from the house to the Pagoda.

XxXxX

The rest of their party was assembled outside of the Pagoda. Vincent watched as they turned towards Yuffie, their eyes fixed on her. No one spoke for a moment, the group trading glances with each other. It was Zack who broke the silence first. "Ready?" he asked Yuffie.

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah," she said, stepping forward. "Let's do this." The group parted to allow her access, creating a path to the Pagoda's door. She began to walk up the stairs.

"Yuffie."

The voice was Sephiroth's. Yuffie stopped on the second step, looking back over her shoulder at him. "Yes?" she asked.

He reached out with his left hand, tossing something at her. She caught it on reflex, uncurling her hand to examine it. It was an orb, a glowing red Materia that reflected the sunlight. Yuffie poked at it with her finger, eyes wide. "This is Odin," she said.

"I want it back," said Sephiroth in reply. "When you're done."

Yuffie blinked, staring at the SOLDIER. A grin slowly spread onto her face, her fingers curling around the Materia. She spun her shuriken around, sliding the orb quickly into place. "You got it!" she said, giving Sephiroth a thumbs up. Confidence bolstered, she turned, striding through the Pagoda's open doors.

The inside of the Pagoda was cool, despite the growing heat of the day. Vincent took up a place against the wall as the group spread out, none of them stepping onto the tatami mat in the center. The room was empty aside from the man that sat cross-legged at the front of the room, looking up at them. He was dressed in traditional attire, in light and dark green, but his stature told Vincent that he was probably from the colder territories in Northern Wutai. The man's hair had gone completely gray, but there was strength in his movements as he pushed himself to his feet, watching them. He didn't look surprised. Vincent supposed that word of Yuffie's challenge had spread throughout the Pagoda.

Yuffie stepped forward, coming to stand at the center of the mat. _She_ looked surprised to see the man here. "Gorkii?" she asked. "You're one of the Five Gods?"

"Indeed, I am," the man said. "Will you then be climbing the Pagoda today?"

Yuffie nodded. "I will," she said.

"Then I, Gorkii, shall be your opponent on the first floor."

Yuffie took a step back, reaching for her shuriken. Before the battle could begin, a young girl ran down the stairs, dressed in a short yellow kimono. She couldn't have been much older than Blaire, if that. Vincent watched as she stopped in front of the mat, her hands on her knees.

"Yo," she said. "They call me Shake. I'll be watching your match with Gorky! All the rest of you, stand back!" She indicated Cid, who had one foot on the mat. The pilot grumbled under his breath, stepping back. Sephiroth immediately stepped forward, blocking his access to the center of the room but being careful not to touch the mat. Beside him, Blaire stood, her eyes wide as she watched the fight. Sephiroth kept a hand on her shoulder, recognizing that she was poised to jump into the ring.

"Kid can take him," Cid grumbled, coming to stand next to him. Vincent said nothing in response, folding his arms. He waited. The two fighters faced each other, bowed. He recognized a hint of gravity in Yuffie's posture that wasn't present in her other fights. The two of them rose, never taking their eyes off each other.

"Then begin," said Gorkii. Before Yuffie could charge, he raised his hand. "Power Change."

"Power what-now?!" asked Cid, straightening up.

Gorkii began to transform. Vincent frowned, feeling something inside of him start to rise up, inquisitive about this transformation. He took a breath, mentally reaching for that presence and calming it down. The Galian Beast retreated, content to curl up inside of him and watch the fight for now. The transformation was similar, but not the same. The beast quickly lost interest. There were other voices there too, others that listened closely. But those didn't bear thinking about. Unconsciously, his hand moved closer to his gun.

The transformation finished, revealing a winged creature that hovered in the air in front of Yuffie. There was almost no trace of the man that had been left, except in the creature's eyes. Yuffie's frown tightened, but she held her ground, bending her knees and holding her shuriken in her right hand. He flapped his wings, rising up, then immediately dove down, coming crashing towards her.

Vincent felt Cid's alarm before he saw it. The pilot sprang up from his position against the wall, stepping forward. "Shit!" he swore. "She's gonna get herself killed!"

Vincent stretched an arm out, blocking Cid before he could attempt to jump into the ring. He didn't take his eyes off the fight. Gorkii crashed into the ground, the blow shaking the building and scattering a cloud of dust. A shuriken spun through the cloud, coming at Gorkii from his side and scoring his wing. The dust cleared, revealing Yuffie at a safe distance to Gorkii's right, having just come out of a roll. The creature whirled, turning towards her, but Yuffie jumped back, avoiding another attack. She caught her shuriken on the back flip, landing neatly on the ground and twisting away from another strike. Yuffie ducked under the arm as it shot towards her, using the shield on her left arm to stop the spines on Gorkii's arm from stabbing her. She sprang forward, the tip of her shuriken tearing a gash across Gorkii's chest. The man turned monster reared, leaping into the air and spreading his wings.

Vincent glanced at Cid and saw that the pilot had gone utterly silent. He no longer looked like he was about to charge. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, his eyes on the fight. He didn't lower the arm keeping the pilot back, watching the fight instead.

Light appeared in front of the creature, fitting into place like a shield. As Yuffie threw her shuriken into the air after him, it bounced back, leaving the smallest line in the barrier. Yuffie cursed in Wutaiian, jumping up and turning around in the air as she caught it. Her other hand extended towards Gorkii, ice crystals forming inside of it. A blast of ice appeared in the air in front of her hand, slamming into the creature. Around him, the shield cracked, shards of light forming in the air as the ice struck him. It threw him back, and he crashed into the Pagoda wall with a force that made the building shudder. She threw her shuriken after him, unable to chase him without stepping off the mat, but Gorkii managed to struggle back into the air, deflecting her shuriken off to the mat's corner. Yuffie ran after it, taking a roll and grabbing it out of the ground just as Gorkii slammed down for another kick. She avoided that one, pivoting around to face him as Gorkii launched himself into the air again.

He flapped his wings, raising his hands. A dark orb appeared in them, crackling with power. Yuffie's eyes widened as he threw it down towards her, and she quickly raised up her left arm as a shield, crying out as it struck her. The blow slammed her down into the tatami, and she barely managed to remain upright, crouching down behind her arm as the room filled with a bright light.

"Yuffie!" Tifa shouted, starting forward.

The light cleared, replaced by an entirely different one. Yuffie grit her teeth from behind the blast left by Gravira. Her eyes narrowed, and Vincent heard her muttering something in Wutaiian under her breath. He recognized it as a ritual prayer of supplication to Leviathan before water appeared in the air around her, Wutaiian characters writing themselves into the dome. The water splashed on her skin, healing her wounds.

The oath Cid swore was not one of anger this time. Vincent relaxed his hold on the pilot, but just barely.

"Since when could the brat fight like that?!" he demanded.

Vincent didn't respond. He was too busy watching the fight. The ninja sprang to her feet, running through the dome of water with her shuriken in her hand. Yuffie leaped, rolling out of the way of another kick, then let her shuriken fly, the weapon sailing through the air. Gorkii turned to deal with it, but just as he had dodged it, Yuffie was in the air in front of him. She raised her hand, the shuriken flying into it. Her hand closed around one of the points, and she brought it down in one swift slash. Blood sprayed in an arc around her. She landed on the ground, spinning her shuriken in front of her to clear it, and twisting around as she looked up at Gorkii.

The blow had clearly unsettled the creature. He bobbed up and down in the air, occasionally leaning further to his right than normal. She shifted her shuriken around in her hand so she was gripping it only by one point, taking a running jump. Gorkii had flown higher, too high to reach with a single leap, so Yuffie landed on one of the red pillars that held up the Pagoda, using that as a jumping off point to put herself in the air above him, facing the roof. She did a back flip, gripping her shuriken tightly in both hands as she plummeted down.

She landed on Gorkii's back on her knees, the point of the shuriken slamming down between his wings. Gorkii reared, then plummeted to the ground, Yuffie still on top of him. He landed with a shuddering crash as Yuffie sprang off him. As Vincent watched, his form began to shrink, the more monstrous form changing back into the man they had met upon first coming in. He was bleeding, and there were cuts in his clothes, but other than that, he seemed alright. He pushed himself to his feet, coughing into his fist as Yuffie placed her shuriken on her back.

"Well, Miss Yuffie," he said, stumbling back and sitting cross-legged on the mat in front of her. "Here I am. You pass."

"Of course," said Yuffie, a grin appearing on her face.

"Hmm," said Shake, from where she watched the battle. "I thought you were just a wild girl, but you handled that pretty well! We'll see how you do on the next one." With that, she ran off, heading back up the stairs.

Yuffie exhaled when she was gone, taking a deep breath and pushing her hair out of her eyes. She turned around, noticing that the others were still watching her. With a nod, she turned, heading towards the stairs.

Vincent finally released his hold on Cid, turning to follow her. The look on Yuffie's face left no uncertainty as to what she was thinking as she climbed the stairs.

One down. Four to go.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	108. File 031: Leviathan's Daughter pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** We are about three chapters (including this one) out from something I'm really looking forward to—the Gold Saucer Interlude! But for now…enjoy this fight scene. It'll be the last until a really big one coming up. ^^

Why yes, this is a fast update. I had nothing to do today and really wanted to get this out of my system. Enjoy!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, dante67, Irish-Brigid, Furionknight, Eavenne, **and **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **for the reviews and support! I'm glad you guys like the fight scenes! Yuffie will be back to her usual antics soon enough, but I'm enjoying this newfound maturity from her right now.

XxXxX

**File 031: Leviathan's Daughter**

Shake was Yuffie's next opponent.

The little girl apparently represented speed. Her transformed form more accurately resembled a small penguin. Since speed was an attribute that Yuffie also had in droves, the battle did not last very long. The next one, against a matronly Wutaiian woman named Chekhov, was a little bit harder, but it was Staniv who first gave them cause to worry. The man—and the creature he became—was a master of weaponry, and employed a heavy chain as one of his weapons. It was that chain that looped around Yuffie's forearm during a flip, stopping her from throwing her shuriken, and also yanking her sharply onto the mat, with a crash that didn't quite disguise the snap of breaking bone. Yuffie managed a victory only by using the same earthquake technique—Landscaper—she had used against him that night in the dojo, and choking down an Elixir before Staniv could get back to his feet.

The ninja now sat with her back to the wall on one side of the empty room, her right arm extended. Aerith and Cissnei were currently tending to her, the former healing any extra injuries as the latter poked and prodded her way along the arm, looking for any uneven healing of the break. Elixirs, when used, rarely failed, but no healing was completely foolproof. Vincent didn't join the crowd surrounding the young ninja, instead choosing to remain at his spot by the far wall, occasionally listening in on the conversation.

"Ow!" said Yuffie, sharply.

Cissnei stopped poking, looking over at her. "Tender?" she asked.

"Of course it's tender!" said Yuffie, yanking her arm out of Cissnei's grasp. "That's a _nerve_! I told you, I was fine!"

"Well, you did give us a scare," Tifa commented, from where she stood with Cloud.

"You ready for one more?" asked Zack, holding a hand out to her. Yuffie grabbed it, letting the ex-SOLDIER pull her to her feet. She shot him an insulted look.

"Of course I am!" she said. "What, you think I'm gonna chicken out now? I won four fights!"

"Ain't none of that gonna count if you can't win five," said Cid.

"Any idea who's up there?" asked Kunsel, coming to stand next to her. He inclined his head towards the stairs. In the previous matches, the next fighter had always come to witness the fight—Shake for Gorkii, Chekhov for Shake, and Staniv for Chekhov. No one had come to witness this one. Yuffie shook her head, walking away from the others to pick up her shuriken. Her expression was almost confused. "I thought it was going to be Staniv," she admitted, uncertainty creeping into her expression for the first time. "Who's stronger than him?"

" 'sides you?" asked Barret

"Yeah," said Yuffie. "Besides me."

"There's only one way to find out," Sephiroth pointed out, glancing meaningfully at the stairs.

"You can do it, Miss Yuffie!" said Blaire, giving Yuffie a thumbs up.

Aerith nodded, walking over to her. "We're with you," she said, taking Yuffie's hands in her own.

"Thanks," said Yuffie, meeting the flower girl's eyes. She nodded, then took a deep breath, pulling her hands out of Aerith's and turning around. The ninja offered Blaire a thumbs up in return, then looked back at the others. "Well, wish me luck!" she said, walking towards the stairs.

When she got to the top, however, it was clear from her sudden pause that the person waiting there was not who she had been expecting. The man stood at the front of the room, the other members of the Five Gods having taken up positions around the room to witness the fight. He turned towards her, meeting her with eyes exactly the same shade as her own. Her breath caught audibly in her throat.

It was Godo.

XxXxX

"D—Dad?" asked Yuffie, stunned. She stepped forward, dimly aware that the others were crowding the staircase at her back, and made her way to the mat without realizing it. Godo Kisaragi watched her, his expression stern, but with none of the same anger with which he had spoken to her the afternoon before.

"I'm glad you made it this far, Yuffie!" he said.

"Why—?" Yuffie shook her head, clearing her throat. She stood in front of him, trying to straighten up and not look too much like the child that had been caught doing something wrong. "Why are you—?"

Godo's response was to step forward, taking a fighting stance. "I'll answer you," he said. "by having you try your skills against me! Hold nothing back! Come as if you are trying to kill me! If you don't…then I will have to kill you!"

"H—Hey!" Yuffie took a step back as he charged forward, belatedly raising her shuriken to protect herself, but Godo came to a stop a few feet away from her, standing at the center of the mat.

"What are you doing?" he asked, raising his hand. "Omni Change!"

Light flared up around him. Yuffie barely had time to get out of the way as a figure leaped out from the light, a sword in his hand as he charged at her. The sword struck at her left-hand shield, and she twisted out of the way, ignoring a shout from one of the others as she rolled to gain distance and turned around to face him.

Godo. Godo—her _father—_was her opponent. But there was no time to worry about that now. She still had to win.

She jumped back to gain distance, landing at the edge of the mat, and turned to look at him. Godo's transformed form had three faces, the masks all rotating above his neck. He had four arms, a curved sword in one of them. He looked like a warrior she had seen once, in stories from Southern Wutai. Yuffie only wished she had paid more attention to what her teachers were telling her.

Okay, she told herself. He had three heads, and four arms. Now how was she going to defeat him? Yuffie jumped out of the way of another sword strike, throwing her shuriken at him. The blade cut through the air as it turned and spun, causing Godo to have to swat it away with his sword. Yuffie immediately moved, darting to the side and away from the spinning blade. She raised her hand, mentally reaching for Materia. A glowing green light formed over her palm, enveloping Godo. Yuffie jumped out of the way as he turned towards her, snatching her shuriken out of the way and bringing it to her side.

There was no way of knowing whether or not Bio had worked, at least not immediately, but Yuffie felt hopeful as she saw Godo stagger. Then he turned towards her, and his sword crackled with lightning, and some of that hope vanished. She had only enough time to raise both her arms up to protect herself before a triangle of lightning formed around her, electricity flooding its center. Lightning struck her from three sides, jerking her around like a rag doll before finally throwing her down to the ground. Yuffie barely had time to pull away before a sword stabbed through the mat where she had just been lying.

She sprang up to her feet, trying to gain distance. Dimly, she registered the scent of burning hair and realized it was her own. Her body felt sluggish after the attack, like it didn't want to obey her. Still, she managed to jump out of the way of his next attack long enough to cast Cura on herself. Godo slashed at her, and she attempted a running jump over it, but that was quickly thwarted as he flipped his sword around, reversing direction and striking her behind the knees with the flat of the blade. Yuffie stumbled and tripped, falling flat on her face.

Yuffie grit her teeth, sliding her shuriken under her and pushing up from the ground as he rushed towards her. Alright, fine. Godo wasn't the only one who could use a little lightning. She blocked his sword slash with her left arm, stepping in and letting her shuriken spin. The blades bit, leaving a line of blood across his chest. Yuffie quickly twisted away before he could counterattack, flipping backwards to gain distance. Her feet caught onto a snag in the mat where his sword had stabbed through it, nearly causing her to fall over, but she held her ground, gritting her teeth and rushing at him again.

She made a running leap, throwing her shuriken in his direction. Yuffie touched down at the far corner of the mat, raising her hand to catch her shuriken as it came to her. Without pausing, she spun around and threw it at Godo again, jumping towards one of the other corners. The shuriken moved towards Godo at a diagonal, slicing a line across his back. She caught it, spinning on her heel and throwing it again. This time, it came at him from the front, and he raised his sword to block it, but he wasn't quite fast enough to block the next attack as Yuffie threw it back, jumping from corner to corner and keeping Godo in the center of the mat with her throws.

Yuffie blinked sweat out of her eyes as she ran, not daring to pause for one moment to readjust her hairband. She launched into a roll as Godo broke out of place, rushing towards her. The roll was handled badly, and the tatami mat scraped thin red lines across the exposed skin of her right forearm, but she would take that when compared to the vicious way Godo had slashed through the air. He staggered slightly with the movement, a sign that the poison had taken some effect, and he was bleeding from the wounds she had inflicted on him with her shuriken, but from the sight of him, he didn't look nearly as worn out as she felt.

Yuffie breathed heavily, getting to her feet. She kept a hold of her shuriken with her left hand, taking a quick moment to wipe at her brow with the back of her hand. He was good. Better than Staniv or Chekhov or Gorkii or any of them. She had no idea her old man had this much fight in her.

The knowledge just made her angry. If he was this strong to begin with, then why did he ever surrender? Why let Shinra have their way with Wutai?

She shook her head. She just had to be stronger. Godo rushed towards her, his sword in hand, and she twisted away, not missing the way her whole body seemed to sag with the effort. Yuffie shook her head, looking up at her father as he turned towards her.

That was when his face changed. Literally. Before she could really register the fact that his face had changed from red to white, his hands were already extended towards her, a black void swirling within them. She moved to dodge, but too late, the ball of black slammed into her, throwing her off her feet with a force that ripped a scream from her throat. She landed on the ground, feeling as though the force was still above her, pressing her down, pressing her further into the mat.

When the pressure finally abated, she felt like she couldn't breathe. It was all she could do to push herself off of her feet and roll out of the way of his next attack. She blocked the sword with her left arm, but was unstable enough that the blow made her stumble backwards, nearly falling over again. The red face clicked back into place, and the next sword thrust came faster than she could move away, cutting a line of pain through her side. She jumped out of the way, doing her best to ignore Tifa's cry of alarm, and gasped as she landed wrong on one foot. Before she could correct herself, Godo's sword came ripping through, heading for her face. She turned quickly enough to avoid getting skewered, but with only one steady foot, she found herself falling backwards from the movement.

Yuffie struck the mat, managing to curve her back and roll with the motion. She rolled over backwards, jumping up and landing on her feet. But Godo raised his hand, and the next thing Yuffie knew, she was being assaulted by lightning again. She clamped her lips shut, resisting the urge to cry out as she was buffeted by the lightning on all sides. The blast faded, and she staggered, taking a step back just to remain on her feet.

It was a punch that did it for her, a quick blow to her back. Any other day, she could have taken it. Any other day, she would have blocked it. Today, this day, she went down, landing face first on the mat.

The world spun. Yuffie's body trembled as she tried to get her arms under her, tried to push herself back to her feet. Her whole body burned, to the point where she wasn't sure what hurt anymore, or if anything hurt. She could hear her heart beating in her chest, could feel her blood racing, but all other sounds came to her as if they were coming from the other end of a tunnel. Her vision blurred, her skin felt cold and clammy, and she could taste blood. She could feel eyes on her, could feel the others watching her, but she didn't think she had the strength to get back up. She pushed off on her arms, rose an inch from the ground, and fell down again.

Yuffie lay on the ground, focusing on her breathing. The world swam. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father step forward, but he didn't attack. He was standing across the mat from her, watching her. She tried to shout at him, but it came out as a groan, her legs moving uselessly as she tried to pick herself up again. Somewhere, in the distance, she heard the sound of shouting.

No.

Not shouting, she realized, her eyes snapping open. The world swam, then gradually came back into focus. Not shouting. Cheering. AVALANCHE was cheering. They were cheering…for her. She saw Tifa and Aerith and Blaire, Cissnei and Kunsel and Zack, Barret and Cid and Red, all shouting her name. Sephiroth didn't shout, but he was standing near the edge of the mat, his arms folded as he watched her. She saw him drum his fingers on his arm, his eyes fixed intently on the battle.

A few days ago, she would have said he didn't care. But now, she could almost hear his voice, along with the others. The look in his eyes was enough. It told her to get up.

Yuffie grit her teeth, flattening her hands against the tatami. She pushed herself up, sucking in a breath as pain shot through her body. Godo turned his eyes towards her and her hands slipped on the mat, nearly sending her against the floor again. That, and her resulting gasp, made Staniv step forward, hand upraised to call the fight.

"Don't!" The sound she made was choked. Staniv froze, his hand half-raised. Yuffie glanced at him, her arms shaking as she tried to push herself up. "Don't you dare call it," she said. Her eyes moved through the crowd of spectators, fixing on one. A man with red eyes. Those eyes, she noticed, were fixed on her_. _Her words from the night before came back to her, and she sucked in a breath, her body beginning to lift off the mat. "I'm not—."

_I'm going to win tomorrow, Vincent. _

Vincent's eyes were on hers, and for a moment, there was nobody else in the room.

_Watch me. _

"I'm not done yet."

"Yuffie…" Staniv began.

Her eyes fixed on her father, and she took a deep breath, reaching for the power she had buried in her, the power that had become linked with the Materia sitting inside her shuriken. She swallowed hard, light flaring around her. "O—Odin!"

The summon appeared in front of her, an armored rider on a white horse. Instead of the sword it was known for, though, Odin appeared with a spear, a glowing lance tucked under his arm. He gripped onto his horses reins with one hand as the horse's hooves touched the ground, charging forward. The horse reared, the sound of hoofbeats echoing through the Pagoda and Odin threw the lance. The spear shot straight up in the air and then came straight down, seeming to pierce Godo all the way through and pin him to the mat. Odin banked, rider and horse turning away from their opponent, and shattered, disappearing back into the light it came from.

But Yuffie wasn't done. She raised her shuriken up to her chest, blue light crackling in the air around her. When she opened her eyes, they shone blue. Her mouth moved, reciting the ritual words with a strength and conviction she had never had before, the words spoken so quickly that the syllables seemed to blur, one into the other. She opened her eyes, and when they did, the light seemed to have seeped into them, lending them a blue cast. The light as well had seeped from her fingers into her shuriken, the metal glowing brightly. _I am the blood of Leviathan, protector of this land, seeker of the wind and singer of the seas, the sword that pierces the sky, the light that blazes in the dark, daughter of moon, sun, and sky, child of mist and rain, keeper of honor and flame_—

The glow of her weapon reached a peak, light scintillating across the surface of the shuriken. Yuffie continued reciting in Wutaiian under her breath, never missing a beat. She fixed her eyes on the target in front of her, still impaled on Odin's quickly fading spear, and threw the shuriken at Godo's feet. The light exploded, a circle of bright light surrounding him. The spear shattered as the light faded, and Yuffie ran forward, catching her shuriken with her right hand and casting Cura with her left.

Godo staggered back, and she saw another face rotate into place, the glow of a cure spell shining around him, but it wasn't enough. Her blood was burning now, and she knew it wouldn't be enough. Her eyes narrowed, and she ducked under the sword he swung at her, her shuriken closed tightly in her hand. Yuffie turned, slicing upward, and the shuriken cut a line across his chest, blood splattering the tatami mat behind them. She turned, her teeth clenched against her own pain, and swung her shuriken again, this time in a horizontal slash against the torso. Without missing a beat, Yuffie turned again, beads of sweat running down her face and her third cut adding another diagonal line to Godo's chest. Yuffie turned a fourth time, and this time kicked with her leg, her foot connecting with his chest and forcing him down.

He stayed down, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and the sword that had once been in his hand lying a few feet away from him. Yuffie stared, her breathing coming in heavy pants, as Godo's form began to shrink, the heads and arms disappearing and becoming the father she had known again. His eyes were closed, his breathing labored. He wasn't looking at her, or at anything at all.

She had a moment to register the rush of victory, register the fact that the remaining four warriors were staring at her with shocked expressions on her face, register her friends' cheers and exclamations of relief. Then she felt her knees give way, felt herself falling to the ground.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	109. File 031: Leviathan's Daughter pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Sooo…I have some news. After reviewing my notes, I've decided that the one chapter I wanted to have at the weapons seller doesn't make a good chapter on its own. Which means that the next chapter will be the start of a very special Interlude. You know the one.

Oh, the joy of trying to word the original translation better without breaking canon. XD

Thanks go to **Furionknight, SpiritDreamWarriors, JazzQueen, Eavenne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, SubZeroChimera, **and **IarIz** for the reviews and support! Glad you guys enjoyed the fight!

**DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **Gorkii, Staniv, Chekhov and Shake are all from the Pagoda sidequest in Wutai in the actual game. It's an optional sidequest though so it's possible not to encounter them.

**Irish-Brigid, **I wondered that myself. I guess it has to do with the Pagoda. I could totally see that. I never really took a close look at Da Chao, but that's a good possibility too!

XxXxX

**File 031: Leviathan's Daughter**

Yuffie lay on the ground of the Pagoda, her breathing coming in deep pants as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch her breath. She lay with her arms spread to either side of her, not wanting to move. Across from her, she could hear Godo breathing as well, and to her left and right, she could see the other members of AVALANCHE, all of them keeping their distance but watching with concern.

"O…Old coot, n…not bad," she gasped, not looking up at her father.

Godo's reply, when it came, was just as labored. "You've…also…improved…"

"Snrk." Her breath caught in her throat, and suddenly, for a reason she couldn't name, she was laughing, the laughter bubbling up inside her throat and escaping between breaths. Godo chuckled in response and suddenly the both of them were laughing, all of the years between them seeming to melt away as the sound of their laughter filled the Pagoda.

At some point, the two of them stopped laughing, long enough for AVALANCHE to help Yuffie to her feet, and for the remaining four warriors to assist Godo. A little bit of healing later, and the both of them were able to stand on their own and face each other. Yuffie still felt like she was about to fall over, but the reality of her victory was finally starting to sink in. She felt elated, elated enough to pull both Tifa, Aerith and Cissnei into a group hug and giggle breathlessly, then pull away and pounce on Zack, Kunsel, and Vincent (who didn't look entirely too pleased by that turn of events). The entire group might have received a celebratory hug if Godo didn't clear his throat, summoning Yuffie back onto the mat to face him.

Godo looked an odd mixture of proud and chagrined, both of which made Yuffie's mood infinitely better. He was holding a scroll in one hand and something else in the other, and held both out to her now. "It's time I gave these to you, Yuffie," he said, holding out the scroll first. Yuffie took it in both hands. It was heavy, although the weight was mostly due to the ornate case the scroll was in, four _kanji _characters carved into the side. A wooden Leviathan wrapped itself around the scroll case. She ran her fingers over the characters. Forest. Silk. Ten thousand. Shape.

_Shinrabanshou_.

All Creation.

"This scroll has been in our family for generations," said Godo. "It is our ultimate technique. Study it well. And this." He held out his other hand, holding a single red orb. Yuffie's eyes widened. It was a Summon Materia, she realized, but it wasn't one she had seen before. She didn't even know Godo _had _any Materia. "This is Leviathan Materia," he said, as he dropped it into her palm. "Take it."

Yuffie closed her hand around it reverently, her breath catching in her throat. Leviathan's Materia. The ability to summon Wutai's guardian. How long had Godo had this?

Godo's gift sent a hush through the room. The four warriors exchanged glances, Staniv finally stepping forward. "But, Lord Godo," he said. "The Leviathan Materia should only be given to the person who conquers and takes over the Pagoda. That is our custom."

Yuffie tightened her grip on the Materia, rounding on him. Really, after all she had done today, he was going to try and _take _it from her? Because _custom _demanded she stay here?! Yeah, custom also demanded that she marry before taking the throne. _Custom _demanded that she put down her weapons and take up embroidery even though she was most useful to Wutai as a fighter. She'd spent all her life running from custom and she certainly wasn't about to bow before it now. "Custom, custom, custom!" she said. "I'm so _sick _of hearing that! It's so stupid!"

"Silence, Miss Yuffie!" said Gorkii, stepping forward as well.

She ignored him. "What about the rest of you?" she asked, looking at each of the others. "You have all that power! Are you satisfied being cooped up in this tower?" She glanced at each of them in turn. Their reactions were mixed. Chekhov and Staniv glared at her openly, but Gorkii and Shake wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Yuffie…" began Godo.

Yuffie shook her head. "You too!" she said. "Just because you lost the war! You turned Wutai into a place like this!"

Godo stared at her, stone-faced. It was Chekhov who spoke next. "What are you trying to say?" she asked, her voice dangerously soft.

Yuffie lowered her eyes to the ground, clenching her fists. "You turned Wutai into a cheesy resort town peddling to tourists," she said, seething. She looked up. "How dare you?! Da Chao and Leviathan are ashamed!"

Godo said nothing, keeping his eyes on hers. She stepped forward, having to fight to resist the urge to hit him again.

"She _is _a kid," said Shake.

Yuffie rounded onto her. "Wh—What did you say?" she demanded. She ran towards Shake as the young girl glared at her, but had only gone two steps when her father called her back.

"Yuffie!"

She stopped, not daring herself to turn around. There was something in Godo's voice that she had never heard before.

"Forgive me," said Godo. "It's all my fault."

She turned, eyes wide.

"What are you saying, Lord Godo?" asked Gorkii, stepping forward.

Godo kept his eyes on her. "Losing the war, turning Wutai into this…It was all my fault."

"Lord Godo—" said Chekhov.

"_Silence!" _

The Pagoda's warriors froze at Godo's tone, each of them stepping back into place. Yuffie stared, astonished, as her father faced her, bowing his head. She had never seen him bow to anyone as anything more than a ritual or a greeting. The Emperor _did not _bow. "Yuffie…" he began. "I am the same now as before when I wanted the war. But, after I lost the war, I began to think…is strength only for defeating the enemy, or just something to show off to others? Might begets might. That's the same way as Shinra…"

He trailed off, falling silent. Yuffie lowered her eyes to the ground, unable to look her father in the eye. She still wasn't happy. The memory of that day, when Wutai lost the war, still galled her, as did the memory of their argument last night. But she had _never _seen Godo like this. He turned away from her, taking a deep breath, his hands balled up into fists at his side.

"I knew you were looking for Materia for the good of Wutai," he said. "But the reason I hide my strength now…is also for the good of Wutai. And now, I realize both are necessary. Strength without determination means nothing. And determination without strength is equally useless!"

"Lord Godo…" began Staniv.

Godo turned, his eyes moving over the group behind Yuffie. "You there," he said. "Please take Yuffie with you! I perceive that you all have both determination and strength.

They exchanged glances. "Alright," said Aerith. "We'll take your daughter with us."

"We were going to take her anyway," said Zack.

"After that, how can we refuse?" asked Tifa.

Red looked up. "As long as she doesn't get in our way," he said.

"And doesn't do nothin' funny to our Materia!" added Barret.

"You may come if you want to," said Vincent, as Yuffie's eyes drifted towards him.

"I have no objections," said Sephiroth.

"Yuffie was always a part of our team," said Cissnei.

Yuffie's eyes moved over to Cloud, who shrugged, his arms folded. "It's alright. I don't mind."

"After all that," said Kunsel, "Can I say no?"

"I don't want Miss Yuffie to stay!" said Blaire.

"That's that, I think," said Cid, grinning at Godo. "Well, just tell yourself you're on a big ship, and leave the rest to ol'Cid!"

"Go, Yuffie!" said Godo, pointing at her. "For the sake of strengthening Wutai!"

Yuffie felt her breath catch in her throat. She turned away from the others, facing her father again. She stepped forward. "Dad…"

"I'll take care of the Five Sacred Gods until you return!" declared Godo. "Go! And come back alive!"

Yuffie stared at her father, meeting his eyes. Both Kisaragis stood in the center of the mat, looking at each other as if seeing each other for the first time. Yuffie took a deep breath, then felt a smile start to come onto her face.

"Of course!" she said.

Godo waved a hand, and the four remaining warriors turned, walking down the stairs in a line. After a moment of hesitation, AVALANCHE followed them. Yuffie turned to go, about to follow them down the stairs, but a word from her father stopped her. "Yuffie, wait a minute," he said.

She turned back, a questioning frown on her face and one hand resting on their waist. Godo ran forward, a mischievous glint in his eye. He was smirking. "The Materia they all have…" he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "After their battle is over, you think they'll still want it?"

Yuffie blinked, realizing what he was asking. She turned around fully, eyes wide. "…Dad?" she asked.

"Go!" said Godo, clapping her on the shoulder. "Survive till the end! And return! He smiled. "With the Materia."

Yuffie grinned. "You bet!" she said, turning around and jogging down the stairs.

XxXxX

After Yuffie's victory, the ninja had insisted on a 'proper' celebration, one that no one had been in the mood to deny her. They had spent the rest of the afternoon training and resting while Yuffie caught up on sleep, and a good portion of the evening enjoying food, drink and music, with each other, some citizens of Wutai that had dropped in to join the celebration, and for a short amount of time, the Emperor himself. Godo had insisted that they remain in the palace for the night, in quarters more suitable than their cramped space in Yuffie's house, so they had agreed.

Sephiroth had cautioned the others not to drink too much, so that they could get an early start the next day, but he found that even he wasn't as careful as he should have been. He wasn't drunk, but the alcohol had left him a little more relaxed, and he spent some part of the evening reminiscing about military strategies with an increasingly inebriated Godo before finally ordering the others to turn in for the night and disappearing into his quarters.

The palace had enough room for each of them to have their own bedrooms, but Blaire had insisted on staying with him, so he found her curled up on a smaller futon at the foot of his when he returned, her sword on the floor next to her. She had kicked off the blanket and thrown some of the pillows around in her sleep, one of her hands closed tightly around the sheath of her sword. He recognized easily from her expression that she was having a nightmare, but didn't think too much of it, putting the pillows back on the bed and throwing the blanket back over her. He reached down, prying the sword out of her grip with as much care as possible, and set it a safe distance away, then shook off his coat, boots, and gloves, setting them in a neat pile in the corner before climbing into his own futon and going to bed. One of the servants had laid a sleeping yukata out for him in his size, but he felt too tired to struggle with the unfamiliar garment, instead rolling onto his side and falling asleep. He didn't think much about Blaire's nightmare until he too began to dream.

_He was standing in the middle of a collapsing temple, watching the world fall apart around him. The sky was black, a dark shape looming overhead. Sephiroth turned his head, noticing that he was alone and unarmed. He looked around in alarm for the others, but couldn't see them there. There was a presence there, however. Something in the back of his mind. He could feel the shadows of it seeping into his thoughts, pulling him to it—to her. _

_Sephiroth pushed past the alarm, running forward. Faces watched him from the walls, ancient faces, carvings of men and women long dead. Those were already beginning to shatter, the building falling apart. Chunks separated from the stone, getting sucked into the increasingly dark sky. He could feel the wind on his face, knew enough to tell that it wasn't a natural wind, but ignored it, running across courtyards and down hallways, towards the source of that pull. He knew there was something in here that she wanted, could feel her hunger inside of him like it was his own, so sharp that for a moment he wasn't sure where she ended and he began. _

_He darted his way through corridors and through tunnels, finally making his way into a room. The room was made of stone, cracks forming in the intricate carvings that surrounded him. There were carvings on every surface—roof, pillars, ceilings, floor. The room only had two sources of light—they came from the torches that burned to either side of a chest. A tablet stood on the wall behind the chest, but the words written on it were words he couldn't read. He moved forward, walking towards the chest, and felt with each step he took that the tremors in the earth became more powerful, the cracks in the walls larger. Sephiroth stepped aside without thinking, dodging a falling chunk of ceiling, and continued to make his way to the chest in the front of the room. _

_There was something in it. Something round, black, and glowing. Something that called to him, in a way he couldn't understand. The light shimmered and refracted around it, but didn't touch it. There was power here, he realized. Enough power to destroy the world. Enough power to remake it anew. He reached out with one hand, his glove hovering inches away from the orb. He felt his breath catch in his throat, felt his skin crawl. And then the hunger inside him changed, and he felt it keenly as it railed against his mind, urging him to grab it. The consciousness in the back of his mind touched his, and for a moment, his thoughts and her thoughts intertwined, and he understood one thing. _

_She wanted it. _

_Jenova. _

_A voice spoke, calling him. _

"_Sephiroth…" _

Sephiroth pulled back from the orb, and in that instant, his eyes snapped open. He stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling above him, fighting back an irrational wave of panic as he realized he didn't know where he was. Sephiroth turned towards the voice and realized that Blaire was crouched over his bed, an expression of concern on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and there were fresh tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Blaire—," he said, sitting up. "What—?"

"Y—You felt it?" she asked. "It's the Temple of the Ancients. She's almost there! I told you—!"

He shook his head, getting to his feet. "Find the others," he said. "Tell them to meet in the room we ate in earlier. This is important."

Blaire nodded, scrambling to her feet. She adjusted the _yukata_ that the servants had brought her, running towards the door. Before she could put her hands on it, however, it opened, and she took a step back.

Aerith stood on the other side, her eyes wide. Sephiroth sat up as she peered into the room, her eyes meeting his. Her face was pale, her expression telling her one thing.

She knew.

XxXxX

Once Aerith and Blaire started raising the alarm, it didn't take long for all of them to assemble in the now empty dining room. Zack was already there, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he sat at the long table, sipping at a cup of steaming tea one of the servants had brought. The others began filing in, in various stages of alertness, some of them rubbing at their eyes and cursing the rude awakening. He made a face as he realized the way Cid was wearing his yukata, and knew he wasn't the only one who noticed. Yuffie commented on it as soon as she entered the room.

"Alright," she said. "They're bringing more tea, and the guards are alert just in case, and—_ew_, Cid—you're supposed to _tie _that closed, you know!"

"Damn thing kept comin' loose!" grumbled Cid.

"That's 'cause you don't know how to tie it!" said Yuffie. "Believe me, pal, no one wants to see your chocobo print boxer shorts!"

"I didn't hear anyone else complainin'!" said Cid.

Yuffie's reply was cut short as the doors to the room opened again, admitting Sephiroth and Aerith. The former SOLDIER strode to the head of the table. "Cid, tie your robe," he said without missing a beat.

Cid grumbled curses under his breath as he fumbled with the ties, glaring at Yuffie's triumphant grin. The ninja dropped into the seat beside Zack, picking up a cup from the tray at the center of the table. Aerith took the seat to his other side.

The doors opened again, admitting Cissnei back into the room. She had her phone pressed to her ear, and was still talking into it. "Alright," she said. "Just hang in there, Shera. Thank you…Bye." The ex-Turk closed the phone with a snap, looking over at the others. "That was Shera," she said. "She says Allen is fine, but that she keeps finding him trying to wander off. He goes with her when he's called, so she's not letting him out of her sight."

Cid grunted under his breath, and although he scowled as he reached for a cup of tea, Zack noticed he seemed relieved by the news. He looked across at the other side of the table as Cloud took a seat next to Tifa, accepting the cup she passed to him. "So, what's this about?" he asked.

"Jenova is heading to the Temple of the Ancients," said Sephiroth. He glanced at Aerith, who nodded in confirmation. She had both her hands on the table in front of her, one on top of the other. Zack reached out, placing his hand on top of hers. She gave him a grateful smile, intertwining her fingers with his, their joined hands sliding off the table into the space between them. Sephiroth went on, and Zack turned to listen to him. "She's looking for something there. Whatever it is, it's powerful. And dangerous."

A hush settled over the room. "Any idea what it is?" asked Kunsel, breaking the silence.

"It appears to be some kind of Materia," said Sephiroth. "But larger than any I've seen, and the wrong color. Black."

Beside him, Aerith tensed. Zack gripped her hand tighter, not taking his eyes on Sephiroth.

"Black?" asked Cid, his brows rising. "Materia don't come in black."

"They shouldn't," agreed Cissnei. "But there's a lot of natural variations we don't know about."

"A new kind of Materia…" said Yuffie, leaning forward. "I wonder what it does."

"It shouldn't matter." The voice came from Nanaki, who was seated on the ground near the table. "Whatever it does, it's clear that Jenova wants it. So it's also clear that we cannot let her have it."

"But what about Marlene?" asked Barret, his eyes wide with anguish. "If we go runnin' off to this Temple, what's gonna happen to _her_?!"

Zack stared at him in sympathy, running his thumb over Aerith's knuckles. The others watched him too, similar expressions of distress on their faces.

"Barret…" began Tifa.

Zack scowled, knowing what had to be done. They had to stop Jenova, no matter what. But the idea of leaving Marlene rankled him. He hated that it had to come to this.

"We have to stop Jenova," said Sephiroth, his voice calm. "She's going there _now_. By the time we reach Midgar, free Marlene, and come back, it will be too late."

Barret hung his head, his human hand closing into a fist on top of the table. "So this is how it's gotta be?" he asked, squeezing his eyes shut. "I abandoned Dyne and lost Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie and now you want me to abandon Marlene too?!" He sucked in a breath. "I _know_ this is important," he said. "I know, but—." His face contorted in pain. "—but this is _Marlene_."

"No one says you have to come," said Sephiroth.

Zack turned his head, surprised by the coldness in his voice. He wasn't the only one.

"Sephiroth!" Tifa exclaimed. Sephiroth raised a hand, cutting her off.

"What I mean is, you don't have to choose. You're under no obligation to continue on with us. If you want to go to Midgar, and if anyone wants to go with you, we understand."

"Naw." Barret shook his head, renewed determination in his expression as he looked up at them. "Naw. This is my problem. I'll go alone. You guys give those bastards hell for me."

"If," The sound of a new voice made everyone look up. Zack straightened up. The sliding doors had opened, admitting Godo Kisaragi, a trail of guards behind him. "If Mr. Wallace requires escort to Midgar, that can be provided."

"Dad?!" exclaimed Yuffie.

Godo turned towards her. "Don't look so surprised, Yuffie," he said. He turned his attention back towards Barret, who was watching the guards with open suspicion. "You were part of the group that protected my daughter on her journey back here. It's only proper that I assist you in your return."

Barret hesitated, looking back at the others. The looks they returned were sympathetic. Zack turned towards him, still holding Aerith's hand. "Go on, man," he said. "It's okay. We know this is important to you. Heck, it's important to us, too!"

"Zack…" began Barret. He bowed his head, noticing that everyone else was watching him. "Everyone..." The man took a deep breath, then squared his shoulders, standing up. When he lifted his head again, he looked more like the Barret that Zack had grown to know. "Alright!" he said. "I'm goin' off to Midgar! But not for long. I'm gonna save Marlene, and then I'm gonna come find you all. So you guys give that bitch what's comin' to her, and damn it—you _better not die_! Got that?"

"Are you kidding me?" asked Yuffie, grinning. "Jenova's got nothing on us!"

"We'll beat her," Zack promised. "Don't worry about that."

Barret nodded grimly. "I'll hold you to it!" he said, following Godo to the exit.

The others watched, waiting for him to leave. Once the doors were closed behind him, the group turned back towards each other. Cloud frowned, looking up. "Does anyone know where the Temple is?" he asked.

"Sephiroth?" asked Zack, turning towards him.

Sephiroth shook his head. "No," he said. "I only know that she wants to go there. Aerith?"

Aerith shook her head as well. "No," she said. "I'm sorry. I wish I knew more."

"Um, I know it's on an island," volunteered Blaire, causing everyone to turn towards her. "The—the first time she showed it to me, I saw an island."

"That doesn't really narrow it down," said Cissnei, frowning. Gaia was more ocean than land, saying that it was an island still meant it could be anywhere. She looked up, noticing that the others were watching her. "What?" she asked. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"It's just…" began Tifa.

"You usually have an idea as to where to go for information," finished Nanaki.

"Do you have any connections we can use?" asked Kunsel.

"Not this time," said Cissnei, shaking her head. Her eyes widened, and she looked up. "Unless…"

"Unless?" asked Vincent, glancing at her.

"There is one man," she said. "A black market merchant. It's the sort of strange thing he might just know about, but…"

Zack sighed. "There's always a 'but'," he said.

Cissnei gave him an apologetic smile. "He's a bit strange…" she said. "And he doesn't give out information for free. Maybe if we brought him some Mythril, he'd help us. I don't know where to find refined Mythril though."

"I'll take care of it," said Yuffie, making everyone look up. She scowled at them, unfolding her arms. "_Hello_? Princess, remember? Sheesh, you guys have so little faith!"

"So the next question is," said Tifa. "When do we leave?"

"Now," said Sephiroth, glancing at the clock. It would be dawn in about an hour. Zack looked around at the others. Despite the early start, the group looked energized and refreshed, ready to continue their journey. He grinned, tightening his hold on Aerith's hand as the former general stood up.

"Cloud."

Cloud stood as well, turning towards him.

"Take Tifa, check on our supplies. Go down to the Item Shop as soon as it opens and buy whatever you think we'll need. Yuffie."

"Here," said Yuffie, looking up.

"Finish your business in Wutai," said Sephiroth. "You're guiding us back to the beach where we left the plane. Cid."

"Yeah?" asked the pilot.

"We'll need the _Tiny Bronco _to make the crossing. If you need tools to repair it, now's the time. Zack, Aerith, make a Weapons Store run. We need to be well armed."

The two of them nodded. "You got it," said Zack.

"Kunsel, take Nanaki. Find food. Vincent, Cissnei—." He turned towards her, just as Kunsel and Red turned to go. Cissnei smiled, looking up at him expectantly, and Zack saw Sephiroth hesitate for just a moment.

"Plan our route," he said. "We'll meet back here in two hours, and leave right after we eat. Go."

The group dispersed, leaving Sephiroth standing in the center of the room. Zack shot him a grin as he and Aerith left to accomplish their task.

**END FILE**


	110. Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Despite my desire to get to the end of this story before it becomes even longer, there's a distinct possibility that this Interlude will be the first ever five-part file/interlude in this entire compilation (I'm going to try to keep it to four, but if it doesn't fit in four chapters, it'll be five). This will be the last Interlude of this disc. After this, the plot will be all downhill until we get to the end of Disc One.

I hope to give each ship its own time in the spotlight, so that shippers of all sorts won't walk away disappointed (except for you Tselena shippers. Sorry XD), and yes, that includes Clotiand Yuffentine. Enjoy!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, SpiritDreamWarriors, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne, Furionknight, **and **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **for the reviews and support! Don't worry, guys. Barret will be back. I had him leave because I realized I'd written myself into a corner with Marlene, and I couldn't reasonably write Barret as just abandoning her to her fate. But he'll be back by Disc Two.

**Eavenne, **yes. Sephiroth was shirtless for that whole chapter after taking off his coat. XD And in the field, he sleeps like that. Enjoy that mental image.

XxXxX

**Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds**

The merchant Cissnei was talking about turned out to be a weapons seller in a small house not too far from Gongaga. In Cid's opinion, the guy didn't seem to be all there, but they got what they needed from him. Apparently, something called a Keystone was needed to open the Temple of the Ancients, and that Keystone had conveniently just been sold to some guy named Dio, which was why they were all crammed back in the buggy, driving up into the Corel Area to get to the Gold Saucer.

The trip wasn't a complete wash at least, the pilot mused as he squeezed in close to the window and swatted away Red's tail before it could smack him in the face. Aerith got a book. He wasn't sure how a damn book was going to help with anything, but she seemed to think it was pretty important. It was a thin leather-bound volume, with pages that were cracked from age, and she was studying it now, her fingers moving over the page from where she sat.

Cid let out a quick curse as the buggy ran over a rock, jostling the entire interior. He reached out, grabbing the door handle beside him to steady himself, and looking over at Sephiroth. "Hey! How the fuck are you driving this thing?!"

Sephiroth tightened his grip on the wheel, shooting Cid a glare from the rearview mirror. The look told him he didn't want to deal with this now, and you didn't exactly _argue _with Sephiroth when he glared like that, so Cid grumbled a few more choice words under his breath, wrapping his jacket around himself and settling back into his seat. Not for the first time, Cid wished they were flying. If he had the _Tiny Bronco _in working order, they'd _be _at the Saucer by now. He'd managed to repair it so that the engines worked, but nothing he did would be able to replace the parts the blast had blown off, so at the moment it was nothing more than world's strangest boat. They'd docked the _Bronco _off the coast of Rocket Town, switching to the buggy for their inland journey.

Cid glared at the back of the SOLDIER's head as the scenery whizzed by to either side of him. Sephiroth had been testy since they left the weapon merchant, but that was his own damn fault for deciding to let Zack and Yuffie sit in the same row. The ninja had gotten a few pills from Wutai to help with her motion sickness, and unlike Tranquilizers, they didn't put her to sleep. Cid's one consolation was that they would eventually run out.

"You know, Sephy," Yuffie was saying, leaning back in her seat. "By the time we get there, it's gonna be night anyway."

"And?" asked Sephiroth impatiently, glancing back at her.

"And," said Yuffie. "We're not gonna be able to do anything till morning. We should have the night off!"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Too risky," he said. "The last time we did that, we were attacked."

"Yeah, but Weiss and his creeps got captured, didn't they?" asked Yuffie, looking over at Cissnei for confirmation. The ex-Turk nodded, lowering her head to hide her smile. It was hard, considering she was seated in the front seat next to Sephiroth. "Besides, they don't have a way of tracking us anymore! Come on, Sephy! Blaire hasn't even been to the Saucer yet! How can you deprive this poor child of the fun of theme park amusements and arcade games? Have a heart!"

She grabbed the child by the arm, tugging her down to her level. Cid glanced back, noticing that Yuffie had propped her chin up on the seat in front of her and was giving Sephiroth a pout coupled with a pair of puppy dog eyes, while encouraging a confused Blaire to do the same. In the rearview, Cid saw one of Sephiroth's eyes twitch.

"I said no, Yuffie," he said.

"But we could all use the break!" said Yuffie. "Come on! You had fun at Costa del Sol! I know you did, don't deny it! _Pleaaassseee?" _

Her lip began to quiver, her puppy dog eyes growing wider. _Damn, _Cid thought, glancing back at her. _She's bringing out the big guns. _

"This is different," said Sephiroth. "We aren't staying at the Saucer. We'll need to leave early tomorrow."

"Then we'll be up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to kick some Jenova butt!" said Yuffie. She reached over, tugging on Zack's arm. "Come on, Zack, help me out!"

"Come on, Seph," said Zack, shuffling over to her. "What harm can one night do?"

"Considering the stakes?" asked Sephiroth. "Quite a bit."

"_Pleaaaasssseee?" _said Yuffie again, tilting her head closer to the center of the car, where she'd be visible from the mirrors. Cid glanced back, watching with startled amusement as Zack lowered his head as well, blinking big, wide, mako blue eyes up at the mirror.

"C'mon, Seph, _pleeaassseee?" _he asked.

Not even Sephiroth was immune to the puppy dog double team of Fair and Kisaragi. He glanced once at the mirror, scowled, glanced at the mirror again when the two didn't appear to move, and finally sighed, leaning back in his seat. "One night," he conceded. "But we leave as soon as we conclude our business tomorrow, and we start at dawn."

"_YES!" _

Zack and Yuffie sprang up giving each other high fives. Blaire looked from one to the other from where she sat between them, looking confused. Zack leaned forward without missing a beat, tapping Aerith on the shoulder where she sat in front of him. Aerith looked up, lowering her book and giving him a knowing smile.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Go out with me?" he heard Zack whisper, leaning in close to her ear. On his other side, Yuffie had grabbed Blaire by both shoulders, eagerly telling her how much they could do at the Saucer and all the prizes they could win. Cid leaned back in his seat, watching as ahead of him, Sephiroth sighed and settled back into his seat for the drive. He grinned at the look on the ex-SOLDIER's face.

It was gonna be a _long _night.

XxXxX

Sephiroth lay propped up on the pillows of his room in Ghost Square, enjoying the rare moment of silence. He had a book in his hand, something he'd picked up from one of the many stores and shops in the Gold Saucer area, and was flipping through it. Unlike in Wutai's palace, there wasn't enough money for each of them to have their own room, but as they were an odd number of men and women, he'd elected to share a room with Blaire, who was insecure enough about being left on her own as it was. The child was out at the moment, Yuffie having volunteered to show them the town. He would have felt infinitely worse about that idea had Yuffie not also dragged Vincent along—the gunslinger was responsible and could act as chaperone.

Sephiroth flipped the page. He didn't know if the other members of their party had left yet, or if they were going to leave, but he had told them to keep an eye out for Dio while they were out. There was a chance that the Gold Saucer's eccentric owner would be out around the attractions tonight and they could finish this without having to track him down tomorrow morning. Privately, he hoped that that would happen. He wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting Dio again—once had been enough.

He was just starting to become immersed in the novel when a knock came at the door. Sephiroth looked up over the top of the book. "Come in," he said.

The door opened, admitting Cissnei with a menu in her hand. Sephiroth frowned, lowering the book and sitting up straighter. "I was just about to order room service," she said, holding up the menu. "Do you want anything?"

"You didn't go out?" he asked.

Cissnei shook her head. "I was watching the news," she said, shutting the door behind her. "Rufus is making speeches again."

Sephiroth sat up, reaching for the remote control. It surprised him that he hadn't thought to do that. When they were hiding out in Modeoheim, Gaia's news was always playing, whether it was on the radio or on the grainy television set that they had managed to salvage from the lab, but over the course of these travels, he had found himself getting more and more out of touch with current events.

"Don't bother," said Cissnei, before he could turn the television on. "It's more of the same." She settled herself on the edge of the room's second bed, the menu in her lap.

He lowered the remote, looking over at her. His brows rose. "I thought you wanted to see the Saucer," he said.

"I did," she said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling sadly. "But there's no point in going alone."

Sephiroth frowned at her, sitting up. "Couldn't you go with one of the others?" he asked.

"Zack and Aerith went out on their date, and by the time I came upstairs, Yuffie, Vincent, and Blaire had already left."

"What about Cloud?" asked Sephiroth.

"He was leaving with Tifa." Cissnei's fingers toyed with the edge of the menu card in her lap. "I didn't want to be the third wheel."

"Cid, Kunsel, and Nanaki?"

"Guys' night," replied Cissnei. "They said since we had a girls' night in Costa del Sol, it was only fair. It's fine, though. I don't mind staying in and catching up." She raised her arms up over her head in a stretch, then stood up, holding the menu out to him. "So, last call," she said. "Do you want anything?"

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry yet," he said.

"Alright," said Cissnei, putting the menu down. She started walking towards the door. "Well, I'll be in my room if you need me."

Sephiroth watched her go, his fingers tapping the back of the book as she walked towards the door. He frowned, his fingers tightening their hold on the novel. She moved closer to the door, her fingers lightly brushing against the doorknob. He watched her for a moment longer, then sighed, sitting up.

"Cissnei," he said, stopping her.

She looked back. "Hmm?" she asked.

"Let's go." He stood up, reaching for his boots. Cissnei stared at him, eyes wide.

"What?" she asked.

He grabbed his sword, slinging it over his back. "I'll go with you," he said, making his way towards the door.

XxXxX

Cloud walked with Tifa through the streets of the Saucer, wondering how he had gotten into this in the first place. He had been standing in the room he would share with Zack, watching people move through the square below from the window, when the door opened, admitting Tifa into the room. One minute, he was standing there, asking her what was up, and the next, he was following her out the door and into the streets, going on…a date? _Was _this a date? Did it count? Tifa had never said. All she said was—

"_Hey, Cloud! Why don't the two of us sneak out of here and spend time together?" _

And then suddenly, she was pushing him out of the room and the next thing he knew, they were standing in the Station, listening to one of the Gold Saucer employees telling them that it was Enchantment Night and that all the attractions were free. Cloud's face warmed, and he dropped his eyes to the ground so that Tifa wouldn't notice. If Zack were here, he would have said that this was a date. In that case—oh, Gaia, what was he supposed to _do_? It wasn't like he'd had much dating experience, with spending the past four years trapped in a mako cylinder and a good chunk of the last year recovering from mako poisoning. And this was _Tifa_!

"…Cloud? Cloud?"

Tifa's voice cut through his thoughts, and he turned his head to look at her. He hoped that his expression didn't make him look too much like a deer in the headlights. She frowned at him, one hand resting on her waist. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Were you listening?"

"Uh…sorry," he said, moving a little bit quicker so that he could catch up with her. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, clenching and unclenching his fist. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this nervous. There was that time when Sephiroth had put him in charge of the party, right when they'd gotten attacked by the Midgar Zolom, but that was months ago. Now, he almost _wished _that the snake would attack. A fight, he could handle. He reminded himself that this was his childhood friend, and this wasn't the first time they had gone out together, just the first time they had 'gone out'—if that was even what this was—and turned towards her. "You were saying?" he asked.

"I was just saying how nice it was to get away," said Tifa, leading him through the crowd of people at the Station towards the central point. "I feel like we're always rushing—trying to catch up."

"We're still doing that," he pointed out. Even though they were technically on break for the night, tomorrow, they would start making for the Temple of the Ancients, and who knew what they would find there?

"Yeah, but…not tonight." Tifa looked away, and Cloud got the sudden impression that she wanted to say more, but before he could comment on it, she had already run forward, into the crowd. "I'm going to check the bulletin," she said, gesturing at the list of events that someone had posted onto the walls of the round chute area. "Give me a second!"

Cloud paused, his hand hovering in the air where it was about to grab her wrist. He nodded, letting it fall to his side and shifting awkwardly in position as he glanced around at the crowd. He noticed, with a small amount of discomfort, that the majority of the people that were flooding the Saucer were couples, holding hands or whispering in each other's ears. He thought he saw Zack and Aerith somewhere in the distance and contemplated running up to Zack to ask for help, but decided against it. After all they had been through, Zack probably wouldn't forgive him if he interrupted his date. Anyway, the couple that might have been Zack and Aerith were quickly swallowed up by the crowds. He didn't even see which way they went.

He settled in to wait for Tifa, folding his arms and trying not to draw too much attention to himself as the crowd surged around him. He was just starting to relax when he caught a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Cloud turned, eyes widening.

Was that…Sephiroth and Cissnei?

It couldn't be, and yet it was. The two of them, or a pair that looked very much _like _them, were walking through the crowd, heading towards one of the chutes. He only caught a glimpse before the masses of people surrounding them moved in front of him, hiding them from sight. Cloud turned, craning his neck to get a better look, and was about to step in that direction when a hand landed on his arm.

"Cloud?" asked Tifa.

He looked back at her, noticing that she was watching him with a puzzled expression on her face. "I thought I saw—," he began. "—Uh, never mind. What did you find out?"

"There's a play in Event Square," said Tifa. "I want to go."

"Uh, alright." Cloud looked back into the crowd to see if he could catch another glimpse of the pair, but if they were there at all and not just a figment of his imagination, they were gone now. He looked back at Tifa, noticing that she still seemed concerned. "We can go see a play," he said.

"Great!" said Tifa, grabbing onto his wrist and pulling him in the direction of Event Square. "Come on!"

A play wouldn't be so bad, he mused as he followed Tifa towards the chute. They could sit down, watch the performers on stage, and Cloud would have about an hour to organize his thoughts and figure out what he was going to do for the rest of the evening. It would be a nice, peaceful activity, and the best part was, for at least an hour, there wouldn't be too much pressure.

Little did he know he wasn't about to do a whole lot of watching.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	111. Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** This chapter is the silly chapter. The sweet ones will be forthcoming (except for the guy's night omakes, which will always be silly). Enjoy!

Thanks go to **shadowneko003, Furionknight, SpiritDreamWarriors, SubZeroChimera, Natalie, Irish-Brigid, JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Guest, IarIz, **and **Guest** for your reviews and support (I'm just going to refer to you as Guest1 and Guest2).

**SpiritDreamWarriors, **Blaire went with Yuffie and Vincent because I needed an excuse to get them to go to the Saucer together, and babysitting was it. XD

**Natalie, **thank you! I'm glad you like it, and I'm glad you like the pairing!

**Irish-Brigid, **yeah. It's fun writing from Cloud's POV because he was keeping his cool on the outside fairly well, but on the inside he's a wreck. XD

**Guest2, **Sephiroth doesn't have experience dealing with the puppy dog stare XD And I imagine he stopped to put his boots on. As for the rest, well, we'll see~ Enjoy!

XxXxX

**Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds**

"So, where do you want to go first?" asked Zack, as the two of them came to a stop.

"Hmm…" Aerith looked around, her eyes moving over each of the chutes. The two of them were standing in the center of the station, the crowd moving around them. "Not Speed Square," she said. "We did that last time. And we got attacked by Rosso too."

"Want to catch a chocobo race?" asked Zack, gesturing to the chute for Chocobo Square. Aerith shook her head.

"Not really," she said. "Maybe later. We could go to Wonder Square."

Zack looked over at the chute leading to Wonder Square, his arms folded. "We could," he said. "Bet'cha I could win you a prize."

Aerith giggled. "What, like the umbrella you got me last time?" she asked. "I still have it, you know."

"I'm telling you," said Zack. "Use it as a weapon."

"Don't be silly," said Aerith, turning away.

"I'm not," said Zack, taking a few quick steps to catch up with her. He gestured at his face. "Does this look like the face of someone who would be joking around?"

"Yes," replied Aerith without looking. She raised her hand to her mouth, muffling her giggles. Zack frowned at her, dropping his hand and stepping forward to grab her elbow.

"Oh, come on, Aerith," he said. "I'm—."

He paused as Aerith stopped suddenly, placing a hand on his chest to stop him as well. She peered into the crowd ahead of them. "Is that—?" she began.

Zack followed her line of sight, his frown deepening. His eyes widened when he noticed what she was looking at. In front of them stood Cloud and Tifa, Tifa with her hand on Cloud's arm as she pulled him towards the Event Square chute. Zack grinned. Cloud looked like a fish out of water. "Well, it's about time," he said.

"She actually did it," said Aerith, clasping her hands together. "I'm glad!"

Zack turned towards her. "Wait, Tifa asked him out?" he said.

"What? You expected Cloud to do it?" asked Aerith, looking back at him. As Zack blinked at her in surprise, she shook her head. "Tifa told us she was going to ask him out. Yuffie didn't think she'd go through with it. She owes me money now. We do talk about you guys, you know." The last was said with a mischievous smile as Aerith stepped forward, moving towards Event Square. Zack stopped walking, turning towards her.

"You do?" asked Zack. "What do you say about me?"

"Hmm, I wonder," said Aerith, glancing back at him. She continued to walk.

Zack's eyes widened. "Aerith!" he said, jogging forward to catch up to her. He placed a hand on her arm to stop her, turning her to face him.

Aerith's only response was a giggle. Zack wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but from the look of mischief in her eye, he got the feeling he wouldn't be finding out any time soon. She shrugged out of his hold, looking back at Cloud and Tifa. "They're heading to Event Square," she said. "I think they're going to see the play."

Zack dropped his hand from her arm, looking over at the two of them. They were talking to each other now, Tifa jumping into the chute first, with Cloud right behind her. "Huh, so they are," he said. He glanced at Aerith, a grin on his face as he offered her an arm. "Hey, Aerith," he said. "Want to go see a play?"

Aerith returned the grin. "Why, Zack, you read my mind," she said, linking her arm with his. "Come on, it'll start soon."

Zack nodded, the two of them moving towards Event Square. After a quick ride through the chutes, they found themselves joining a line of people heading towards an amphitheater, Zack and Aerith just two couples behind Cloud and Tifa. Zack watched as his friend approached the usher at the head of the line. From the looks of it, Cloud hadn't noticed them yet.

"Uh, two please," he heard Cloud say. Zack lowered his head as Cloud's eyes passed over the line, pulling Aerith closer to him so that they could hide behind the couple in front of them. Thankfully, Cloud didn't notice them. Aerith giggled into his shirt as he released her.

"Congratulations!" exclaimed the usher in a loud voice. "You are our 100th couple today! You two will be the leads in tonight's show!"

Cloud blanched at the man's words, his eyes widening. "Uh…what?" he asked.

Zack lowered his head, trying his best to stifle his laughter. It didn't quite work, and he let out a few choked sounds. Aerith shot him a look, elbowing him in the side as she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the two of them. Thankfully, Cloud didn't seem to be noticing.

"Oh now, it's not hard," said the attendant. "Just play it however you want to and the rest of the cast will cover up for you."

He moved away from the line, motioning towards Cloud and Tifa. "Right this way," he said.

"H—Hey," Cloud began.

Tifa smiled. "Sounds like fun," she said. "Come on, Cloud, let's give it a try."

Zack grinned as Tifa ran off, leaving Cloud to follow him. He looked back at Aerith, who was watching them with a look of amusement on her face.

"This, I gotta see," he said.

XxXxX

Vincent wondered how it had come to this. One minute, he had been heading to his room, hoping to enjoy some peace and quiet while Cid was out, the next, he was being dragged through the streets by a hyperactive ninja who had a hold of his cape to 'help babysit'. Said ninja was now standing in front of a street vendor's stall in Battle Square, lecturing Blaire on the virtues of takoyaki while he did his best not to shoot the carnival attendant that had been hired to scream at them every so often about the prizes someone could win in the arena. Despite Yuffie's insistence that she was out here babysitting Blaire for Sephiroth, Vincent had the distinct impression that he was the one doing the babysitting. He shot the attendant a glare as the man opened his mouth yet again, turning his attention back towards the girls.

"Do we really have to eat this?" Blaire was saying, poking uncertainly at her serving of takoyaki with a toothpick.

"Why?" asked Yuffie with her mouth full, looking over at her. She swallowed. "You don't like it?"

Blaire made a face. "It's octopus," she said.

"Just try it!" said Yuffie. "You'll love it! Trust me!"

The little girl eyed Yuffie suspiciously, but she picked up a piece with her toothpick anyway, her face scrunching up as she brought it closer to her mouth. Yuffie watched eagerly as she took a small bite, eyes closed. Blaire chewed, and then her eyes widened.

"It really _is _good!" she said.

"I told you," said Yuffie, grinning and patting Blaire on the back. "Would I steer you wrong?"

Vincent shot her a look. That same look, amusingly enough, was mirrored on the girl's face. Yuffie looked from one to the other, then threw her hands up in the air. "Ah, whatever," she said. "You guys are no fun."

"Can we go to the place with the prizes next?" asked Blaire. "I want to play some games."

"Sure we can," said Yuffie, smiling magnanimously. "Finish that up, and we'll head straight down the chute and off to Wonder Square."

"You don't need to talk to me like that, Miss Yuffie. I'm not a little kid," said Blaire, walking forward. She skewered another slice of takoyaki onto her toothpick, oblivious to the way Yuffie's face fell from behind her. Vincent stayed back, watching the interaction between the two of them.

Yes. He was definitely the one doing the babysitting.

"What's that?" asked Blaire, coming to a stop. Yuffie shrugged herself out of her slump, jogging over to the girl and looking at what she was pointing at.

"What's what?" she asked. "Oh, that. That's the Battle Square Arena. Fighters from everywhere come and test their skill against monsters and stuff. It's super cool!"

"Like what you did?" asked Blaire, turning to Yuffie.

"Not as cool as what I did," said Yuffie, affectionately ruffling the child's hair. She squirmed out of Yuffie's grip, looking injured. Yuffie took a step back, not appearing to notice. She kept her eyes on the arena in front of them. "Looks like they re-opened it. That's good, after what happened last time."

"What happened last time?" asked Blaire, wide-eyed.

"Well, there was this big mess. You guys won't believe it, but I was arrested!" Vincent frowned at her. Yuffie paused, turning towards him. "What? Vinnie? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just waiting for the part I'm not supposed to believe," said Vincent.

Yuffie stared at him, speechless. She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Blaire speaking again. "What kind of mess?" she asked.

"Oh, um…there was a shooting," said Yuffie.

"Well, then it wasn't you," said Blaire, frowning at Yuffie. "You don't shoot a gun."

"That's what I tried to tell them!" said Yuffie. "But they didn't care, so it was off to Corel Prison! Anyway, we got out and the whole thing was cleared up."

"Huh…" Blaire looked back at the arena, resting a hand on the sword at her side. "Can I try it?" she asked.

"Sure!" said Yuffie, at the same time that Vincent said, "No." Yuffie whirled around, turning towards him.

"Why not?!" she asked.

"She's too young," said Vincent in reply.

"But just think about it!" said Yuffie, gesturing at Blaire. "The world's cutest little prize fighter!"

"Yuffie," said Vincent, meeting her eyes. "No."

"Oh, fine," said Yuffie, rolling her eyes. She looked over at the arena and paused, her eyes widening. "Incoming," she said. "Mega creep at your two o'clock."

Vincent looked. A man in an orange swimsuit was standing in front of the Battle Square doors, flexing his muscles. His eyes narrowed in distaste, and he looked back at Yuffie. "Dio?" he asked.

"Who else?" asked Yuffie. Her eyes widened, and she turned towards him. "Hey, you don't think…"

"…that he has the Keystone?" Vincent finished for her. He glanced at Dio again, taking note how he was dressed—or rather, how he was _not _dressed. "It's not on his person."

Yuffie snorted, hands on her waist. "And if it is, I don't want it," she said. "Wait here with Blaire. I'm gonna go check this out. Here! Finish this!" She tossed the rest of her takoyaki into his hands, darting off towards the Arena. Vincent caught the paper bowl in his gauntlet, holding it at arm's length to keep the sauce from spilling onto his cloak. He glanced at Blaire, who was looking up at him with wide eyes, her own dish already finished.

Without a word, he handed the bowl to her, watching Yuffie go.

XxXxX

Cloud stood backstage, listening as the noise of the audience grew. He resisted the urge to peek out behind the curtain, shifting awkwardly in place. He tried not to imagine how many people had actually come out to see this performance, instead trying to catch a glimpse of Tifa from the other side of the stage. She had been escorted to another area of the set to prepare almost as soon as they arrived. Cloud folded his arms, watching as the curtains started to rise. He _really _hoped that no one they knew was out there—Zack would never let him live this down.

He sucked in a breath, shaking his head. Alright, this didn't have to be that bad. At least he was wearing his own clothes. It couldn't be any worse than that incident at Don Corneo's mansion, or even his time during Rufus's parade. Except for the fact that everyone would know it was him. Oh Gaia, everyone would know it was him! If the Tsviets were in the audience—

The thought was so ridiculous that Cloud almost found himself laughing out loud. Why would the _Tsviets _be in the audience? It wasn't like any of them had an interest in sappy plays. The worst that could happen would be that Zack would see him, which, considering that Zack had seen him put on a purple dress to infiltrate Don Corneo's mansion, wasn't really all that bad in comparison. At least it would give him something else to talk about.

Okay. This wasn't that bad. All he had to do was go out there and be Alfred. Tifa would enjoy herself, it would be over before he knew it, and then they could go…have dinner or something. The night would end with no major disasters. He listened as the narration started, waiting for his cue.

"_Long, long ago, an evil shadow appeared over the peaceful kingdom of Galdia…" _said the narrator. "_Princess Rosa was just kidnapped by the evil dragon king, Valvados. What will become of her? _

"_Just then, the legendary hero, Alfred, appears…" _

Cloud ran out onto the stage.

XxXxX

"Why are we watching this play?" asked Sephiroth, keeping his voice down as the lights began to dim.

"Because," replied Cissnei from beside him. She popped a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "It was free."

Sephiroth 'hmm'ed in reply, settling back into his seat. Cissnei kept her eyes on the stage, doing her best to focus on the play and not on his presence beside her. In truth, the play had been the first distraction she'd spotted since leaving Ghost Square. She hadn't actually intended for this to happen tonight, although she would be lying if she said it didn't cross her mind when she visited his room, but now that he was out here with her, she found herself in the disturbing position of being unable to keep her cool.

Cissnei curled one of her hands into a fist, settling back into her seat. She exhaled slowly, trying to gain back some element of control. What was wrong with her? She was a Turk, not some giggling schoolgirl. A Turk was always, _always _in control. Even…even when they didn't want to be.

The memory of Cosmo Canyon came back to her, of the two of them standing on the cliffside while she told him her name. That had been a mistake. The logical side of her mind knew it. It had changed something between them, something that a part of her wished had been left back in place. But she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Not when…not when for the first time in five years, she didn't feel completely alone.

"Cissnei." Sephiroth's voice drew her back into the moment, and she looked back at him, glad that this time she was able to control the flutter of her heart. Her hand curled tighter on top of her knee. He inclined his head towards the stage. "It's starting," he said.

"Yeah." Her voice sounded strained to her, and she looked away from him, glancing back at the stage. "Sorry. I was off in space."

The 'hm' he gave in response told her that he didn't really believe that, but that he would accept that answer for now. Her fingers tugged at the fabric of her pants, and she took in a slow breath, willing herself to remain calm as she looked up at the stage. The curtains had been raised, revealing a painted backdrop, and a narrator had begun to speak, the sound of conversation in the crowd dwindling to a hush as other people got the same signal. Cissnei listened to the narration, focusing her mind on the story.

"_Just then, the legendary hero, Alfred, appears…" _

Her eyes widened as she saw who ran out on stage. There was no mistaking that blond hair and SOLDIER Second Class uniform. She sat up straighter, her current inner conflict forgotten. "Is that—_Cloud_?!" she asked.

"Pass the popcorn," was all Sephiroth said in reply.

Cissnei wordlessly handed it over, scooting forward in her seat to get a better view of the stage. Cloud looked nervous under the pressure, but he was hiding it well at least. His posture seemed stiff, as if he was doing his best to avoid looking at the audience. Seeing him, Cissnei remembered how he was in Junon, while dressed in an infantryman's clothes. He seemed calmer then, probably because the uniform hid his face.

A man in a knight costume ran out on stage, heading over to him. "Oh!" he said. "You must be the legendary hero, Alfred!"

Silence fell as Cloud turned, staring at the man. The knight leaned forward, and Cissnei caught him nudging Cloud, who seemed a little confused at his appearance. After a few moments, Cloud seemed to catch on. His eyes widened, and he took a step back, nodding.

"Uh—y-yeah," he said.

"Never mind," Cissnei heard the knight mutter. "You must be the legendary hero, Alfred!" he said again, raising his voice. "I know in my soul. Please, please save Princess Rosa! Please talk to the king!"

The knight knelt as fanfare sounded from the wings. A man dressed in a kingly robe came onto the stage. Cloud seemed more confident in his role as Alfred now. He walked up to the king, although still a little stiffly, and, with some encouragement from the knight who had now shifted to the background, inclined his head.

"Oh, legendary hero, Alfred!" said the king, raising his hands benevolently. "You have come to save my beloved Rosa." He turned towards the audience. "On the peak of a dangerous mountain dwells the Evil Dragon King, Valvados, who's kidnapped Princess Rosa. But you can't beat the Evil Dragon King now! Talk to one who can help you!"

A man in green wizard robes appeared on stage, coming to stand next to the knight. Cloud immediately turned, his eyes moving between the two of them before approaching the wizard. The wizard turned obligingly towards him.

"I am the great wizard, Vorman," he said. "What do you wish to know?"

"Uh…I wish…to know the Evil Dragon King's weaknesses," said Cloud, his line picking up in speed and confidence at the knight's discreet urging.

Sephiroth made a sound of vague approval from beside her, nodding once at the question. Cissnei reached over, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

"Ah," said the wizard. "The weakness of the Evil Dragon King. It must be…it must be…" He paused, head bowed as if he was thinking. The wizard suddenly spread his arms, turning towards Cloud. "Yes! It must be true love!" Sephiroth snorted. Cissnei elbowed him. "The power of love!" the wizard continued. "It is the only weapon that can withstand the fangs of the Evil Dragon King!"

This time, she was the one that had to stop from laughing, raising her hand so that she could giggle into her wrist. Sephiroth shot her a look, and she shook her head, turning her attention back to the play as the narrator spoke.

"_Oh, what is going to happen next?!" _he asked. _"Oh, legendary hero! Look!" _

Cloud looked. A man in a dragon suit came forward, carrying Tifa. He deposited her on the ground, roaring at Cloud. In response, Cloud took a step forward, his eyes narrowing as he raised one hand to his sword.

"He's not bad," Cissnei commented.

"The play?" asked Sephiroth, looking at her in surprise.

She shook her head. "No, the play is atrocious," she said. "I mean Cloud. He's not bad. If things had been different, we might have recruited him into the Turks."

"Hn." Sephiroth said nothing more, looking back at the stage.

"I am the Evil Dragon King," the dragon was saying. "I have not harmed the princess! I have been expecting…_you_!"

"Please help me, Legendary Hero!" said Tifa from the ground, extending a hand out to Cloud. She looked back at the dragon, whispering something to him. The dragon ignored her, turning towards Cloud, who had taken a step forward.

"Ti—!" she heard him say, before changing his mind and shaking his head. "Rosa!"

The dragon roared again. "Here I come, Legendary Hero Alfred!" He paused, noticing that the other cast members were staring at him, and took a step back. "I…er…already know your name!" he said.

The wizard quickly intervened, stepping forward. "And now, legendary hero," he said. "This is what will happen to your beloved!" He held his hands out to Cloud, as if casting a spell. "A kiss!" he said. "The power of true love!"

Cloud's eyes widened, and he broke character, turning towards the wizard. At the wizard's gesture, his face reddened, but he lowered his hand from his sword, walking over to Tifa. Without looking her in the eye, he grabbed her hand, his lips brushing the back of it lightly. Tifa's eyes widened, and she stared at him.

"C—Cloud…" she said. "I—I mean, Alfred…"

The dragon let out a roar of anguish. "Curses!" he yelled. "The power of love!"

As Cissnei watched, the dragon dashed backstage, vanishing from sight. The king smiled as a blushing Cloud drew Tifa to her feet. "Oh look…" he said, gesturing at them. "Love has triumphed! Now let's all return…And celebrate!"

"Yes, yes!" said the wizard. "Let's!"

The cast left the stage, Cloud and Tifa following suit.

"_Oh, how profound the power of love…" _said the narration, as the curtains fell. The last thing Cissnei saw was Cloud and Tifa walking off-stage, hand in hand, neither of them looking each other in the eye…

XxXxX

_Meanwhile, in the casino…_

Nanaki watched, tail swaying uncertainly, and Kunsel and Cid immediately dispersed, heading towards different tables. Within a few minutes, Cid was cursing up a storm while throwing dice, and Kunsel was calmly raking in winnings at one of the card tables. He held his ground, his claws digging into the carpet as he noticed the way the employees were eyeing the two. Someone walked up to Cid, and at some point or another, Cid threw a punch, and Kunsel got to his feet.

Nanaki stayed close to the door, unsure whether or not he was supposed to intervene. He sidestepped a thrown glass, letting it crash into the wall behind him. His tail drooped. This was going to be a long night.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	112. Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I've just moved cross-country from Virginia to the West Coast for graduate school, and I've been a little swamped over the past few days. Please enjoy this installment of the Gold Saucer date series. ^^ This particular chapter has no equivalent in the canon game because I padded it out a little bit by including some transition between the play and the gondola scene, but I hope you like it.

Also, sorry, but the guys' night wasn't featured in this chapter because I ran out of room. I'll try to squeeze it into later chapters because the ideas I have for it are hilarious, but if not, it'll be described and a one-shot will be added shortly.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Guest, Meteor Panda, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Eavenne, IarIz, AmericanSephiroth, Irish-Brigid, Cynthia, SubZeroChimera, **and **Leon Kaye **for the reviews and support! Glad you guys enjoyed the play scene! Popcorn for everyone~

**Cynthia, **I definitely plan on finishing it. I usually update about 2 Files a month, meaning anywhere from 4-8 chapters, but usually around 6. Disc One should be finished by December! Thanks for your interest!

XxXxX

**Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds**

"I don't see how the dragon could have been defeated by a kiss," Sephiroth pointed out. "It wasn't as if Cloud kissed the dragon."

"You're reading too much into it," said Cissnei with a smile, glancing back at him. "It was just a silly play. They probably added that just to make it seem more romantic."

He arched an eyebrow, following her through the streets. "The fact that a hero was saving a princess wasn't enough?" he asked.

"I guess it wasn't enough for some people," Cissnei replied. The two of them had broken away from the crowd leaving the amphitheater, and were now meandering through Chocobo Square, occasionally glancing at the races. Sephiroth paused as Cissnei stopped in front of the billboard detailing the participants in that evening's race, letting out a soft snort to show what he thought of 'some people'.

"Not much of a romantic, are you?" asked Cissnei teasingly, pausing in her study of the chocobos to look back at him. He gave her a look in response, one she returned with a small laugh, shaking her head. The laugh, and the look she shot him, distracted him briefly, long enough that he didn't realize his eyes had followed the movement of her hand across the board until she spoke to him. "Help me choose a bird?" she asked.

He tore his eyes away from her, glancing at the board. "Nightmare for first," he said, gesturing at a red chocobo at the far corner. "Mayonaka for second." He pointed at the black chocobo nearest them. Cissnei took a step back, looking over the chocobos' information. She considered it for a few moments, before nodding.

"I like it," she said. "How much do you want to bet?"

Sephiroth considered their finances for a moment, keeping his eyes on the board. "1,000 gil," he finally replied.

Cissnei blinked at him in surprise. "You're relaxed today," she said.

Sephiroth shrugged. "How often are we here?" he asked in response.

"That's true." She said nothing more, running off to place their bets. Sephiroth used the time to get his thoughts back in order, focusing on the race going on in the track beneath them. He was just watching a green chocobo edge out the second and third place birds and start rushing for the lead when she returned, a slip of paper in one hand.

"The race won't start for another hour," she said, looking almost shy as she inclined her head towards the bars and restaurants that lined the track. "Want to go for a drink?"

XxXxX

Yuffie returned half an hour later, at around the same time Vincent found himself strongly considering sending Blaire back to the hotel and going after her. The ten-year-old was falling asleep, and had already proved herself more reliable. He looked up from where he was leaning against the wall as the ninja ran over to them, his eyes meeting hers. He waited as she rested her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

"So?" he asked when she looked up.

"Good news and bad news," said Yuffie, breathlessly. "Dio has the Keystone."

"And the good news?" asked Vincent.

"That _was _the good news, Vinnie," said Yuffie, straightening up. "The bad news is what we have to do to get it. Dio says he'll give it to us if we can win Battle Square."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "_We_?" he repeated.

"Well, more you than me," said Yuffie. She turned around, hands clasped behind her back. "I…erm…_may _have signed you up for the next round," she said, glancing over her shoulder and smiling. "Hope you don't mind."

Vincent shot her a look, one that the ninja returned with a scowl, her hands resting on her hips as she turned around. "Don't give me that look. I did my whole arena battle fight thing in Wutai. You have to start pulling your weight in this group, Vincent Valentine."

Vincent stared at her. She stared back, unmoving. When it was clear that she wouldn't change her mind, he sighed, turning away and tossing his cloak back over his shoulder to clear his path to his gun. "Come then," he said, walking towards the arena. Yuffie grinned, grabbing Blaire by the hand and hurrying off to follow.

XxXxX

The streets were packed after the play, filled with couples examining the stalls and talking excitedly with each other. Tifa found that she and Cloud drew looks as they walked together through the street, whispers following them. She could tell that Cloud was embarrassed—he kept his head down and wouldn't look her in the eye. For her own part, her face still warmed when she remembered that kiss on stage. It wasn't a kiss—not really—but the look in Cloud's eye as he held onto her hand, the light brushing of his lips against her knuckles—even the memory seemed determined to make her heart skip a beat. She found herself glad that she hadn't worn her fighting gloves to the Saucer today, instead choosing to tuck them into her belt in case she needed them.

He was still holding onto her hand as they walked through the streets, albeit a little absentmindedly. It was almost as though he had forgotten he was doing it. Tifa increased her pace to keep in step with him as he led them away from the crowds of people, making for the chutes with an almost single-minded determination. It was only when they were far enough away that she tried to get his attention.

"Cloud," she said, and when he didn't stop walking, she dug her heels into the ground, tugging on his hand. "Cloud."

Cloud stopped walking, turning to look at her as if he had only just realized that she was there. Tifa tried not to take it too personally, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand as she turned to face him. "Sorry. You were saying?"

"I said that was fun," said Tifa, "Thanks for playing along." She felt her face heat up again when she noticed that he was still holding onto her hand. It wasn't the first time that the two of them had held hands, surely. When they were children, they would often hold hands while leading each other to one place or another, or for better support when climbing the mountains around Nibelheim. But after tonight…

Cloud didn't seem to notice that he was still holding her hand, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand and turning away from her. "Oh, um…right," he said, clearing his throat. He glanced at the far corner of the square before turning back towards her, meeting her eyes reluctantly. "Do you want to…uh…head somewhere else?" He glanced pointedly at the crowds making their way to the chute that led towards the station. Tifa looked up at them, nodding once.

"Sure," she said. "Let's go to Wonder Square."

She named the first place she could think of, in part because she was half-sure Cloud would spontaneously combust if she asked him to decide where to go next. She wasn't in much better condition—the butterflies in her stomach were certainly not something the martial artist had expected she would feel, but she'd invited him on this…this _outing_, which meant that she had to take _some _responsibility for what happened. The memory of her conversation with Aerith still burned—the flower girl was definitely more mischievous than met the eye. Aerith had practically pushed her in Cloud's direction, giggling all the while as she nudged Tifa towards his door.

"_Now's your chance!" _she had said. _"Don't forget about the gondola!" _

She couldn't forget, not after Aerith's suggestion. But after that moment on stage, she almost wanted…

She cast a shy glance at Cloud next to her, quickly turning away before he noticed her looking. Tifa thought about adjusting the position of her hands, locking her fingers together with his, but for some reason, her hand wouldn't move. She kept her eyes on the road in front of her, not daring to glance at him again.

Somehow, the two of them managed to get to Wonder Square, still hand in hand. Now that they were away from Event Square and everything associated with it, Cloud seemed more at ease. The two of them watched as a pair of children, one black-haired and one blond, chased each other around the center of the square, whacking at each other with balloon swords.

"Do you remember the last time we were here?" asked Tifa as they moved through the stalls.

"It's not easy to forget," Cloud replied, his voice now steady. He looked around at the square. "We met Cait Sith over there."

"And we lost Yuffie over here," said Tifa, glancing at the game that they had been playing. It was one of those prize claw machines. She and Cloud had been trying to get the prize, only to turn around and find Yuffie gone. She thought she saw Cloud smile faintly at the memory.

"I remember," he said.

"We had dinner over there," said Tifa, glancing at one of the food stalls nearby. "And we played the snowboarding game. I won."

"But not by much," Cloud pointed out.

"That's true," Tifa admitted. She smiled, looking out over the square as she thought back to the memory. Yuffie had raged and screamed about losing, but recovered quickly, and was completely fine a moment later as they made their way through the square. After seeing what Yuffie was capable of in Wutai, Tifa wouldn't really have cause to doubt the little ninja's abilities again. "We've come a long way…" she mused, causing Cloud to turn towards her. "…from the beginning."

"We have," he agreed.

"I never imagined, when I found you in Kalm, that that mission would turn into this." Tifa took in a breath, thinking over all of the adventures they had been through. Midgar, Kalm, Fort Condor, Junon, Costa del Sol, Corel, Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, Wutai. They'd seen more of the world in the past few months than she had seen in twenty odd years of living. She'd fought harder than even she thought she was capable of. And now…now, they were getting ready to finish this. "Do you really think it's going to end?" she asked, looking over at Cloud. "At the Temple of the Ancients?"

Cloud said nothing, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead of him. Tifa recognized from his expression that he was thinking, and kept quiet, letting him come to the conclusions on his own. At length, he sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know," he said. "I want that, but…I don't know if we can defeat her."

"We will, won't we?" asked Tifa. "We have to."

"Mm," said Cloud, in a tone of voice that told her that he wasn't really sure. Tifa tightened her grip on his hand almost unconsciously.

"Cloud?" she asked.

He shook his head, turning away. "Nothing," he said. "Just thinking. We don't know what's going on with Jenova…and even if we beat her, the fight's not over yet."

"Shinra?" asked Tifa, recognizing the look of old pain in Cloud's eyes.

He nodded.

A thought occurred to her, and she stopped walking, causing him to stop as well. "What will you do, when it's done? When everything's all over?"

He stared at her, again taking a moment to think through his answer. After a while, he lowered his eyes, shaking his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't…I haven't thought about it. There isn't…anything left in Nibelheim anymore."

"You could stay with me," said Tifa without thinking. His eyes snapped back to hers, with such sudden intensity that _she _was the one who found herself taking a step back. "A—As friends, I mean. You always have a place with me."

"Tifa…" Cloud began.

A clattering sound caused them both to pause, the two of them looking up. One of the stall owners was bent over on the far corner of the square, trying to pick up the prizes that had fallen off of his cart. They glanced at him and then glanced away, looking back at each other. Tifa swallowed, feeling as though her tongue had suddenly turned to lead. Cloud shifted awkwardly, neither of them meeting the other's eyes. She cleared her throat, and they let go of each other's hands, stepping back.

"So…" she said, at the same time as Cloud said 'Um…" Tifa took a deep breath, gathering up her courage. Aerith was right. Who knew what would happen after tomorrow? She'd be a fool to let this night go by without taking a chance. "I want to go on the gondola," she blurted out. "In Round Square."

Cloud stared at her, looking for all the world like a startled chocobo, but he nodded, leading her in that direction.

XxXxX

"Phew, that was close."

Zack pushed up on his arms, lifting himself off of Aerith as Cloud and Tifa left the Square. The two of them were lying hidden behind a stack of crates in one of Wonder Square's alleys, having made a mad dash for a hiding place after accidentally knocking over the prize cart. He lifted his head to make sure they were gone, and looked back at Aerith. "I don't think they noticed," he told her.

"Hmm," said Aerith, her eyes flicking up to his. They gleamed in the lamplight from the square grounds. Her lips curled up in a teasing smile. "Zack Fair, are you sure you didn't just make that up to get us in this position?"

Zack blinked, glancing down at her. Aerith was pinned on the ground beneath him, propping herself up onto her elbows to look into his eyes. "No," he said, smiling as he leaned closer. "But while I'm here…"

Aerith stopped him by placing her hands on his shoulders, pushing back slightly. "Zack," she said. "Be serious!"

Zack pouted, but he complied, sliding off of her. "Oh, alright," he said, watching as she sat up. Aerith brushed some of the dust off the fabric of her dress, peering over the top of the crates. "Are they gone?" she asked.

"I think so," said Zack, sitting up and looking around as well. He held both of Aerith's hands in his own, standing up and helping her to her feet. "I heard Tifa say something about the gondola."

"The Round Square gondola," said Aerith, grinning. "How romantic!"

"Eh, it's alright," said Zack, glancing off towards the chutes. He placed a hand on the back of his neck, wincing as he remembered the last time he had been to the Gold Saucer before all of this had started. Drunken misadventures and cheesy pick-up lines did not romance make. There were days when he still wanted to slap his fifteen-year-old self silly.

"There's going to be a fireworks show later tonight," Aerith said, glancing at the chutes with longing. "Cloud and Tifa will get to see it from the top. Tifa might even make a move…"

The way Aerith said it hinted that she knew something. Zack glanced over at her, and suddenly had no doubt that if Tifa got the idea to do something, it came from Aerith in the first place. He looked back toward the chute, considering that.

"Huh," he said, folding his arms. "Well, good for Cloud."

"Did you see the way they were holding hands?" asked Aerith, her eyes shining. "They're so sweet together!"

Zack grinned. "I'll show you sweet," he said, picking her up bridal style before she could react and spinning her around in a circle. Aerith squealed at him both in protest and delight, trying to grab onto something for support and laughing breathlessly into his shirt.

"Honestly," she said, when they stopped and he deposited her back on the ground. She leaned on him, slightly dizzy. "I can't take you anywhere."

"As I recall," said Zack, leaning down and lifting her hand. He kissed her fingertips lightly, keeping his eyes on hers. "I suggested we stay in tonight."

"After all your hard work to get us time off in the first place?" Aerith shook her head, throwing a smile over her shoulder as she pulled her hand out of his grip and turned away from him. "I don't think so, mister. Besides, I did want to come out here with you."

Her expression darkened, and Zack frowned, hurrying to catch up with her. For a moment, she said nothing, her eyes fixed on the ground. She looked…almost afraid. As Zack watched, her arms went up, and she hugged them close to herself.

He stared at her in concern. "Aerith?" he asked. "Everything okay?"

She shook her head, not looking up at him. Zack stared at her, still unconvinced.

"Aerith?" he asked again.

Aerith shook her head a second time, looking up at him. She inclined her head towards one of the streets that led off Wonder Square, away from the crowd of people congregating in the center.

"Watch the fireworks with me?"

XxXxX

The bar that Cissnei led him to was a respectable-looking establishment, tucked away from the rowdier restaurants and gambling dens which was good, since the casino across the tracks seemed to be experiencing some sort of altercation. It was also packed. Sephiroth placed a hand on Cissnei's arm, glancing pointedly at the numbers of people being turned away by the bouncer at the door. She picked up on his thoughts almost immediately, looking from him to the door and back to him.

"Don't worry," she said, starting forward again. "I know the owner."

The man at the door let them through without a word. Inside, the bar proved to be classier than the last he had visited, back in Midgar with Zack. It was also not as crowded as he expected. Television screens lined the walls, most of them depicting the races from various angles while a handful showed the local, area-wide, and global news. Almost all the news networks displayed Shinra's red diamond somewhere on the screen. The only one that didn't—a local news channel doing a special on prizes currently available from Wonder Square—wasn't worth mentioning. A few whispered words by Cissnei to one of the bartenders garnered them a seat in a raised alcove in one corner of the building, far enough away from the other conversations to speak uninterrupted and close enough to the tracks to see the races below.

Cissnei settled herself comfortably into the seat across from him, smiling as a waiter brought them drinks. The mixture handed him was slightly stronger than what he would normally have ordered on his own, but he picked it up and took a sip of it anyway, finding that it helped to get his mind off the relative closeness between them. Cissnei took a sip of her own drink, a fruity concoction that had turned a shade of red he was certain didn't occur in nature, and looked up at him, her finger absentmindedly tracing the stem of the glass.

"So, this is fun," she said tentatively, placing the claims slip from their bet on the table between them.

"Hn," he said in reply, setting his glass back down.

Cissnei went on, undeterred. "I'm sorry the play was so terrible," she said. "They aren't normally this bad, depending on where you go."

"I've visited the theater before," said Sephiroth.

"You have?" She blinked up at him from over the rim of her glass, surprised. At his nod, she went on. "Sorry. You didn't strike me as much of a theater person."

"Genesis wanted to go." Inwardly, he cringed at the memory of the number of different versions of LOVELESS Genesis had tried to get them to attend with him. Later on, when both he and Angeal had lost their patience, he had started going with whichever adoring fangirl he could coax onto his arm for two hours or so. But there had been other plays too, in the beginning. While Genesis's obsession with LOVELESS had been noticeable for a long time, it wasn't until the end that things had started getting truly strange.

Cissnei seemed to read the thoughts behind his words without him having to voice them out loud, because she simply watched him, tapping the rim of her glass with her finger, before lowering her eyes. "I see," she said, her expression giving him no clue as to what _she _was thinking about. "You and Genesis were really close, weren't you."

"Were," he said, picking up his glass. Whatever Genesis had been in the past didn't change who he was now, and who they would soon meet at the Temple of the Ancients. It didn't change the fact that Sephiroth would kill him if he had the chance. But it didn't quite allow him to like it. He lowered his glass, letting the alcohol burn through him as he looked up at her. "How do you know the owner?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"We worked together once," said Cissnei, giving him the frown that told him his questions were edging onto dangerous ground. "He was a Turk."

"And now?" asked Sephiroth.

"He's gone back to his original business," Cissnei replied. "Organized crime. Not that there was much difference. He isn't in right now, unfortunately. He was the one who loaned us the car we used to get to Kalm."

Sephiroth remembered. That same car had been the one they had used to haul Zack and Cloud to safety, Angeal's Buster Sword in the trunk. It had been almost a year since that day, but it felt like it had been a lifetime ago. He found himself wondering for the first time what had become of their hideout in Modeoheim, and if the winter snows had crept into the space without either of them there to properly secure the area. He took another sip of his drink.

"This is a front?" he asked, glancing around at the bar.

"In some ways." Cissnei smiled, picking up her drink and taking a sip. "Don't ask them to let you see the back room."

The hour wore on, the conversation turning towards other things. He finished his drink and ordered another, the alcohol leaving him feeling pleasantly relaxed and warm. He found himself paying less and less attention to her words and more attention simply to her—the gleam in her eye, the delicate arch of her throat, the curve of her lips…His eyes watched her fingers as they trailed across the tabletop, warmth pooling in his veins as his mind imagined the same motions elsewhere. Cissnei went on talking, oblivious for once to the intensity of his regard. The conversation shifted, turning away from Zack and Aerith and back to the events of tomorrow. Somehow, they found themselves talking about the Temple of the Ancients again.

"Do you think you can face her?" asked Cissnei. She glanced down at her drink, her expression subdued.

"I did before," said Sephiroth.

"When she was caught by surprise," said Cissnei in reply. "You and I both know how much of a difference that makes."

He nodded. He had been thinking along the same lines. In Nibelheim, Jenova had not been ready for him. Now, if she came at all, she would come prepared. But so would he.

"It's what I have to do," he said, absently taking hold of his empty glass. "Whether or not I think I can do it shouldn't make a difference."

"I suppose," she said, lowering her eyes to the table. That expression appeared again, the same closed-off look that he found himself unable to read. He frowned at her, setting down his glass.

"…Cissnei?" he asked.

Instead of answering, she bit her lip, looking down at her drink as though it would provide the answers. All at once, she stood up, placing both hands on the table. "Excuse me for a moment," she said, walking towards the door.

Sephiroth turned, watching as she went over to the dark-haired man that had just entered the bar, dressed as one of the employees. She smiled at him, offering a greeting. The two of them embraced, looking for all the world like old friends. Snatches of their conversation drifted over to him.

"Cissnei!" the man said. "How long has it been?"

"Too long," Cissnei replied. "I didn't know you were still working for Nico, Valerio…"

He kept his eyes focused on them as the noise from the televisions drowned out the rest of her words, the look in her eye as she stood up from the table still fixed in his mind. A bartender approached him. Sephiroth barely noticed the man's presence.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" he asked, leaning over.

Sephiroth leaned back in his seat, watching as Cissnei conversed animatedly with Valerio. She was smiling and laughing, the dim lights of the bar catching her hair as she tossed her head and making it look like a trail of flame. His hands followed the movement of her fingers as she gestured, landed on the hand she placed familiarly on the smuggler's arm. They took in her smile, her laugh, the gleam in her eyes. His fingers tightened slightly on the glass in his hands as he felt something unfamiliar coil in the pit of his stomach. He set it back on the table, upside down, and looked up at the man.

"Another drink," he said.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	113. Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Long chapter, and it took a while to come out, but when you read it, you'll see why. XD Also, you'll probably love me now but hate me next chapter. I apologize in advance.

Thanks go to **SpiritDreamWarriors, JazzQueen, HeartofFyrwinde, Meteor Panda, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Furionknight, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne, **and **Riku Uzumaki. **I didn't see any specific questions so I won't burden you with responses right now. Go and read this chapter—I've been wanting to write it for a long time. ^^

XxXxX

**Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds**

Zack followed Aerith down the small alley, walking away from the crowds that had begun to congregate in the center of Wonder Square. He frowned, watching her. Aerith wasn't looking at him. Instead, she had her eyes fixed straight ahead of her, and walked with single-minded purpose, as though she didn't really care whether he followed or not. He didn't say anything until there were no people around them and she stopped, wrapping her arms around herself. The two of them were standing in a rundown part of the Square, abandoned attractions and stalls surrounding them.

The sight reminded him of the Sector 5 slums, where he had first met Aerith, except even those slums wouldn't be this quiet. He took a step forward, unsure whether or not he would frighten her. When she didn't move, he stepped forward again, standing close enough to reach out and touch her. He thought about placing a hand on her shoulder or on her arm but decided against it. He didn't want to push too far. Instead, he slipped his hands into his pocket to decrease the temptation, and looked up at her.

"Aerith?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Aerith shook her head, lowering her eyes to the ground. Her mouth worked silently for a moment. When she did find her voice, it sounded strangely hollow. "What would you do if I died?"

The question stunned him. He stared at her, his eyes wide. His mouth fell open—he quickly shut it when he realized he didn't have anything to say. "…What are you saying?" he finally asked.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know anymore." She took a few steps forward, still not turning to face him. "Lately, ever since we decided to go to the Temple of the Ancients, I've been having dreams. And I feel…something." Her hand curled on her chest, just over her heart. "A…pull. Like there's something I need to do. Like there's something only _I _can do."

"But none of that has anything to do with you _dying_," said Zack. He started forward before he realized what he was doing, placing a hand on Aerith's arm and turning her to face him. She tensed, dropping her gaze from his eyes. There was something in her expression that made him pause, and he stared at her, slowly releasing his grip on her arm. "Aerith?" he asked, uncertain this time. He felt his breath catch in his throat. "It doesn't. Does it?"

"I don't know," Aerith mumbled, glancing off to the side. "I don't know how the Planet expects me to defeat her. I just feel…stretched."

"We're all stretched—," began Zack.

Aerith shook her head, cutting him off. "It's not that," she said. "I feel…like there's not enough of me. Like what's left of me is running out. And…I'm scared."

"Aerith…" Zack exhaled, moving his hand from his arm to her face and lightly cupping her cheek. Even though his gloves, he could feel her trembling. "I'll protect you. I promise. You don't have anything to be afraid of. I won't let her hurt you."

"Oh, Zack…" Aerith let out a shuddering breath, raising her eyes to meet his. In the dim light of the square, they seemed to glow with a light all of their own as they looked into his. He didn't miss the faint glimmer of unshed tears. "It's not me I'm scared for."

_I'm scared for you_.

She didn't say it, but he could hear it as clearly as if she had blasted it on the loudspeakers. Zack pulled his hand away, turning away from her. He stared down at the ground, not sure what to say. All of this time, Aerith had been there for him. He tried to imagine a world without her, and just couldn't do it. In a world where he had already lost so many people, imagining a world without Aerith was…it was like imagining a world without the sun.

"You're not going to die."

"Zack," began Aerith.

"You're not." He said the words more firmly this time, straightening up. "Aerith, I promise. You're not going to die." _Not while I'm still here. Not while I'm still breathing. _He looked up at the empty sky, then looked back at her. "We made a promise, remember?"

She clasped her hands together, looking back down at the ground. "I remember."

Zack turned, facing her fully. "Do you remember what it was?" he asked.

She smiled faintly, still not looking up at him. "That we would sell flowers together. Under the open sky."

"And I still want to make good on that," said Zack, placing his hands on her shoulders. The touch made her look up, startled, and he looked into her eyes. "So, you tell the Planet, whatever it is you have to do, you can do alive. Because I'm not ready to let you go. Got that?"

Aerith smiled, her eyes lighting up. She sniffed, and he thought he saw tears threatening to fall. "I don't think it works that way, Zack," she said.

"We'll make it work that way," he said. "Somehow. If anyone can do it, we can, right? And anyway, it's not like you're fighting alone. You have me, and Seph, and Cloud, and the rest of us. We're not going to let you down."

"I'm the last of the Cetra," said Aerith, lowering her voice to a near-whisper. "You heard what the elders of Cosmo Canyon said. It's my job…my duty to protect the Planet. I don't need to drag you into that."

"You're Aerith," said Zack. "I don't care about the rest. That's all you'll ever be to me." When Aerith looked away from him, he lowered his hands from her shoulders to her arms, squeezing lightly. "Hey," he said, his voice soft. "Hey, look at me."

She looked up obligingly, blinking huge green eyes in him. He leaned down so that he was looking her straight in the eye, their foreheads inches from touching. "I don't care," he told her. "About all of that. About you being a Cetra. It doesn't change who you are. You're still Aerith. You're still the flower girl from the slums I fell in love with. _Nothing _is going to change that, and you are_ never _alone."

"Zack…"

A tear trickled down her cheek. He reached up, wiping it away with his thumb, a smile on his face. He lowered his hand.

Aerith surprised him. She launched forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. Zack caught her, holding her tightly and pulling her to him. Aerith didn't cry, not the way he had in Gongaga, not the way he had the last time they had been like this, their positions reversed, on the floor of the church after Angeal's death. She was a flower in the slums, she had always been stronger than that. But she did shake and tremble, she did pull herself close to him, letting his head rest on her shoulder. And if she made the occasional hiccupping sob and he felt wetness begin to soak through his shirt, he said nothing about it, only holding her tighter.

Overhead, the first of the fireworks went off, bathing Wonder Square gold. But as Aerith pulled away, and he leaned down to kiss her, the two of them vanished into a world of their own.

XxXxX

The last of the monsters fell, ripped apart by the Galian Beast's claws. Vincent shuddered as he felt himself shrink, his body changing and his mind becoming his again as the beast left him. The world swam around him, his mind reeling as Galian's heightened senses receded, the sights, sounds and smells of Gold Saucer growing painfully sharp for a moment before fading away. The aftermath of any transformation always left him feeling weak and disconnected, as though he wasn't the one occupying his own body. He looked up at the stands, glad that the crowd wasn't as thick as it should have been. Fewer people were there to witness his shame. His eyes landed on Yuffie and Blaire briefly, and he holstered his gun, turning to face Dio.

The owner of the Gold Saucer stood several feet away, looking gleefully into the arena. Vincent stepped around the corpses of the monsters he had defeated, walking closer to him. He stopped a few feet away, not wanting to get too close to the man.

"As promised," he said, holding out his hand.

"Great job!" Dio said, ignoring the outstretched hand. "You did very well, young man! It's a promise, so go ahead and take it! And take this too!"

He handed a small stone to Vincent, accompanied by a vest of some kind. Vincent picked it up with his gauntleted hand, feeling the weight of it. It appeared to be bulletproof. The Keystone, he tucked securely into his pocket, turning away from Dio without a word and walking through the gates of the arena. Almost as soon as he set foot outside, he heard a voice.

"_Vincent!" _shouted Yuffie.

Vincent looked up to see her running at full tilt towards him, Blaire in tow. She had a pompom in one hand, one that looked like she might have stolen it from some of the children passing by, and was waving excitedly with the other. He watched as she stopped in front of him, breathing hard.

"Did you get it?" she asked, once she had caught her breath.

In response, he held up the Keystone. Yuffie's eyes widened, and she let out a whoop of triumph, launching forward and throwing her arms around his neck. Vincent tensed, taking a step back so that he wouldn't fall over. He hooked an arm around her waist to catch her as he nearly stumbled, releasing it quickly once he had both feet on the ground. Yuffie remained where she was for a moment, before she tensed, taking a step back. She lowered her eyes to the ground, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. She turned away from him, but before she did, he thought he could see her cheeks turning a light pink.

"Um…" she said. "Uh…yeah, sorry about that. So. You won. That's great."

He frowned at her. "Yuffie…" he began.

"You know what's also great?" she asked, cutting him off. "Dinner! Blaire's hungry! We should get dinner!"

Blaire blinked at Yuffie in confusion. "But I'm fu—," she began.

Yuffie grabbed both of the girl's hands in hers, cutting her off. "—Wonder Square!" she said. "What's that, kiddo? You want to go to Wonder Square? Come on, Vinnie! Let's go!" With that, she started running, dragging Blaire along with her and waving at Vincent to follow. Vincent did not have any intention to, but somehow or another, he found himself sitting at a café table outside an eatery in Wonder Square, keeping an eye out around the attractions for Blaire as Yuffie sat across from him, sipping at her cup of hot chocolate.

It hadn't taken Yuffie long to return to her normal self. He half-listened to her as she chattered on about the match, his mind wandering towards the Keystone in his pocket. With this, they would be able to access the Temple of the Ancients. What would they find there, and would it finally help him to atone?

A change in Yuffie's tone made him look up. "Hey, look, Vince," she was saying, leaning back in her seat and looking up at the sky. "Fireworks."

He looked. The first blast, he couldn't miss. It was bright gold, lighting up the entirety of the sky. Within moments, the sky was alight, blasts of red and blue and green firing off into the sky. The two of them watched, silent for a moment. Across the table from him, Yuffie looked up at the sky with an almost reverent expression, her eyes fixed completely on the lights.

"They're really pretty, aren't they?" she asked, watching with rapt attention as a red firework exploded just over where they sat.

Vincent said nothing. She must have taken his silence for assent, because she smiled, drawing her legs up so that she could sit cross-legged on the chair. She fiddled with her fingers. "When I was little, we used to go to the _matsuri_. Me, Dad, and Mom. It was the only time of year that we were all together." He turned to watch her, watching as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and drew her knees closer to her chest, a look on her face that told him she was reliving a distant memory, one from all of eleven years ago. Yuffie had lived so little of her life. To her, those years were long gone. She hadn't yet known what _long _felt like.

But he found himself hoping she never had to. He looked away from her, turning his attention back to the crowds. Vincent looked up again, when he heard Yuffie shift, turning to face him. She lifted something from her bag—a package wrapped in brown paper. Vincent frowned at her in suspicion as she set it on the table between them.

"This is for you," she said, giving him an embarrassed smile. "For, uh, helping me back then. In Wutai. You didn't _have _to train with me."

He frowned, but reached for the package anyway, his clawed gauntlet fiddling with the twine wrapped around it. He pulled the clumsy wrapping away with his other hand, listening as Yuffie went on. "I wasn't sure if you'd like it, but I saw it in Wutai, and I kind of thought—well, I know you use a gun, but I've never _bought _a gun before—but the weapons guy said it was good—but I don't really know what it looks for, so if it sucks, let me know, cause I think selling cheap goods to your princess is kind of a crime, and if it isn't it should be, and—."

Vincent ignored her, pulling away the last of the wrapping. It was a short-barreled shotgun, paneled with dark Wutaiian wood. There were engravings in the wood, subtle carvings that edged around the sides of the paneling. He ran his hand along the side of it, counting two pairs of linked Materia shots and one singular, five in all. Vincent lifted it in his hand, testing the weight. A good size, with a more comfortable grip than his Quicksilver. He looked back up at Yuffie, who had suddenly found the table more interesting than him. She played with her fingers again, keeping her eyes on her drink.

"So, uh, what do you think?" she asked.

He nodded, setting the gun down. "It's suitable," he said.

"_Suitable_?!" Yuffie shrieked. She sprang up and looked him in the eye, backlit by the fireworks. "Vincent Valentine! I go out of my way to buy you a present, and all you can say is it's _suitable_? You're unbelievable!"

Vincent didn't respond, holding her gaze. She watched, hands on hips as he stood up. Her expression softened as she saw him remove Quicksilver from its holster, placing its materia in the new weapon and setting it on the table in front of her. He replaced it in its holster with the new gun. She exhaled, lowering her hands from her sides as she watched him.

"Thank you," he said.

She flushed, holding her hands out in front of her. "H—Hey," she said. "I didn't mean—do you hear something?" Yuffie stopped, glancing off into the crowd. Vincent frowned, squinting as he looked through the attractions beneath the light and noise of the fireworks.

"Where is Blaire?" he asked.

Yuffie turned towards him, shocked. "Weren't you supposed to be watching her?" she asked.

The sound of alarms more clearly met his ears. Blaire came running through the crowd, a hammer in her hand. From the look of it, it had been from some sort of carnival game, probably the test-your-strength variety. Attached to it was a chain and a lock, one that made it look like Blaire had just ripped it out of the wall.

"I broke it!" she said, breathless. "I didn't mean to! Now they're coming after me! What do I do?"

Vincent and Yuffie both looked up, watching as a group of Gold Saucer guards rounded the corner. Without another word, each of them took hold of one of Blaire's wrists, taking off at a run through the street.

XxXxX

"Well, we were right about Nightmare, at least," said Cissnei, taking the receipt from the man at the betting booth. She glanced down at it, sighing. They'd come so close to winning the bet completely, but a yellow chocobo had pulled an upset and edged just past Mayonaka for second place. She pocketed the slip—some money back was better than none—and turned towards Sephiroth. The ex-SOLDIER said nothing, his eyes fixed on the tracks. He'd been…more solemn than usual since they left the bar, she noticed, but she was having a hard time understanding why. As a Turk, she considered herself good at reading people, but Sephiroth was often difficult to read even on his best days. After five years of knowing him, sometimes, he still mystified her.

She smiled, trying to return some of the earlier good mood and walked over to him, nudging him lightly in the arm with her elbow. "Come on," she said. "You have to admit it's better than nothing." 

He grunted in reply, following her as she walked down the length of the spectator stands that lined the track. Cissnei glanced back at him, her smile dropping away. She wondered if he'd simply had a little too much to drink. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"

"You've been a bit cold since we left the bar," said Cissnei, turning away. "I can't help wondering." She didn't press any further. Sephiroth was like a cat, he'd open up to her if he wanted to, but nothing she said would make him. It wasn't until they left the track behind and started walking through the stalls of chocobo-related merchandise that he spoke up.

"…How did you know that man?" he asked, with the sort of tone that told her he was trying to return to normal conversation.

"Valerio?" asked Cissnei. "He was one of Nico's oldest friends. When Nico joined the Turks, he became our inside man in Don Corneo's organization and stayed that way until he was found out. Corneo tried to have him killed, but Nico and a bunch of us stepped in, helped him go into hiding." She smiled, thinking back to that night. As a Turk, it had been one of her finest moments. "He walks with a limp now, but he survived. Why? Jealous?"

She meant it as a joke, but the look he shot her made her want to turn it back. She looked away and folded her arms, a shiver running down her spine at the sudden intensity in his green eyes.

_Careful, Cissnei…_she told herself. _You're on dangerous ground. _

"You want to take a peek in there?" she asked, changing the subject. She pointed at a souvenir store set into one of the buildings. Sephiroth didn't raise any objections, so she took that as a yes, walking toward the building. Once inside, the two of them went their separate ways, Cissnei's attention being taken up by a photo album of chocobo racing legends as Sephiroth disappeared into the store. She took note of the names and faces, smiling as she looked up to notice that Sephiroth had found himself in front of a rack of plush chocobos, examining a yellow one closely. Try as he might to distance himself from Blaire, it was clear that having her around was having an effect on him. She kept the smile on her face even as she turned to look through the jewelry, the smile remaining until she noticed a certain necklace.

Most of the jewelry in the shop was gaudy, silver chocobos, or chocobos inlaid with plastic yellow stones, but this one wasn't. It was a single wing, folded against itself, individual feathers carefully engraved. She ran her finger over it, feeling the ridges and grooves that had been cut into the silver. Unlike some of the costume jewelry in the store, it was real, and unfortunately, more expensive than she was willing to fritter away. But it was beautiful. It made her remember the drawings she had etched into her wall of the orphanage, in a secret place. Drawings of wings.

She was lost enough that she didn't notice Sephiroth coming up behind her until he spoke. "What do you have?" he asked. To her credit, she managed not to jump, instead turning around to face him. He had the yellow chocobo tucked under one arm, and any other day, she might have laughed, if it wasn't for the look in his eyes. She glanced down at the necklace, showing it to him.

"Wings?" he asked, looking back at her.

"It's silly, I know," said Cissnei, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked away in embarrassment. "It's just…it makes me remember. When I was young…how much I wanted them." Maybe she still did. She hadn't thought about it in a long time.

"…Are you buying it?" asked Sephiroth.

She shook her head, reluctantly letting it go. "It's too expensive," she said, turning away. "We shouldn't waste our money. Anyway, it was only a childhood dream. Are you ready to go?"

He nodded, and the two of them left the shop. Cissnei hugged her arms close to herself, feeling strangely heavy. She wasn't sure if it was the necklace that was making her so sad, if it was the memories that it brought up, or if it was something else. His presence, perhaps. His closeness. The fact that he was there, that he could have been close to her, but for some reason he remained so far away.

_Don't think like that_, she told herself. _You can never afford to think like that. _

The first firework went off with a crack, lighting up the night sky. Cissnei stopped in her tracks, staring up at it. It was a beautiful golden color, spreading outwards like a flower. It was soon followed by a red one, the sky lighting up in streams of red and gold, white, green, and blue. She hadn't been expecting the fireworks tonight. It was all she could do to stare.

"They're so pretty," she said, to no one in particular.

Behind her, she heard Sephiroth stop, could feel his eyes on her. She said nothing, but turned around, facing him. He had stopped a few feet away, and was looking at her with the same unreadable expression she had noticed earlier. It was only then that she realized that their walk had taken them to a deserted part of the Square, the majority of the Gold Saucer's patrons having gone to the tracks to watch. For a moment, it was just her, him, and the lights that rained down above them.

"What?" she asked, frowning at him as he stepped closer to her, looking down at her intently, as though he was considering something very deeply. "What's wrong?"

He came to a stop in front of her, his eyes meeting hers. _Definitely too much to drink, _she thought as she saw the heat in them. She knew she needed to move, but she found herself rooted to the spot, unable to do anything more than look back up at him.

"Sephiroth," she began.

She didn't get a chance to say anything more. He leaned down, placing his hands on her shoulders, and pressed his lips to hers.

XxXxX

The gondola rose with a slight clatter as the gears clicked together, drawing him and Tifa higher above the Square. Below them, Gold Saucer was spread out around them, the squares and attractions seeming to stretch on forever. On a normal day, he would have stopped to enjoy the view, but his attention was completely captured by the woman sitting across from him. Tifa sat, looking out the window with rapt attention, her eyes wide as she watched the city fall away.

"Look, Cloud," she said, causing him to look up as light flared by outside the window. "Fireworks."

He looked. The sky was alive with them, fireworks seeming to go off all around them, but he found that he couldn't quite get himself to care. Rather than watch the fireworks, his attention was caught by the look in Tifa's eyes, the parting of her lips as she leaned forward to get a better view, the placement of her hand on the glass, the way her dark hair fell like a curtain around her face. "Oh, how pretty," he heard her say.

He agreed with her.

At length, she turned away from the window, tossing her hair over her shoulder and facing him. She fiddled with her hands in her lap, not looking him in the eye. "It's really pretty, isn't it?" she asked. When he said nothing, she took a deep breath, looking up at him. "Okay. I'm just going to go ahead and say it…"

Cloud frowned. "What?" he asked.

Tifa took a deep breath, shaking her head. "Aerith would just come out and say it, probably…" she said. "Uh…Cloud. Sometimes being old friends is hard. I mean, timing is everything…"

"Yeah…?" he asked, unsure what she was getting at.

Tifa shook her head, not saying anything more. Her eyes widened as the gondola came to a sudden stop, the momentum nearly catapulting her forward. Cloud placed one hand on the wall to steady himself and reached out for her, but she caught herself just in time, lowering herself back to her seat.

"We've stopped," she said, looking out the window.

Cloud nodded, glancing out as well.

"At the top…" Tifa continued.

He nodded again. She cleared her throat, taking a deep breath and straightening up. "I…well…anyway, I was saying…oh, you know what. Just close your eyes. Please?"

He frowned at her, but nodded, his eyes slowly drifting closed. Cloud felt his heart suddenly increase in pace as he heard Tifa get up, crossing the small gap over to where he sat. She couldn't possibly be doing what he thought she was doing, could she? He said nothing, holding as still as possible as he felt her place a hand on the wall behind him for support. He felt her hair brush against the side of his face. Heard her breathing. His own had stopped almost completely.

She leaned closer, and he could smell the flowery scent of her hair, could feel her breath wafting against his face. He wanted to open his eyes, but was afraid of scaring her away. His mind was everywhere at once—he wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them, he wanted nothing more than to run away.

The gondola started moving with a jolt, causing Tifa to yelp and collapse against him, her chin landing on his shoulder. She let out another yelp of pain as her jaw snapped shut suddenly from the motion and she staggered back. Cloud opened his eyes, alarmed, to see her cradling her chin with one hand, settling back to her seat.

"Tifa…?" he began.

"Cloud, I—." She shook her head, her face bright red. She lowered her eyes, her hands in her lap. Whatever magic had been in the air between them was gone, and Cloud found himself flushing as well, looking away.

They stayed like that until the ride came to a stop, a few minutes later, Cloud's heart still feeling like it was about to jump out of his chest.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	114. Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds pt5

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** And here it is, the end of the last Interlude of this disc. With this, we move into the fic's final arc. ^^ Everything so far has been building up to the next few files, and I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, shadowneko003, HeartofFyrwinde, Riku Uzumaki, ryuukoshi, Draconic, Eavenne, Meteor Panda, RinHildeSora, Nero23, Guest, IarIz, Irish-Brigid** and **Leon Kaye **for the reviews and support! I'm glad you guys liked it. I can't answer most of your reviews without giving away the chapter, so just read and enjoy!

**Draconic, **thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Cloud and Tifa's scene was a bit of a last minute inspiration for me, so I'm glad it worked out well!

**Eavenne, **I think I barely made your deadline. Don't die!

XxXxX

**Interlude 005: Unbreakable Bonds**

She knew she should have pulled away, but somehow her hands ended up in his hair and his ended up around her waist and she was pulling him closer, her back against the wall of the building as she fervently returned the kiss. It felt as though something had snapped, as though everything that she had spent years waiting for had come to this one moment. She couldn't even remember why she had resisted this for so long.

Cissnei leaned into the kiss, her eyes closed. Around her, the fireworks continued to go off, filling the air with light, sound, and the faint smell of smoke, but she barely noticed them. Her mind was focused only on him, and on the complicated tangle of desire and friendship and love and fear that had been building up inside of her for so long. She wanted more. Cissnei made a small noise at the back of her throat as his teeth nipped at her lower lip. Her lips parted, opening to him. Sephiroth deepened the kiss and she lost herself in the sensations, her hands sliding from around his neck to rest lightly on his chest as she drifted into memory.

_Shy kisses, growing in fervor. A dark room. Shadows playing on the walls. Wavy blond hair. Blue eyes. The taste of tears. _

Reality hit like a splash of cold water, fear gripping her heart. Her eyes snapped open, and she pushed back, shoving him off of her. She shouldn't have been strong enough to force him to move, but he did anyway, taking a step back and away. She stood there, face flushed and breathing heavily. Her heart pounded in her chest. His expression hadn't changed, so instead she looked into his eyes. Whatever heat had been in them earlier was already beginning to fade, replaced by a grim acceptance. Her mouth worked, but she couldn't find her voice, all she managed was a choked sound.

Without even thinking, she turned, running away.

XxXxX

He stood there for a long time after Cissnei left, his eyes fixed in the direction she had run. His mind worked, slowly and methodically, already starting to make sense of the new turn of events. Despite everything, Sephiroth found himself almost preternaturally calm. The warmth and the feel and the taste of her were still at the forefront of his mind, but his thoughts were more focused on why he had done that than why she had run.

He wasn't drunk—he knew what drunk felt like. He knew that he had allowed himself to become more affected by the drink than was wise, but while that might have allowed him to relax enough to do this, it wasn't _why _he had kissed her. Perhaps if he hadn't been drinking, he wouldn't have, but he was beginning to realize that much of the odd tension that had been building between them over the past few months had been leading to this. Zack's words from the last time they had been at the Gold Saucer came back to him, now that he was forced to admit that Zack might have been right.

In the end, he realized, he'd done it because he wanted to.

He turned away from the alley she had run into, realizing that a part of him was still waiting for her to come back, and turned and walked in the other direction, the weight of her reaction setting in. By now, the fireworks had long since gone out, and the square was beginning to empty, very few people giving him a second glance as he made his way back across the tracks. He began to feel the heaviness he associated with his memories of Angeal and Genesis, the knowledge that things would not be the same.

He tried to take stock of his own feelings. He knew what someone should be feeling after rejection—hurt, angry, perhaps even sad and regretful—but at the moment, he didn't find himself feeling anything but tired, a bone-deep weariness that felt more present than ever before. He _was _tired, he realized—not a physical tiredness, but a mental and emotional one.

He had lived thirty years of life. For seventeen years of those, he had been fighting a war. The enemy changed constantly, but the act was still the same. This event had been the last in a long series of conflicts, a long series of battles, a long series of what few friendships he'd had being lost and sometimes regained.

He'd stated his case, he decided, walking past the same rows of shops that they'd moved through earlier. He wouldn't state it again. It was her turn to decide what she wanted from him, what she wanted them to be.

But as his eyes fell on the necklace hanging in the window of the store they had shopped in, the silver wing gleaming in the lamplight, he decided it didn't hurt to be prepared for whatever her choice might be.

XxXxX

The chase came to an abrupt end in an abandoned corner of the square, Vincent reaching out and grabbing Yuffie by the arm. He pulled her into the doorway of a broken down building, pressing his back against the wall and keeping away from the windows. Yuffie grabbed onto Blaire's arm, pulling the young girl with her and covering her mouth with a hand. The three of them huddled in the interior of the building as the guards hurried past, looking around for them. It was only when they were gone that Vincent released her.

Yuffie released her hold on Blaire, rounding onto Vincent. She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him as the gunslinger peered around the door, making sure that there were no other traces of pursuit.

"I can't believe you!" said Yuffie as Vincent turned back towards her. His eyes widened just slightly at her sudden outburst. Yuffie took a step forward, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You had one job, Valentine. One job. And that job was to keep an eye on a ten-year-old girl. Some Turk you are!"

Vincent stared at her, and she saw a brief flash of surprise register across his face. Yuffie ignored it, turning away and folding her arms. She paced away from Vincent, punctuating her words with the occasional gesture or angry wave of her hand. "The whole time _I _was watching her, she never wandered off, but _no, _I leave it to Mr. Reliable and the next thing you know, we're running from the goddamn SWAT team!"

Blaire blinked at them, her eyes wide. She took a step back, instinctively getting out of the way as Yuffie paced in front of her.

"And _I'm _the unreliable one!" Yuffie continued. "What do you have to say for yourself, mister? You're going to be in _big _trouble. What? You think I won't tell Sephiroth? Because I will. I will go straight back to the hotel and tattle on you, and he'll give you that glare, and then you'll be sorry—and that's the last time you'll ever be allowed to babysit children!" She waved her hands in the air. "And let's not even get me started on—."

Yuffie stopped suddenly, hearing a snort coming from behind her. She turned, just in time to see Vincent turn away, making another choked sound. Yuffie blinked, thinking at first that something might have been wrong with him, or that he was about to transform, when she recognized his expression. His lips were clamped tightly together, his face turned away from her, his eyes on the floor. If he hadn't been Vincent, he would probably have been covering his mouth. Her eyes widened in astonishment.

"Hey…" she said, lowering her hands back to her side. "You can laugh…"

Vincent made another choked noise, turning more away from her. Yuffie stared at him as another realization kicked in. "Hey. You're laughing at _me_." He bowed his head, covering his mouth with his hand. Yuffie's eyes narrowed.

"Vincent Valentine, you stop laughing at me right now!" she said, walking over to him. She grabbed him by the front of his cloak. "You do not laugh at me while I'm lecturing you, you hear me? You hear me?!"

Blaire watched the two of them, still clutching the hammer with her hands. As Vincent turned away and Yuffie leapt onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck and continuing to shout, she decided that she didn't _want _to understand what was going on.

"Adults are weird," she muttered, to no one in particular.

XxXxX

Nanaki stared longingly at the door of the hotel, nudging a passed out Cid with his nose. Cid grumbled something foul under his breath, turning away from the touch. Beside him, Kunsel also mumbled something intelligible, turning over and going back to sleep. The two of them were seated slumped against the hallway wall, eyes closed. It had been all Nanaki could do to _get _them inside. Kunsel had held up until they had reached their floor, at which point he had slumped down for a 'nap', and Nanaki didn't think he was capable of getting them both to their rooms without injuring either them or himself.

He could still feel his fur standing on end from the events of the evening, the flame at the end of his tail blazing brightly. Where was Sephiroth? He was sure that the ex-SOLDIER had stayed behind, but they had returned to the hotel only for Nanaki to find everyone's rooms empty. If he were here, he would know what to do.

The elevator dinged as it arrived on their floor, the doors sliding open. Nanaki looked up hopefully, turning towards it. His ears perked up as he heard booted feet starting to make their way down the hallway, and he sniffed the air, quickly identifying Sephiroth's scent. Perfect timing. It looked like he might get to sleep at a decent hour after all. He watched as the ex-SOLDIER rounded the corner and started walking towards them, doing his best not to run up to him like an excitable pup. Still, he couldn't help the slightly breathless edge to his tone as he approached the SOLDIER.

"Sephiroth!" he said. "Where have you been?"

"Out." The answer was unusually brusque, making Nanaki stop in his tracks. It wasn't unusual for Sephiroth to be curt with them, but he couldn't figure out what had put the SOLDIER in such a mood tonight. He watched as Sephiroth's eyes drifted briefly to Kunsel and Cid, and he felt his claws dig into the carpet momentarily before retracting. Despite everything, he hoped the ex-SOLDIER wouldn't be too harsh with them. "What happened?"

"There was a brawl," said Nanaki, his ears flattening against his head in memory. "They went out for drinks. They decided that since Barret wasn't here, they were going to order a drink for him. When they realized I wasn't drinking, they started drinking for me too."

"And?" asked Sephiroth, looking back at him.

"Apparently, I'm an alcoholic," said Nanaki flatly, his eyes drifting back towards the two of them.

"Hn." Sephiroth gave Kunsel and Cid one last glance, then started walking towards his room. Nanaki stared as he walked past, shocked.

"Wait!" he said, turning around. "What do I do with them?"

"Leave them," said Sephiroth, not looking back.

Leave them? Now that was strange. Nanaki glanced back at the door. "Where are the others?" he asked, "Weren't we all supposed to meet back at this time?"

Sephiroth shrugged, reaching for his room key. He slid it into the lock, turning the handle and opening the door. Nanaki turned towards him, sniffing the air again. That was weird. He could have sworn he smelled Cissnei too. "Where's Cissnei?" he asked.

Sephiroth said nothing, the door clicking shut behind him. Nanaki stared at the closed door, his tail lowering slightly.

_What was that all about? _he thought.

His ears perked up again at the sound of the elevator opening, a few moments later. Nanaki watched as Cloud and Tifa walked in, about to run up to them. He stopped when he noticed that the two of them were walking a few feet apart, their faces flushed. Tifa had one arm wrapped around her middle, her hand closed around the other. Cloud held both arms stiffly at his side, neither of them looking at each other. He turned towards them, wondering if they could help.

"Cloud," he began. "Tifa—."

The two of them passed him on either side, none of them stopping to look at him as they made their way to their rooms. Red's tail slumped again, and he glanced back at the elevator, deciding to lie down in the hallway and wait. The minutes ticked by, one after another until Red found himself slightly worried. Where were Zack and Aerith? Yuffie, Vincent, and Blaire? If something happened to them, what should he do?

When the elevator door opened again, he sprang to his feet, watching with some relief as Yuffie made her way over to them. The ninja looked angry—she moved with large stomping strides, her hands balled into fists at her side.

"Yuffie!" he said as she approached. "Have you seen Zack and Aerith?"

"How the hell should I know?!" she snapped at him. "Do I look like their keeper?"

Nanaki blinked, his head turning to face her as she made her way over to the room she shared with Cissnei. She fished in her pocket for the key, yanking the door open angrily.

"Can you at least help me with Kunsel and—!" Nanaki began, but was cut off by the door slamming shut. His eyes widened, and he glanced back at the hallway as Vincent started walking towards them, his face expressionless and his eyes fixed on the hallway ahead. He seemed completely unfazed by Yuffie's outburst, but there was something in the gunslinger's eyes that unsettled him, causing him to freeze in his tracks. It took a moment before he realized that it was amusement. By the time he turned, Vincent had already disappeared into his room.

He glanced back at Blaire, who was following the two of them and carrying—was that a hammer? He turned to face the child, who had come to a stop in front of him. "What happened there?" he asked, indicating Yuffie and Vincent.

Blaire shook her head in confusion. "I don't really understand it," she said. "But I got a hammer."

Nanaki shook his head, deciding it was better not to ask. He stepped aside, letting Blaire pass as well. After a few more minutes of waiting on Zack, Aerith and Cissnei, he gave up, using his teeth to insert the room key into the lock and slipping into the room he shared with Kunsel. He left the two of them in the hallway, deciding they could find their own way in. There was too much strangeness going on tonight.

XxXxX

Cissnei ran until she was out of breath, then continued to run until she was gasping, choking on air. She finally came to a stop against a wall at the top of the stairs that led down to the chutes, her hands coming to rest on her knees. Her lungs burned, the air felt cold in her mouth, and her hair had stuck to the side of her face. She knew that she had to look like a mess, but her exhaustion, the pounding of her heart and the blood rushing through her veins all made her stop thinking about what happened there. She straightened up, still choking, and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, taking deep gulping breaths.

Nothing seemed to work. No matter what she did, she was still thinking of him, and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop the fear that twisted in her gut, running through her veins like ice. The fear was made sharper by her guilt, keener by the leftover traces of warmth and desire, and colder by the voice in her head that told her she shouldn't have left. She placed her face in her hands, resisting the urge to sink down onto the ground and bury her head in her knees.

Rekka would have done that. Rekka would have hid. But Cissnei was stronger than that.

…wasn't she?

She ran her hands down her face, shaking her head to clear it and looking up at the sky. The fireworks had finally stopped, the night taking on an almost eerie calm. She wondered where Sephiroth was, if he had gone back to the hotel or if he was still standing there, unmoving. She wondered how she would face him after this—how, or _if, _she could explain her reaction. Explain that it hadn't been because of _him_.

She hugged her arms close to herself, beginning to walk. The night air was cool against her face, and she walked slowly, aimlessly, not really going anywhere. It was only when she heard the first snatches of familiar conversation that she paused, looking down at the long stretch of steps that led towards the chutes. She came to a standstill, her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her and quickly moved, taking a step back and hiding herself in the shadows of the racing sign. Her mouth went dry.

A Shinra helicopter had been parked at the foot of the chutes. And standing beneath the helicopter's shadow, talking, were two figures she would have recognized anywhere.

Cait Sith and Tseng.

Tseng looked much the same as the last time she had seen him. His suit was immaculately pressed. His hair, longer now, was down, falling like a dark curtain across his back. His back was straight, his manner coolly professional as he kept his eyes on the robot in front of him. He didn't seem to notice her, and certainly didn't glance her way. On the outside, he looked as untouchable as he always did, but something worried her. Tseng looked…somehow older than he had before, more drawn, like he was wearing thin.

Cait Sith looked the same as always, but that was only to be expected. Snatches of their conversation drifted towards her.

"…you're sure?" Cait Sith wasn't talking in his voice anymore, but in a deeper, unaccented voice that Cissnei recognized. She tensed, listening close.

"Positive," Tseng replied. "There's a very strong movement towards the area. Genesis is heading towards the Temple of the Ancients. There's a good chance Shelke and Argento will be there with him."

"And the others?" asked Cait Sith.

Tseng said nothing. The cat held still, the Moogle he was riding on taking a step forward. "You do have them in custody, don't you, Tseng?"

Tseng continued to say nothing. It was a very loud nothing. Cissnei found that she was holding her breath without really thinking about it. At length, he spoke, his shoulders tense. "I have a way to control them."

"The Resistor chip?" asked Cait Sith. "Do they know you have it?"

"No." Tseng shook his head. "It has limited range, but if they converge on the Temple…"

"The self-destruct program?"

Tseng nodded. Cait Sith paused, and Cissnei could practically imagine Reeve on the other end, leaning back in his chair and stroking his goatee thoughtfully as he kept his eyes on the door of his office, making sure that no one could listen in.

"If you're sure…" he began.

"It's what has to be done," said Tseng. "The Turks will do it."

"And the Keystone?" asked Cait Sith.

"It's with Valentine," said Tseng. "If what you say is true, the way will be open anyway. At any rate, there isn't enough time. I have to go."

"Take care of yourself." Reeve sounded genuinely worried. Cissnei couldn't blame him. It was all she could do to remain in the shadows. She waited until Tseng got back in the helicopter and the chopper was high in the sky before she stepped out of her hiding place, walking over to Cait Sith. She reached out, grabbing the robot by the arm, and turned him around, smiling.

"Hello, Reeve," she said.

Cait Sith didn't tense, but she could practically see Reeve doing so. After a moment, the cat took a step back, trying to get out of her grasp. "Ciss—Cissnei." He still spoke with Reeve's voice.

"The one and only." Cissnei obligingly let Cait Sith go, lowering her hands to her waist. "What were you talking about with Tseng?"

"I have to go." Reeve sounded nervous, something odd, considering how calm and collected he usually was. She frowned.

"Don't give me that," said Cissnei. "This is important. What is Tseng planning to do?"

"No, Cissnei. You don't understand. I can't talk to you. I have to go."

"Reeve—."

Cait Sith went rigid, the light fading from its eyes. Cissnei stared at it, letting out a sigh. She waved her hand in front of its face, and when it didn't move, rapped it once on the top of the head for good measure. It seemed like she couldn't even do that right. She turned away from the deactivated Cait Sith, looking off in the direction the helicopter had flown. She wondered what Tseng was planning, and wondered what would soon happen at the Temple of the Ancients. To him. To all of them.

She stood there wondering for a long time before she finally sighed, making her way towards the Ghost Square chute and the hotel.

XxXxX

The room was quiet in the still hours of the very early morning, the only sound coming from Blaire's quiet breathing. Sephiroth lay awake in the bed nearest the window, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the soft in-and-out breaths coming from the bed next to his. Blaire lay on her side facing away from him, curled up under the blankets with her arms wrapped around the stuffed chocobo he had gotten for her. She was sleeping peacefully for once, although she didn't relinquish her death grip on the toy. His other acquisition from this evening, he had tossed into the abyss at the bottom of his pack, not wanting to look at it anymore.

He was awake, but not for any particular use or reason. His mind seemed determined to run in circles, all of them focused on that one moment beneath the fireworks, all of them determined to remind him of how everything had passed, and of what he could have done differently. A thousand different scenarios in a thousand different lights, fractured like pieces of glass against the backdrop of his consciousness. Some of them weren't even about Cissnei anymore. Jenova, Genesis, Angeal. Gast. The woman named Lucrecia who Vincent said was his mother. Everything he had ever loved and lost. Everything that had been given to him and taken away.

Sleep wouldn't come. After hours of trying, he had given up on it. He could survive one sleepless night. Had, many times. He knew from experience that it was only after a few days that things began to get truly strange.

The sound of sheets rustling drew his attention, and he heard the sound of someone getting out of bed. He held very still, thinking that Blaire was only going to the bathroom, but in the next few moments, a small figure approached the side of his bed, mako green eyes gleaming in the dim light of the room. She held the chocobo in both hands, not letting go.

"Sephiroth…?" she asked. "Can't you sleep?"

"I just woke up," he lied. It was a feeble lie. She could tell, he noticed that almost immediately.

"Are you lonely?"

He turned his head towards her, surprised by the question. Blaire looked away immediately, biting her lip. In the dim light, his enhanced vision caught the embarrassed flush that spread over her face.

"Why do you ask?" he asked.

"When I can't sleep, it's because I'm either scared or lonely," Blaire admitted, looking back at him. She lowered her eyes to the floor again, shuffling her feet. "Like sometimes I'm scared I won't wake up, or I'll wake up in the lab again, or I'll wake up and you'll all be gone. But I know you're never scared."

Oh, how little she knew.

Sephiroth watched as she reached out, holding the chocobo out to him. "If you're lonely, you can take Chalky," she said. "He'll keep you company." She set the chocobo gently down on the bed, arranging it so that it was leaning against the pillow. Blaire smiled shyly up at him, turning around and walking back to her own bed. Sephiroth propped himself up so that he could face her, watching as she climbed back under the covers.

"Chalky?" he repeated.

"Chalky the Chocobo." She stifled a yawn. "That's what I named him. He helps me sleep."

"Don't you need him, then?" he asked.

"No." Blaire yawned, turning onto her side and tugging her blanket back over herself. "I'm fine tonight…"

He almost didn't catch her last whisper as she drifted off into sleep again.

"…You're here."

**END INTERLUDE**


	115. File 032: Temple of Tears pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Well, here it is. The first chapter of the final arc. Expect the Temple of the Ancients to take up a total of three Files—the entire storyline of which will be done by early-mid November and leaving only one last bit to end the year with. Enjoy!

Thanks go to **Isayan Jesmayan, Littlejr101, The Dangling Cellist, JazzQueen, Meteor Panda, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, Kuro-chan, Eavenne, dante67 **and **Furionknight **for the reviews and support!

**Isayan Jesmayan, The Dangling Cellist **and **JazzQueen, **I'm glad you guys enjoy my version of Sephiroth. I feel like I do get better at writing him with time, and also that Sephy himself is developing and becoming more able to open up to AVALANCHE. His scenes are really a lot of fun to write.

**Littlejr101, **glad you liked the Vincent scene. I wanted to do something for Yuffentine that wasn't blatantly romantic, so I thought about finding a way to show that Yuffie gets to Vincent, and also to pop that little bubble of infatuation on Yuffie's end—_just _a little, so that it might leave room for something a little more mature later on. ^^

**Meteor Panda, **ah, but how do you know I _didn't _know about Chalky? Hmm?~ (In all seriousness, that's a really cool coincidence. Feel free to start looking over your shoulder for me.)

**Irish-Brigid, **as for Reeve, Cait Sith and Cissnei, you'll see. You'll see very soon. ^^

XxXxX

**File 032: Temple of Tears**

It was still early when the group assembled in the lobby of Ghost Square's hotel. The street lights had been on outside, the area filled with the chill of morning air. Mists had been manufactured to make the Square seem eerier—they'd clung to the ground, wrapping around her ankles as she and Zack made their way to the hotel. Fake or not, it felt like an ill omen to be leaving through the mists. The sight of them had made her shiver, and not from the cold. Aerith stood against the wall of the lobby, pulling her jacket closer around herself as she watched Zack survey the room. The others were already beginning to arrive, starting with Vincent and Cissnei. Vincent stood against the far wall and folded his arms, the glance he gave them the only thing that told them he acknowledged their presence. Cissnei didn't look up at them at all, but took a seat in one of the chairs, staring at the ground. Aerith could feel the tension in the air. She watched, concerned, as Cloud walked in, not saying anything to anyone. He kept his hands in his pockets, and Aerith almost went over to him, but she realized she didn't know what to say.

It was Cid who first broke the silence, cursing up a storm from the breakfast room as Nanaki herded both him and Kunsel out into the lobby. Both Cid and Kunsel didn't look well. The two of them were clutching cups of tea and coffee respectively, their heads bowed against the light. Their eyes were a telltale red. Cid looked up as he saw them, blinking bleary eyes. A grin spread over his face.

"Well, well," he said. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Little too much to drink there, buddy?" asked Zack with a grin, turning towards Kunsel.

Kunsel shot him an evil look, turning away and taking a slow sip of coffee. "…At least I didn't make a walk of shame," he muttered under his breath.

Zack paused, staring at his friend as Kunsel started shambling away. "At least I walked," he said in reply, glancing back at Aerith. He offered her a smile, and Aerith managed to return it, but that was before her attention was caught by Sephiroth. The ex-SOLDIER walked into the room, the others in tow behind him. Yuffie looked annoyed to have been dragged out of bed—she stomped angrily to a chair on the other side of the room and plopped down into it, crossing her legs and folding her arms. Tifa, Aerith noticed, was looking anywhere _but _at Cloud. She frowned, wishing she could go over to her friend and find out what happened, but also recognizing that this was neither the time nor the place.

That wasn't the strangest thing though.

The strangest thing was that Sephiroth was refusing to look at Cissnei.

It wasn't obvious, not in the way that it was obvious with Cloud and Tifa. It wasn't even that he avoided looking in her direction. His eyes scanned the room, drifting over each of them, including her, in turn. What made her notice was the fact that for once, his eyes didn't linger.

And she didn't look up to meet them.

Aerith fiddled with the staff in her hands, watching the two of them and wondering what they had missed. She wondered if Zack saw it too. His back was to her, and she couldn't tell. Her eyes fixed on Sephiroth as the SOLDIER motioned for Blaire to take a seat at the table. The ten-year-old did so, her pack hanging loosely off one shoulder. She had a stuffed chocobo tucked under her arm, the sight somehow at odds with the sword around her waist. She was listening intently. Sephiroth's eyes scanned the room again, and this time they landed on Cissnei, alighting on her for a moment before he nodded and his eyes were elsewhere again. Cissnei nodded back, maintaining the air of cool professionalism, and stood, facing the group. Aerith's hands tightened on her staff. It was like the years between them had disappeared, and she was watching two strangers again.

What had happened last night?

"We're leaving for the Temple of the Ancients," said Cissnei, cutting her thoughts short. "It's east of here, in the ocean. We'll have to return to where we left the _Tiny Bronco_. I was hoping we could find a more suitable boat, but it'll have to do for now."

Cid snorted, holding a cigarette to Nanaki's tail to light it. Nanaki glared at him, stepping away, but not before the flames caught. "The _Bronco_'ll do just fine," he said. He ignored Yuffie's look of disgust and Nanaki's indignant huff, taking a long drag. "That ain't what you need to worry about."

"I don't know what's going to happen there," continued Cissnei, glancing back at the ground. "No one seems to know what to expect. I do think it's going to be dangerous. None of you need to feel forced into this."

"If you want to leave, now's the time," Sephiroth added, his arms folded. He looked at everyone. When no one, not even Yuffie spoke, he looked over at Blaire. "Last chance," he told her.

Blaire shook her head, and it was only then that Aerith noticed the girl looked a little pale. She had one hand clenched around her backpack strap so tightly that Aerith was worried the strap might break. "I'm going," she said. "I need to stop her. For my brother."

"Everyone else?" asked Cissnei. "Aerith?"

"I'm going." Aerith shook her head. "I'm going for sure!"

"Then, I guess I don't need to ask you, Zack." Cissnei's smile was somewhat pained as she turned away. "Everyone else? Last chance. No hard feelings."

Cid stamped out his cigarette on the table. "Like hell I'm gonna leave now," he said. "Let's get on with it."

"I agree," said Vincent, looking up.

"Yuffie? Cloud? Tifa?"

"I'm starting to get nervous," Yuffie admitted with a smile. She sat up. "But you won't get rid of me that easily!"

"I'm going," said Cloud, looking up.

Tifa nodded, turning towards Cissnei as well. "Me too," she said.

"Nanaki? Kunsel?" Cissnei turned towards them.

"You know the answer," said Kunsel in response, taking another sip of coffee.

Nanaki stood up, pacing to the center of the room. "It would be cowardly to leave now," he said.

Cissnei nodded, inhaling deeply. She looked everywhere in the room but Sephiroth. That was obvious, almost as obvious as the brief expression of guilt that flitted over her face. "Then let's go," she said. She lifted her head, looking across the room towards where Vincent stood. "Vincent. You have the Keystone?"

Vincent nodded, reaching into his pocket. Aerith blinked in surprise, turning towards him. There were other surprised looks in the room, but not many. Some people had obviously been briefed. Surprise quickly turned into fear when Vincent's eyes widened just slightly, and he lowered his hand.

"It's gone," he said.

Silence fell over the room.

"What's gone?" Cloud finally asked.

"The Keystone," was Vincent's flat reply.

Yuffie's eyes widened, and she sprang to her feet. "You _lost _the Keystone?!" she asked. Vincent's eyes fixed on hers.

"I didn't lose it."

"Then _how_—?!"

"It was taken," said Vincent.

"From your _pocket_?" Yuffie didn't look convinced.

"I don't wear my cloak to sleep," was the curt reply.

"Since when do you _sleep_?!"

"Last night." Vincent's reply sounded as though it was coming from behind clenched teeth. "For two hours. I didn't hear anything."

"Me neither," Cid offered helpfully.

"Cid, everyone knows you were drunk off your ass, so shut up! Not helping!" said Yuffie, turning towards him.

"Whazzat?" Cid started to get up. "Say that to my face, brat!"

"I just did, jerkface!" said Yuffie, taking a step forward. Zack moved, about to get between them when Sephiroth spoke.

"Yuffie," he said, causing her to stop in her tracks. He turned his head, glancing at Cid as the pilot took another step forward. "You too," he said.

Cid made to argue, but stopped under Sephiroth's glare, slowly dropping back into his seat. He scowled, watching as Yuffie sat down as well. She sat on the edge of her seat, poised to spring back up again, and glared at Vincent. Vincent ignored her, looking towards Sephiroth.

"I would have felt it." The gunslinger was saying. "If there was a thief in that room last night, I would have noticed."

"I believe you," said Sephiroth. He paused, holding Vincent's gaze. "If it were a normal human…"

"Are you saying whoever did this wasn't human?" asked Cloud, turning towards him.

"I'm saying he wasn't normal." He looked over at Zack. "There is someone who can appear and disappear at will."

Zack nodded, his expression grim. "Nero," he said.

Sephiroth nodded. Zack straightened up, and Aerith saw him start to lift a hand to his Buster Sword. He stopped, noticing everyone was watching, and turned towards Sephiroth instead. "What do we do?" he asked.

Sephiroth's answer was to look up at the others, scanning the room again. He looked each of them, even Cissnei in the eye. Aerith felt the full weight of his stare, shuddered as she thought about what would happen at the Temple, what they might find there.

"We press on," he said.

XxXxX

The Temple of the Ancients rose up on the other side of the bridge, looking like it had been cut out of a single block of stone. Tseng stood in front of it, surveying the area. It was early afternoon, and quiet, the only sound coming from the birds in the trees behind them. He had been a Turk long enough to instantly distrust the quiet. He would have preferred something, some sign that his targets had already arrived. As it was, there was nothing, not even the telltale signs of scuffed dirt near the entrance, or broken grass. The Temple truly looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries.

He checked his gun for the hundredth time, his hand moving up to the inside pocket of his suit. It closed around the small, flat remote that he held there, his thumb hovering over the button. He would have to be swift, and he would have to make sure they were all together. If even a single one of them was out of range, it would be over. A single Tsviet could kill him easily. Even then, he wasn't sure he would survive the day. Genesis and Jenova were still forces to be reckoned with, and unlike the Tsviets, they didn't come conveniently equipped with Resistor chips.

He took a deep breath, thinking of the instructions he had left behind in his desk. Reno would hate him for it, he was sure, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. A Turk never entered a situation like this without a plan. Tseng slid his gun back into his holster, sparing a glance for the young Turk next to him. Elena had matured somewhat since the incident at Wutai, but he caught the way she was shifting her weight back and forth on her heels, impatiently waiting for his signal. She glanced at him.

"Sir?" she asked.

"We'll proceed," said Tseng, stepping across the bridge and towards the Temple. Elena fell into step behind him, watching his back. Tseng walked slowly, putting on the practiced calm of someone who had everything under control. It was an expression he had perfected over the years, but his eyes constantly scanned the area, watching for any sign of Genesis, and also watching for any sign of his escapees.

Nero and Weiss.

He couldn't help the small shiver of fear that ran through him at the thought of the two of them loose, and together. But he was experienced enough with fear to be able to quash it before he could start. He managed the walk up the temple stairs, then stepped into the antechamber. Murals and hieroglyphics decorated the walls, a pair of torches flaring into life as they entered. Tseng barely paused to give them a second glance. He had been expecting something like this when he arrived. After all, this was built by Aerith's people. The Ancients.

He was more interested in the floor.

"No trace of intruders," Elena said from behind him, confirming what he could already tell. Tseng nodded, gesturing for her to guard the door. He heard her take her gun out of her holster, drifting back to watch the entryway. It was not quite perfect, but she showed signs of improvement and potential.

Yes_, _he thought, walking forward. If anything happened to him today, Reno, Rude and Elena would continue on. The Turks would continue on.

He studied the altar, noting that there was no sign it had been opened. He looked around, but couldn't find the Keystone anywhere. "They're not here yet," he said, glancing back at Elena.

"Genesis?" asked the other Turk, looking up at him.

"Sephiroth," Tseng replied, walking back towards her. Elena nodded, but didn't put away her gun. He gave her a brief nod of approval, turning to face the murals. He took out his camera, taking several photos. The shutter sound echoed through the room, one after another until he was done. He took a step back, studying the murals. The writing was beyond him, but he thought he had seen similar reliefs before, in Professor Gast's notes. Veld had had an extensive file on the Science Department's doings, something that he had inherited when he inherited the office from him. There would be more detailed carvings inside the Temple, but in the meantime, this would have to do.

Beside him, Elena studied the murals as well. "Tseng, what is this?" she asked, after a moment of silence. She looked back at him. "Can we find the Promised Land with this?"

"I wonder…" said Tseng. He tore his eyes away from the murals with some reluctance, looking back at Elena. He handed the camera out to her. "It's none of our concern. Go report to the President."

She nodded, taking it from him with both hands. He didn't miss the way her face flushed as she turned away, but she didn't question him. Elena ran part of the way towards the door, then paused, turning around to face him. "Be careful, Tseng," she said, her voice soft. He nodded at her, watching as she again turned away.

Tseng remembered what Rude and Reno had said, about Elena, and her feelings for him. It was interesting what things a person remembered when there was a possibility that they might die. "Elena," he said, calling her back without thinking. She paused, looking back over her shoulder. "Join me for dinner when this is over?"

He expected the blush, hadn't expected the speed with which it made its way over her face. As soon as she realized it, it faded quickly, her expression becoming something close to neutral. She was learning.

She nodded. "I…I will," she said. "Thank you very much. If—If you excuse me."

Elena turned, running out the door. Tseng watched her go, shaking his head. Once she was gone, he allowed himself to turn away from the door, facing the altar. He let the Resistor chip slip into his hand, waiting, just in case. He and Elena had seen AVALANCHE coming in from the chopper. By his estimation, they would be here soon. He would have to hide in one of the shadows brought about the pillars, waiting until one of them opened the door. The Temple was sealed to him now. But until they arrived with the Keystone, it was sealed to Genesis as well.

He exhaled, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. There was something here, some power—it felt completely alien to anything he had ever felt before. Not Jenova, not Genesis, not even the power of Leviathan he had felt in his youth. This was something older, deeper. Ancient.

Tseng turned away from the altar, deciding that he should find a place to hide. He took a step.

Shadows coalesced in front of him, a whirlwind of black. Tseng froze, his grip tightening on the controller in his hand. A voice spoke out from the shadows, a smug voice that he recognized. A shiver ran down his spine and his other hand reached for his gun.

"Hello, Tseng." Nero stepped out of the darkness, his red eyes blazing. His mechanical wings clattered as he extended them. "It's good to see you again." The Tsviet's guns moved, locking onto him, but Tseng was faster. He drew his gun and pointed it at Nero's chest, raising his hand. The Resistor chip gleamed, his thumb hovering over the button.

Nero paused momentarily, a flicker of doubt entering his eyes. He stared at the chip, his wings faltering. That was all the opening Tseng needed. He moved, preparing to press the button down.

Tseng's breath caught in his throat.

Pain erupted across his back and exited through his chest, two lines of cold fire. He stiffened, arching his back against the intrusion, his eyes wide. He looked down, staring at the twin katanas, the blades bloody as they protruded from his torso. He hadn't even heard the swordsman approach.

_A fatal wound, _a calm voice in the back of Tseng's head said. _He's killed me. _

The remote fell from his hand, clattering onto the stone floor as the swords slid in further, their owner stepping forward so that Tseng could feel his breath against his ear. Weiss twisted one of the blades, and Tseng convulsed in pain, his breath coming out in a long hiss.

"You have _no idea," _Weiss was saying, _"_how long I've wanted to do this."

The blades came free with a hiss, and Tseng fell to the floor. Weiss didn't bother clearing the blades, kicking at Tseng's shoulder with some disdain. Tseng felt some of the breath leave him at the kick, but that didn't matter, not with the pool of blood steadily spreading from underneath him. He coughed and pressed his hands to the wound, trying to stem the bleeding even though he knew it wouldn't do any good. Weiss was already moving, turning towards something at the entrance. The Tsviet stepped forward, crushing the Resistor controller under the heel of his boot.

"We're done here…" Tseng heard him say towards someone—Genesis or Jenova maybe. He couldn't tell. Weiss's voice sounded indistinct, like it was coming from very far away. "Someone open the door."

A feminine figure stepped forward, something clutched in her hands. Tseng turned his head, unable to believe what he was seeing. His vision wavered, and he knew his mind had to be playing tricks on him.

Had to be.

"Aerith…?" he mumbled under his breath.

Weiss kicked him again. The kick brought pain, but also clarity. Not Aerith. Her mother. Ifalna. The woman was the spitting image of Ifalna.

"Leave him, Weiss," she was saying, looking back at him. "He will soon be a part of me, as will the rest of this pitiful Planet."

"Shall we go?" asked a voice from beside her. Tseng knew immediately that that had to be Genesis. He tried to turn over to see what was happening, but only had a split second to take note of others gathering around Jenova before a figure in red approached him. She grinned, and pain shot through his shoulder, his vision going black. He faded out of consciousness, the last thing he heard coming from a woman in the back of the room.

"Leave him alone, Rosso," Argento was saying. "You'll have plenty of time to have your fun…"

When he awoke, he lay there, eyes closed, and listened. Voices drifted above him, familiar ones. The Tsviets stood at the altar, all of them, their voices drifting through the air.

"Those fools will be here soon," Weiss was saying. "Shall we stay to greet them?"

"Don't concern yourself with them," said Jenova. Her voice faded away as he heard the sound of grating stone, something clattering from the altar to the floor. "Leave them to me."

It was quiet again. Tseng opened his eyes, trying to will the world to stop spinning. His shoulder was on fire where Rosso had stabbed him, the wounds on his chest so severe that he didn't feel them anymore. He drew in a ragged breath and tried to calculate how much time he had left. Minutes, probably.

His eyes moved from the altar to the Keystone, lying a few feet away from it. AVALANCHE would be here soon, if he understood Weiss right.

Minutes, probably.

Tseng clenched his teeth, using every ounce of discipline he had to crawl forward, again and again. Several times, his hands slipped in his own blood, and the pain in his arm nearly knocked him out, but he kept going, inching closer and closer to the Keystone. He could feel his strength leaving him, knew that he was opening the wounds further, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It took too much effort. Instead he moved forward, closer and closer, a little bit at a time.

When his bloodied fingers closed around the Keystone, it felt like a victory.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	116. File 032: Temple of Tears pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** Some of you might know by now that my least favorite thing to write is dialogue taken directly from the game. Although in this case, it was inevitable, because there's so much good important dialogue that comes out of the Temple of Ancients scenes. I did try to put my own interpretation on it, though, so let me know what you think!

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Eavenne, Furionknight, WolfGirl129, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **and **K **for the reviews and support!

**Irish-Brigid, **you bring up a good point with Cait Sith, one that I hadn't really thought of before. Compressed mako sounds like a really good explanation for why he seems somewhat sentient. I might have to borrow that at some point ^^

XxXxX

**File 032: Temple of Tears**

_Tseng. _

The voice woke him, calling him back to consciousness. He saw light behind his eyelids, felt a hand on his forehead. It was blessedly cool, like water after a year of thirst. He tilted his face up towards it, heard the voice again, calling him. The hand moved, trailing down to his cheek.

_Tseng. _

He opened his eyes. At first, all he could see was light, but then his vision cleared and he realized there was a child sitting beside him in the light, calling him. A child in a green dress, with bright, luminous green eyes. She had one hand on his face, the other holding on to a half-woven crown of flowers in her lap. Her mouth moved and the voice he heard was a child's voice.

_Tseng. _

His mouth opened. His tongue felt thick and heavy, and he could barely get out the words. He'd been away from Wutai long enough to learn how to mask his accent, but his tongue stumbled over the sound at the end of her name. _"Ae…ri…s…" _

_Tseng, hold on. _

Her mouth moved, forming the words, but the voice that spoke was a woman's voice this time. His view shattered and changed, and he was aware of two hands on his shoulders, grasping firmly. His view changed, and he was lying on the ground, looking up at the woman the child had become. Her lips were pursed with worry as she faded in and out of vision, her hands tight on his shoulders. His entire body felt numb, as though he wasn't attached to it. He felt his eyes start to roll back into his head again.

"_Tseng!" _Aerith spoke sharply this time, tightening her grip on him. The light around him intensified as another voice joined in.

"Come on, Tseng." All he saw of the figure was a pair of standard issue combat boots, and black pants belonging to the SOLDIER First Class uniform, but he would know that voice anywhere. "Hang in there."

Zack. He grit his teeth, trying to turn his head to face his friend, but a wave of darkness rushed over him, and their voices faded out. He felt Aerith move, felt Zack grab onto his arms for some reason. He was vaguely aware of being pulled or dragged. "Zack…" Aerith's voice sounded like it was coming from a tunnel. "…I'm losing him…"

"Oh, no you don't," said Zack. "Come on, buddy. I know you have more fight in you than that…"

Light surrounded him, settling over his chest. It felt cool, and he felt relief seep into his bones. Tseng let out the breath he was holding, then breathed in, slowly, deeply. Awareness returned all at once, and with it, pain. He grit his teeth against the sudden wave of fire that washed over him, fighting to keep his vision from blacking out again. When it finally abated enough for him to think straight, he opened his eyes—he hadn't even noticed he had closed them—and looked right up into Aerith's.

He was lying down, he realized. On her lap. Someone—Zack, probably—had moved him there. The ex-SOLDIER sat on the ground beside him, watching. Over Zack's shoulder, he saw Cissnei waiting, an expression of concern on her face. The rest of AVALANCHE was there as well, crowded into the antechamber of the Temple of the Ancients, all except for Barret Wallace. He noted the absence, but not for too long. Aerith's hands were still glowing, and he guessed that that was the source of the light. He looked down, watching as the light seeped into the wounds in his chest, the skin slowly starting to knit back together. Tseng waited until it was bearable, then grabbed at her hand with his free one. He pulled it away.

"That's enough," he said, when she opened her mouth to protest. His tongue felt like it was made of lead—the words sounded dry and hoarse. "I'll survive from here."

"Tseng—," Aerith began.

"If you heal me too completely, it'll cause trouble. For both of us." He didn't want to think about how he'd explain that. Tseng tried to sit up, but the world spun again, and Zack lowered him back down as he swayed unsteadily.

"At least stay down," Zack said.

"How will you get out of here?" The voice was Cissnei's. He looked over at her.

"…Backup," he said through his teeth. "Outside." At least, so he hoped. He didn't know how long it had been since he'd fallen unconscious. Perhaps Elena had already left. He exhaled, and closed his eyes because it was easier. "…It's not the Promised Land…Jenova is searching for…"

Aerith tensed. He felt it, even without opening his eyes. She sucked in a breath.

"Jenova is inside?" asked a voice. Sephiroth's.

Tseng opened his eyes, realizing he still had the Keystone clenched in one hand. "Look for yourself," he said.

A wave of irrational anger overtook him, and he slammed his fist down into the ground. The impact hurt, sending a flash of dull pain through his already battered body, but it helped. "Damn!" he swore. "Letting Aerith go was…the start…of my bad luck. The President was wrong…"

"You're wrong." The voice came from Aerith. It was soft, but not weak—it held a kind of strength he hadn't heard from her in a long time. Tseng opened his eyes, looking up at her. She wasn't looking at him, but he noticed now that her face was wet, her eyes glistening in the firelight. She bit her lip, clasping her fingers together. "The Promised Land…isn't like you imagined. And I'm not going to help you find it. Either way, there's no way Shinra can win."

"That's harsh…" He closed his eyes again, feeling a smile come onto his face despite himself. "…Sounds like something you'd say." His eyes snapped open, landing on Cissnei. Tseng held his hand out to her, the Keystone still clenched in it. Cissnei stepped forward, catching his hand before it could fall away. He loosened his fingers just enough for her to remove the Keystone.

"Find Genesis," he said, his eyes meeting hers. "Stop Jenova. That's…an order."

She held his gaze for a moment, then nodded once, her eyes serious. "Understood," she said, dropping his hand. She straightened up, taking a step back.

He looked up at Aerith. "You should go," he said.

She nodded, taking in a breath. Aerith slid back from underneath him, lowering his head lightly to the ground. She hesitated, then stood up, walking back over to Zack. She kept her face turned away from him. That was probably for the best.

"Can you call for backup on your own?" asked Sephiroth.

Tseng snorted softly, not opening his eyes. "I'm not so…far gone that I need help from SOLDIER…" he said. "Go. You were never here…"

He kept his eyes closed. The next time he opened them, their voices had faded away.

XxXxX

Aerith felt her breath catch in her throat as Tseng slumped down onto the ground, his eyes closed. She sat there for a moment, watching him, then slowly got to her feet as the others started moving towards the altar. Zack stood up, staring down at Tseng as well. "Is he…?" he began, not wanting to finish the thought.

Aerith glanced down at him. "He's unconscious." Her voice sounded thick even to herself; she had to look away from Zack. It was too much. In this place, all these memories, all the promises they had once held…everything. In some part of her mind, she was a child again, sitting in her mother's lap in their shared cell, listening to stories about the Ancients. Her eyes roved over the antechamber, over the murals in the walls, a single thought repeating itself over and over again.

_I just wanted to be normal…_

But normal was somebody else's dream.

"Aerith?" The voice was Tifa's. She felt a hand on her arm, felt her friend's presence from just over her shoulder. "Are you crying?"

Aerith raised her hand, scrubbing at the hot tears that were making their way down her cheek. She stopped, realizing that her hands were coated in blood. Tseng's blood. She thought back to the first time she had met him, a fresh-faced Turk, couldn't be anything more than a teenager. She had been a child then, with her mother in Hojo's lab, and Tseng had…Tseng had…

_A wordless exchange of looks with her mother… _

_An open door behind him…_

"_I'm off-duty..." _

"Aerith?"

She shook her head, lowering her hand to her side. "Tseng might work for Shinra, but I've known him since I was little," she told Tifa. "There's not a lot of people I can say that about. In fact, there are probably only a handful of people in the world who really know me."

She caught Zack watching her from over Tifa's shoulder. Aerith looked up, meeting his eyes. She saw the understanding there, and had to look away, feeling a fresh wave of guilt. She hadn't told anyone, not even Zack, the whole truth of this. The truth about what she carried. Maybe it was because she didn't want to believe it herself.

"Should we call someone?" asked Zack, looking down at Tseng. "If he's passed out…"

Cissnei shook her head, stepping forward. There was raw emotion on her face as well—raw pain. It reminded Aerith that no matter what Tseng had done for her in the past, no matter what friendship Zack might have had with him, between him and Cissnei, there was something else. Something almost deeper.

They were Turks.

Aerith didn't understand it herself, but she knew enough to let Cissnei take the lead.

"Even out of all of us…no one knew their own limits better than Tseng," she said. "If he says he can call for backup, I believe him. We should go. We're running out of time."

Aerith nodded, walking over towards the altar. Zack followed, close behind her. The rest of them gathered around, watching as Cissnei slowly lowered the Keystone into its spot. The holes in the altar started lighting up in sequence, one after another. Five chambers, then a sixth deep underground. A map, Aerith realized.

Inside her, something resonated. She felt her breath catch again.

All of the answers.

Everything she ever wanted.

The lights shone, and then she was sinking into the ground.

XxXxX

The interior of the temple was like a maze. Sephiroth rose from the ground along with the others, staring. There was a feeling to the place he couldn't describe, something that crackled in the air, weighing down on him. And above that all, he could feel _her _here. Her presence, tainting everything, seeping into the air, into the stone, into the core of his being. He held onto that connection, making sure he was aware of it. As unpleasant as it was to keep his mind on it, it was better than being caught unawares by it later. He knew enough to know what she could do with that link, knew enough to know that he could reverse it—had, once, but back then, she had been caught unawares.

Now?

Now was different.

He watched as Aerith stepped forward, her eyes wide as she surveyed the landscape around her. The Temple was vast, larger than the façade on the outside. He caught nothing but stone steps, arches, and passages, as far as the eye could see. He wondered, not for the first time, what Aerith saw. What she felt. He saw the longing on her face, the fear, the tentative feeling that she was starting to belong.

He didn't feel welcome here. If anything, that only drove home the knowledge that Hojo was wrong. Jenova wasn't an Ancient, and in making him, they hadn't succeeded in creating one.

"Aerith?" The voice was Zack's. He had walked a few steps forward, but kept a respectful distance, just watching her. Aerith shook her head, looking back.

"Words…feelings…there's so many of them here," she said.

"Do you think we're welcome here?" asked Tifa, uncertainly.

"No exits." Vincent glanced behind them. "We can't turn back."

Cid looked back at Vincent's words, his eyes widening. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" he swore. "What the hell's with this place?!"

Yuffie stepped forward, resting her hands on her waist. "Geeeeeez," she said, looking around. "We got our work cut out for us. This is starting to get me really dizzy."

"This place smells good," said Nanaki, sniffing the air. "It smells like Cosmo Canyon."

"It's old," Cissnei said, glancing at Nanaki. "Just like Cosmo Canyon."

"How are we going to find Jenova and the Tsviets in here?" asked Kunsel, his arms folded. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"We can start by walking." Sephiroth made his way forward, then stopped as he noticed Blaire sway unsteadily on her feet. He reached out, grabbing her by the arm to steady her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She shook her head, her face pale. One hand was pressed over her eyes, the tattoo on her wrist standing out in sharp contrast to her skin. "Dizzy," she said. "Something's here. I can feel it. Something's calling me."

"I should never have brought you in here." Sephiroth glanced around, looking over the group. "Nanaki," he finally said. "Can you stay with her?"

"No." Blaire shook her head, stepping forward. "No, I'm okay. Really. I wanna come."

Sephiroth frowned down at her. He knew that he should have left her behind, that at the very least, he didn't need to bring her with him further. He knew that, but there was another part of his mind that was thinking as a SOLDIER. They couldn't afford to leave any of their team behind. There were no exits. And Blaire was probably safer with him than anywhere else.

"Fine," he said, walking forward. "Stay by me. Follow orders."

She nodded, sticking close to him. Sephiroth stepped forward, walking over to Aerith. "Can you feel anything?" he asked her.

She nodded, her hands clasped in front of her. "I can feel…a lot of things," she said.

"Then lead the way." He glanced over at Zack, giving him a nod as he started forward as well. "Both of you."

Aerith nodded, making her way down the passage with Zack at her side. Sephiroth followed close behind, watching. Zack walked next to Aerith, alert. He scanned the areas to either side of them, on the lookout for any threats, or monsters. Sephiroth felt the tug grow stronger, glanced down at Blaire by his side. Of course she would feel something if Jenova was here. A successful clone…

A thought occurred to him, and he glanced back up at Zack. Sephiroth clones. Hojo's experiments…He wondered if Zack felt anything from being in this place. Any pull. If he did, he didn't show it. But…

Sephiroth looked back at Cloud, realizing that he hadn't said anything since they entered the Temple. The former infantryman walked with his head down, in the center of the group. Cloud was usually quiet, so he hadn't noticed anything until now. But…

"Cloud."

Cloud looked up at the sound of his name, turning towards Sephiroth. He looked surprised. "What?" he asked.

"Are you alright?"

Cloud seemed both surprised and confused by the question. He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Just thinking."

Sephiroth frowned, but nodded, looking back at the passage in front of him. He wondered about that, but said nothing more, focusing on the task at hand.

XxXxX

They first caught sight of the ghostly figure a few minutes into their walk. It was that of a man, gnarled and bent with age, dressed in robes that could have either been a light blue or a faded purple. His beard hung white across his face and chest, dissolving into misted trails around his ankles. His eyes weren't visible beneath his broad-brimmed hat, but he straightened up at their approach and turned, running with surprising speed down the hallway. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and he moved to follow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vincent move, drawing his gun from its holster.

"No, don't shoot!" said Aerith, stopping him. She took off at a run after the figure, staff in hand. Zack's eyes widened, and he raised a hand out to stop her.

"Wait—Aerith—!" He shook his head, his hand falling back to his side as he jogged after her. Sephiroth started running as well, hurrying to catch up. The others followed close behind him. The corridors twisted, stairs leading downward through tunnels and up over arches without any apparent rhyme or reason. He should have been capable of overtaking Aerith, even given her head start and without knowing the way, but for some reason the corridors seemed to lengthen, the distance between him and Aerith only increasing as she chased after the creature. He felt a presence against his mind, one wholly unlike Jenova's, but no more welcome. It was as if the Temple itself were oppressing him, trying to force him out.

He increased his speed, keeping Aerith in his line of sight, but even then, it felt like a while before they came to a stop in one of the chambers. Aerith entered the room first, Zack close at her heels. Tifa was next.

He and Blaire were last.

He caught the girl by the back of her shirt as she pitched forward, gulping down breaths of air. Sephiroth waited until Blaire had steadied herself before releasing her, letting her lean against one of the pillars as he turned to face the old man. The room looked like it had been a storage room, once upon a time, although anything that had once been stored here had gone to dust over the years. The old man stood at the front of the room, surrounded in a half-circle by Aerith, Zack, Cloud, and Tifa.

Aerith was out of breath, but not to the same degree that some of them were. A light sheen of sweat shone on her skin, plastering her hair to the side of her face, but her eyes were bright. Excited. She breathed deeply, straightening up and wiping her brow with the back of her hand. "Whew," she said. "We finally caught up with you."

The old man said nothing, but looked at her, his eyes meeting hers from beneath his hat. Looking at him now, Sephiroth realized that the old man's eyes were green, the same shade as Aerith's. Green like new grass.

"I'm sorry," said Aerith after a pause. "You waited for me."

"Uh…Aerith?" asked Zack, looking over at her. "Who is he?"

"He's a spirit body," replied Aerith. "The spirit body of an Ancient. He died a long time ago." Sephiroth felt a shiver run down his spine. He had spent so long denying the existence of ghosts, of anything beyond death. But he couldn't deny that that was what this man was, especially not when the man turned his head and _looked _at him. "He's been away from the Planet for a long time, to protect the Temple."

Sephiroth turned away from those eyes. "Away from the Planet?" he asked.

"The Lifestream," Aerith replied. She stretched out her hand, and the old man stared at her, before doing the same. His hand was gnarled and twisted with age, reed-thin and insubstantial. He half-expected the old man's fingers to pass through Aerith's, but instead the two of them stood there, hands touching palm to palm, each of them looking the other in the eye. Aerith closed her eyes, and the sound in the room dwindled to nothing, all eyes fixed on the two of them. After a while, she exhaled, lowering her hand and turning towards the others.

"Over the years," she said. "They've lost the ability to talk. Actually, they didn't need words from the beginning, because there was only one objective for those left in the Temple." She looked back at the old man, who had now bowed his head. He turned away from Aerith, and Sephiroth could see his shoulders shaking.

"Please," she said. "Please talk to me!" The old man said nothing, shaking his head fiercely. "Please," Aerith said. "…She has my mother." Aerith reached out a hand, touching his shoulder, and he visibly recoiled, springing back against the wall. Aerith watched as the man mumbled something under his breath, his lips moving too quickly to read, and no sound coming out. Aerith shook her head.

"No good," she said. "I don't understand the rest. Are you afraid? Is it because Jenova is in the Temple?" Her hand reached out again, but this time, he pulled away before he could touch her, trembling. Aerith stared at him. "…Or is it something else?" she asked.

The spirit body shook his head, slumping down to the ground. He didn't move anymore. Sephiroth wasn't convinced he still realized they were there. His eyes were fixed only on the ground, the rest of him unmoving. He looked…he looked like a dead man.

Aerith took a deep breath, taking a step back. "I don't like this," she said, looking back at them. Her eyes landed on Sephiroth. "We should keep moving."

He nodded, stepping back to allow her to continue leading the way.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	117. File 032: Temple of Tears pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** For those of you who are skimming the chapters waiting for the part when they begin to diverge from canon (don't lie to me, I read fanfiction too, I know you people exist xD), I should warn you that that part is coming up soon. While the scenes are going to follow some sort of similar projection, the villains are different, and thus, the outcome could end…differently? Well, we'll see. ^^ The aftermath, however, won't be like the game. Much. Remember, we don't have Cait Sith.

Thanks go to **Furionknight, Eavenne, JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, XXTakaraXX, **and **DarkSeraphim1 **for the reviews and support. Thank you! It's much appreciated!

**Eavenne, **Tselena will be mostly hinted at in this fic, but I do plan on including Tseng later on. You'll see. (And do remember, it's his last appearance in _this _game. There's still Before Crisis. ^^)

**Irish-Brigid, **I wondered that myself. I don't have an answer for the original game, but I'll attempt to answer it in this fic.

**XXTakaraXX, **well, here you go ^^ Here's another one! Thanks for reading!

XxXxX

**File 032: Temple of Tears**

They ran into the second spirit body in the maze outside, not too far away from the room where they left the first one. Aerith led the chase, the others not too far behind. Unlike the first spirit, this one didn't seem intent on fleeing from them. Instead, it seemed to be almost purposefully staying just a few steps ahead of them, as though it was…leading them somewhere? Sephiroth couldn't tell, but he kept pace, following the spirit body underground and into a narrow passage.

"Look out!" shouted Tifa from behind him.

Sephiroth grabbed Blaire, crouching down onto the ground quickly and covering her head with his arm. A half-cylinder of stone dropped from overhead, rumbling down the hallway. It rolled over them, the both of them and Tifa managing to fit through the gap. Sephiroth raised his head as it passed, looking back at the rest of the group. Cid was cursing and Yuffie was rubbing at her arm where Vincent had grabbed her with his gauntleted hand, but other than being a little shaken, most of the group seemed alright. He turned back to the front, where Zack was helping Aerith to her feet.

The rumbling sound started again. Zack's eyes narrowed, and he tightened his grip on Aerith's hand. "Heads up," he warned. "More incoming."

Sephiroth pushed Blaire in Cissnei's direction as the cylinder rolled down the path, grabbing his sword from his back. He held it in both hands, the blade pointed in a straight line just over his shoulder, and streaked past Zack. He came to a sudden stop in front of the cylinder, his hair and coat lagging behind and hanging in the air a moment as he drew the sword through the stone. Masamune cut, the cylinder crumbling into several jagged shards that fell around him.

Sephiroth straightened up and swiped his sword out in front of him, all too aware of the other's stares at his back. It was an expression he had seen one too many times, but not from this group. He didn't turn back, instead turning his body just a fraction so that he could face Zack.

"There's more," he said. "Hurry."

Zack nodded, grabbing Aerith's hand and running forward. Sephiroth let the rest of the party follow, keeping his senses trained on the mouth of the hallway. He cut through another one as it rushed towards them, this one missing Zack and Aerith by a hair. The two of them immediately sprang up as soon as the stone was cut, continuing to run for the exit. They were almost there when Aerith stopped, grabbing onto Zack's hand and running down a side hallway. Zack stumbled at her sudden movement and nearly fell, but he managed to right himself quickly.

"Hey!" he said. "Aerith!"

"This way!" shouted Aerith. "There's something here!"

Sephiroth didn't argue, motioning for the rest of the group to go. He waited until the last stragglers had run into the hallway, huffing and puffing, and only then did he put away his sword. He walked through the group, doing his best to ignore the way they were staring at him. He didn't quite manage to ignore Cissnei, but she didn't glance his way at all, keeping her attention on the ground.

He looked away from her, returning to the situation at hand. Zack turned towards him as he approached, brushing dust off the front of his shirt. "Sheesh, Seph," he said, inclining his head toward the hallway. "Remind me never to get you angry."

"You could have done the same thing," Sephiroth said, walking past Zack. He didn't give Zack a chance to reply, instead making his way to the chamber that opened up in front of them. It was large, at least twice the size that the passage had been. Most of the chamber seemed to be occupied by a glowing pool, a set of four pillars bordering its edges. He found Aerith standing at the edge of the pool, looking into…whatever it was.

He frowned, pausing at a safe distance from her to examine the pool's contents. Whatever it was filled with was definitely not water, and the pool's sides were too smooth for the formation to be natural. The liquid inside the pool glowed a faint violet. It reminded him of the mako pools beneath the Nibelheim Reactor, but no mako he had ever seen glowed this color. As Aerith approached it, it began to shine, the liquid pulsing with a bright light. The light coming off of it was bright enough to focus a beam onto the ceiling. It fluctuated constantly, as though the liquid in the pool was violently churning.

Aerith clasped her hands, and he saw the light wash over her. It moved like a rush of wind, tugging at her hair and clothes and rippling over her body. She tightly closed, her chest rising and falling with each breath. He recognized the look of concentration on her face and didn't come any closer, remaining where he stood as the other members of their group took up places around the pool.

"What's this?" asked Yuffie, keeping her distance.

Aerith opened her eyes, lowering her hands. The light no longer washed over her the same way it had before, but the pool's glow did not lessen. "It's full of the knowledge of the Ancients," said Aerith. She frowned, then shook her head, taking a step forward. "No. Not knowledge. Consciousness. A living soul…"

She squeezed her eyes shut again, her hands clasped tightly together. After a moment, Aerith shook her head fiercely, her expression one of frustration. Zack stared at her in alarm.

"Aerith—," he said, starting forward.

"It's trying to tell me something," said Aerith. She moved before he could reach her, collapsing to her knees at the pool's edge. The water rippled in front of her, reflecting her face. Aerith bit her lip, seeming close to tears. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't understand…"

She paused, as if listening to instructions from a voice only she could hear, then slowly leaned forward, her hand outstretched. Sephiroth found himself holding his breath as the tips of her fingers skimmed across the surface of the water, forming ripples. Something about the sight nagged at him, as though there was something about the situation he was missing, but he couldn't make the connection. His eyes were on Aerith as her hand disappeared beneath the surface of the water. She had leaned so far forward that her upper body was almost touching the ground, her head turned so that one of her ears pointed directly at the pool.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

Something moved within the depths. Sephiroth almost reached out to pull Aerith from the water—almost, but something stopped him. The thing, whatever it was, didn't seem like an enemy. The pulse around her hand intensified, and Aerith's eyes widened. She sat up, pulling her hand from the pool. "Danger?" she asked. "An evil…consciousness?"

He tensed. "Is it her?" he found himself asking.

Aerith looked over at him, meeting his eyes. She slowly shook her head to show that she didn't know, looking back into the pool. "…show?" she repeated. "You're going to show me?"

"What does that mean?" asked Cloud. "How is it going to show—."

Cloud's words died in his throat and Sephiroth saw him take a step back, awed. He couldn't blame him. The effect was remarkable. One moment, he was standing at the edge of the pool, watching Aerith. The next, he was standing a room surrounded by murals, and he was watching Jenova.

Sephiroth went rigid, his hand going up to his sword. His fingers closed around the hilt, and it took all his willpower to think the situation through and not draw it immediately. Jenova had her back towards him, her attention completely captured by the murals on the walls. She didn't seem to notice that they were there, which, he realized, was because they weren't. Not really. Jenova, and everything around her, were just slightly translucent, as though they were standing in the center of a faulty virtual reality machine.

"What's going on?" asked Cloud from somewhere in the group behind him.

"It's showing us," said Aerith, at the same time as Tifa said "Shh!"

Sephiroth had seen virtual reality before. Shinra had the technology, and he had taken advantage of it on numerous occasions, both to run through serious training missions and in the past, with Genesis and Angeal for fun. He had been impressed with Bugenhagen's virtual planetarium—the technology had been primitive, but the result had been almost more spectacular than the virtual reality locations and scenarios the training program drew up for them. The training program based its projections on real life—places that had been studied carefully, and adjusted for replication. Bugenhagen's planetarium displayed regions of outer space no human being had ever been, and did so, he suspected, with a high degree of scientific accuracy.

This—this, as far as he could tell, was ancient. Older than him, older than Aerith or Midgar or Shinra. Older than Bugenhagen. Older even, he was starting to suspect, than Jenova. This didn't display a projection of a real location, or a scientist's best estimate of what was actually out there. This displayed a real, living scene as it was happening, to a group of twelve people who wore no visors, no earpieces, who had no way of being keyed into the pool, and as far as he could tell, it was done without technology. It was done with magic alone, based, if Aerith was right, on the will and consciousness of a people long dead.

It was, he realized then, the final nail in the coffin of his old view on the world.

He stood, watching Jenova. She still wore the same form she had worn when they encountered her on the cargo ship, the form that had been borrowed from Aerith's mother. This body held a lot of similarities to Aerith—the hair and eyes, the height, and quite a few of the facial features, but the eyes were all wrong. The bearing was all wrong. The creature that wore this body walked like she owned the world. Or at least, like she thought she did. He found himself looking for any resemblance to him. Vincent might have told him the truth, and he no longer had any reason to believe that this creature was his mother, but there was a connection to her, something that he couldn't deny. He had her cells. They were a part of him.

He hoped that was where the similarities ended. He certainly saw nothing of himself in this creature, the one currently studying the murals in front of her. She kept her face composed as she looked at them, but there was something lurking beneath that expression, a hunger in her eyes, and a longing. He remembered that hunger from the dream that had brought him here, remembered it keenly. Whatever was on the mural, she wanted it.

_The Black Materia, _he reminded himself, remembering the words from the dream. He remembered also, the image the dream had presented him. An orb that seemed to absorb all light. And power. Enough power to destroy the world. That was enough reason to make sure she never got her hands on it.

He would have stopped her anyway. This wasn't about the world. It was about her and him.

Jenova turned and he tensed, worried for a moment that she might have sensed him watching her. But instead of looking at him, her eyes seemed to look through him, looking at a point just over his shoulder. A translucent figure passed through him, scarlet mist seeming to trail behind him as the image reformed just in front of Sephiroth. His wing was unfurled, hiding about half of him from view, and his back was to him, but there was no mistaking Genesis.

"All the preparations are ready," said Genesis. "The others are in place. We'll be ready to move on your signal."

"You've found it?" asked Jenova, taking a step to the side. Had anyone else done it, it might have been an invitation to join her. With Jenova, it was a command. Genesis recognized it—Sephiroth noted the way he bristled at her manner—but the smile she gave him was sickeningly sweet, and the irritation faded from his face. He came to stand next to her, looking at the murals.

"Just about," he said. "Nero and Weiss have taken over."

The hint of a smirk touched Jenova's face. She looked away. "Do you think that's wise, Genesis?" she asked, her hand falling to her side. It had been outstretched before, running over the carved stone of the murals.

"You are watching them, aren't you?" asked Genesis, returning the smirk. "It shouldn't be too much trouble."

Jenova said nothing, and Genesis took the opportunity to examine the murals, his eyes going over them. Sephiroth recognized that look. It was the same intensity, the same _obsession_ with which he had looked at LOVELESS in the past. It was the same expression he had worn that day at the Reactor, when he had asked for help and had been denied. It was the sort of look that was just slightly unhinged, the look of a man who thought he had found his answers, but in reality, had found nothing but more lies.

"The wisdom of the Ancients…" he said, his voice trailing off as he examined the murals. "A treasure house of knowledge, ripe for the taking."

"Don't get too attached," Jenova commented, sounding amused.

"I'm only considering the possibilities," Genesis said, taking a step back. His eyes scanned the walls, taking all of it in. Sephiroth studied the mural too, frowning. It depicted a group of people, fleeing from flames. It was a sight that was both foreign and all-too familiar. He still remembered Nibelheim. He wondered if that was what Genesis saw in those pictures, or if he was imagining other flames. Other towns. Other deaths.

"_Even if the morrow is barren of promises,"_ Genesis quoted, his voice seeming to echo in the still chamber. _"Nothing shall forestall my return. To become the dew that quenches the land. To spare the sands, the seas, the skies. I offer thee this silent sacrifice." _

Jenova turned away, her hands clasped behind her. The skirt she wore flared out as she moved, taking a second to settle behind her. The movement looked wrong somehow, unnatural, as though the fabric was somehow attached to her skin. "Still quoting that poem, I see," she said. "Do you know who wrote it?"

"There are theories," said Genesis. "The most prominent one holds that it was written by the Ancients. That it was meant to be a prophecy. A…guide, of sorts, for what would happen at the end of the world."

"And is that what you believe?" asked Jenova.

"Of course," said Genesis. He smiled, tilting his head towards her. "Isn't that, after all, why you're here?"

Jenova said nothing at first, continuing to walk forward. She paced the length of the hall, walking just a few feet away from the murals to one side. Her skirt brushed against the stone floor, a whisper of fabric. She paused in front of another mural, her hands clasped behind her back and her eyes tilted towards the ceiling. _"My friend, your desire is the bringer of life. The gift of the goddess." _Her words echoed. They had a soft, hushed quality to them, one that chilled him to the bone. Jenova looked back over at Genesis, who was watching her carefully. "That is right, isn't it?" she asked. "That is what you desire."

"Always." There was a hunger in Genesis's eyes too, Sephiroth noticed. He looked at Jenova like that was what she was—like she was the goddess he had talked about so often. But it wasn't just reverence there, not just longing. There was also greed. Ambition. Desire. He stared at Genesis, trying to catch a glimpse of the man he had once known, but if he was there somewhere, there was no sign of him.

He wondered what Angeal would say, if he saw Genesis now.

"The fools of today have never thought about it," Jenova said, looking away from him. She continued walking again. "This Planet. All of the spirit energy contained within it. All its wisdom…all its knowledge. I will meld with it all. I will become one with it, and it shall become one with me." She glanced back at Genesis. "You will help me do that," she said. "And then…" Her smile grew sharp-edged, like the smile of a predator. Sephiroth wondered if Genesis noticed, or if he was past the point of caring. "I shall grant you what you desire."

Genesis inclined his head, still smirking. "I am yours to command," he said.

"See to the others," said Jenova, turning away. "Leave me."

Genesis made to turn away. Sephiroth thought that that was the end of that conversation, but then Genesis turned back, looking over at her. "You should know," he said, "That Sephiroth approaches. He and the rest of his band of fools. The Ancient too."

"I know," said Jenova, not turning around. "Let them come. Only death awaits them all. And when they die, they shall live on again, as a part of me…"

The image faded away, leaving them standing beside the pool again. Silence fell, hushed and tensed as the twelve of them exchanged glances with each other. He looked around, scanning familiar faces. Cissnei said nothing, hugging her arms close to herself. She stood at the edge of the group, eyes on the ground. Blaire looked scared, and also looked like she was desperately trying to prove that she wasn't. Yuffie was pale. She continued to stare at the pool, as if it would give her more answers. Her arms were shaking. Nanaki looked profoundly disturbed. Vincent—Vincent looked more serious than he had ever seen him, his eyes glowing a deep red as one hand rested on the handle of his gun. Kunsel appeared to be in deep thought, and Cloud, he noticed, looked determined, his eyes fixed on the pool and his shoulders square, like a soldier gearing up for battle.

Zack, next to him, was resolute, his face set in an expression of determination as he stared at the pool, trying to catch sight of any lingering images. He looked up, his eyes meeting with his, and Sephiroth saw him nod once, briefly. He nodded back and looked away, understanding the desire to see an end to this—this drama that had gone on for far too long. Sephiroth moved past Zack, his eyes landing on Aerith.

She had her head down, her shoulders slumped and her hands tight on her staff. They twisted the metal around between her fingers. The gesture reminded him of the person he had met in the Shinra Building, the way Aerith had avoided meeting his eyes when he asked about the Cetra. It reminded him of the woman he had spoken to in Costa del Sol, the one who was afraid to fight, who was afraid of her own power. He thought that he might be seeing that person again, but there was something different here. Her eyes.

Aerith looked up at him, a grim look in her eye. He saw her exhale slowly, some of the tension leaving her back and shoulders as her hands drifted apart on the staff, holding it more securely. Her face was pale, and she still looked scared, but he understood the look she was giving him. It was the look of a fighter.

He wondered if Jenova might have made a mistake, disregarding her so callously. Those eyes drew him in, held him, seemed to glow with a light all on their own.

Eyes the color of new grass.

Or pure mako.

Eyes the color of the Lifestream.

"Did you see it?" she asked.

He nodded. "I saw," he said. "Where is that room?"

"We're almost there," said Aerith, turning away. "Let's hurry."

He nodded. "This will end here," he said. "We'll finish this."

"We're here too, you know!" said Tifa, making him look back at her. The others were watching him as well, all of them. Sephiroth looked over each of them, taking in the faces, considering the now-familiar names. Cloud, Zack, Aerith. Tifa, Kunsel, Yuffie. Vincent, Cid, Nanaki. Cissnei. Blaire. And Barret, somewhere.

Thirteen. He would have thought that an unlucky number, once. But then again, once, he wouldn't have traveled with anyone. He would have attempted to take on Jenova alone.

"Yes," he said, turning away from her. "All of us. We should hurry."

He moved quickly, following Aerith down the path.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	118. File 032: Temple of Tears pt4

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N:** I'm a little bit worried I mangled this chapter. Long story short, I realized something about the Temple of the Ancients that kind of put the kibosh on my original plans for this chapter, so I had to make up new ones on the fly and integrate them into the chapters already written. Hope the seams don't show _too _much.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, SpiritDreamWarriors, Meteor Panda, Eavenne, Furionknight, Leon Kaye, Riku Uzumaki, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, XXTakaraXX, Draconic, **and **dante67 **for your reviews and support!

**Meteor Panda, **I might one of these days. I'm really busy lately so it seems to be all I can do to keep this fic going at a reasonable clip. But we'll see.

**Eavenne, **no, I'm not, I just meant that there's one more scene of Before Crisis that takes place during the timeline of FFVII. I won't tell you exactly which one, but just so you know, we haven't seen the end of the Turks just yet. Also, I've been deliberately avoiding writing from Aerith's POV for most of this file because I've been wanting to keep her thoughts secret from the audience. ^^

**Leon Kaye, **thank you! I'm glad you liked it. But just so you know, this story belongs to two characters, both of which are vital to the plot of both this story and the original and both which got a little shortchanged in the canon in my opinion. One of them just hasn't broken out of canon yet, but I'm sure you're starting to see the build up here. Disc Two will be so much fun ^^

Also, Square doesn't accept unsolicited submissions, or I would have already bombarded them with script ideas for games.

**Draconic, **I won't say anything about Minerva…except that I want you to know I haven't written her out of the story quite yet. ^^

**dante67, **ooh, that song is giving me ideas. I might have to use it later on! Thanks!

XxXxX

**File 032: Temple of Tears**

The mural room was long, stretching on into the distance. Aerith stood in front of one of the walls, her eyes fixed on the scene carved into the stone. The mural depicted a group of people standing in front of the Temple of the Ancients, facing it. Time had worn away their faces, but the figures still stood out in sharp relief against the stone behind them, their hands clasped together as they looked at the Temple. They looked…not like penitents coming to pray, but like judges, like a crowd seeing the end of a long period of decision. She placed her hand on the stone, running her fingers along the ridges and grooves that marked the mural. Why had the Ancients carved this, she wondered? Was it meant to be symbolic of something, a warning? Or was it something that had happened? A scene right out of history?

It frustrated her. The answer was at the edge of her mind, she could feel it lurking there, but try as she might, she couldn't bring it out. This was the closest she had ever been to the Planet, and yet, it felt like she was trying to sing a song with only half the words, to dance to a song only half-heard. Her fingers closed into a loose fist over the stone. She felt…

Broken. Incomplete.

_Unfinished. _

Aerith lowered her hand to her side, staring down at the ground. After all the time it had taken them to get here, solving the puzzles of the Temple, it turned out that Jenova wasn't here after all. Had the viewing pool lied? Or was she here, simply waiting, biding her time? Aerith wouldn't put it past her. She could still feel her presence in the back of her mind, a nagging pull coming from the Temple. It was a request—no, a demand, that she set things right. But that was the one thing she didn't know how to do.

_I wish you would talk to me more, _she thought towards the Temple. _Tell me exactly. What is it that you want? What can I do for you? _

She lowered her hand to her side, turning her head at the sound of footsteps. Sephiroth stood just over her shoulder. Aerith looked away, taking a step to the side to give him more room, but he didn't turn towards the scene on the wall. Instead, he turned to look at her. She got the sense that he was expecting her to say something, but she didn't know what she _could _say. Instead, she clasped her hands together in front of her, looking up at the mural.

"They tell a story," she said without thinking, her voice soft in the stillness of the mural room.

Sephiroth nodded. "I noticed," he said, his eyes drifting towards the murals briefly. He looked away.

"Have you seen the others?" Aerith found herself asking.

He nodded again. The other murals showed a progression of events after this scene, the situation becoming worse and worse. The final mural showed nothing but fire, and people writhing in the flames. She felt a shiver run through her as she remembered them. Aerith squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blot out the memory, but the images seemed to be burned into the inside of her mind. With her eyes closed, and so close to the heart of the Temple, she could practically feel the heat of the flames on her skin, taste the smoke, hear the screams.

A vision? Or a memory?

Whatever it was, it was connected to this Temple somehow, in a way that she couldn't explain. She opened her eyes—keeping them closed only made the images worse—and fixed them on the mural in front of her. "This Temple…" she said, "was built to hide something. Something powerful."

"The Black Materia." Sephiroth's voice was quiet.

She nodded, lowering her eyes again. Black. Like the White Materia she carried within her. Her mother had told her that the White Materia was meant to save the world. What was the Black Materia for then? And why…why had the Cetra created it?

Who were the Cetra? And for that matter, who was _she_?

"Aerith."

Aerith blinked, realizing that she had been moving closer, her palm flat against the mural wall. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized it. She pulled back, turning towards Sephiroth. "Yes?" she asked.

There was a strange, almost foreign look in his eye. It took Aerith a moment to recognize it as sympathy. "You should stop," he said.

"Stop…?" she repeated, her eyes drifting towards the murals. Jenova hadn't been here when they arrived. It had been Cissnei's idea to let them split up and look for clues, but it hadn't met with much opposition. She didn't know how much time they had spent—time didn't seem to have any meaning here.

"The murals," said Sephiroth, inclining his head towards the wall. "You've been standing here for the better part of two hours."

Aerith blinked in surprise. "Has it been that long?" she asked. "What about Jenova?" She looked over her shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of the others, but they were all further down the hall, studying the pictures or conferring quietly.

"No sign of her. Yet." The look Sephiroth gave her made her wonder how she appeared to him. She didn't think she was acting strange, but then again, her perceptions had been skewed ever since they entered the Temple in the first place. She shook her head, looking up at the mural in front of her.

"It's all here," she said quietly. "All the knowledge of the Ancients…and all the answers I've ever wanted."

"That's why you should stop." His eyes drifted over the mural, and Aerith wondered what he was remembering. "There's only so many truths the human mind can take before it starts to break."

She turned away, her hands clasped in front of her. She didn't know if she could or should give voice to the thought that had been nagging at the back of her mind, but she did anyway, her fingers clasped tightly in front of her. Her voice was soft when she spoke, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Am I really human?"

She sensed it, the sudden sharpening of his regard, the way his eyes bored holes into her back. Aerith's shoulders went rigid, and she shook her head, reaching back and grabbing onto her staff. She held onto it tightly—they were still expecting to be attacked after all. Suddenly, she didn't want him to answer her. "Forget I said anything," she said. "It was just a stupid thought."

She tried to turn her mind back to the situation at hand. Jenova was still in the Temple. She could feel that much. But if she was here, why had she left them alone for this long? Was she biding her time, waiting for an opportunity to strike? Could she be watching them right now? Or had the Temple delayed her, somehow making it so that AVALANCHE had more time than she did? Could the Temple even _do _that?

She didn't know. It all came down to answers in the end, and each of those answers brought with it more questions. Her eyes drifted over each member of the party, as though they would somehow be able to provide the answers.

That was when she noticed that something was wrong.

"Sephiroth…" she said, her grip tightening on her staff. "Where is Kunsel?"

The sudden silence from behind her told her that he had noticed too.

XxXxX

The Temple's passages stretched on, maze-like from the mural room, a labyrinth of twists and turns that made it hard for him to tell where he was coming from or which way he was going. Kunsel walked with his sword in hand, his left hand trailing along the wall beside him so that he wouldn't get turned around as he listened for the sound of footsteps. All his instincts screamed at him, warning him of a trap, but he didn't turn back. Trap or not, she'd come to look for him. He couldn't let this opportunity pass.

He shifted his grip on his sword as the footsteps ahead of him came to a stop, rounding a corner. As expected, she was standing there, watching him. Shelke didn't lean against the wall or fold her arms, or even raise her eyebrow at him impatiently. She didn't use any of the cues he had learned to associate with someone who had been waiting. Instead, she stood in the center of the hallway, her feet spaced slightly apart and her expression blank as she watched him, as though she had calculated just how long it would take him to reach her, or as though she truly didn't care.

He came to a halt, his grip relaxing slightly from around his sword. He didn't lower it—regardless of what else she was, Shelke was a Tsviet, and lowering one's guard around a Tsviet was reserved only for the very reckless or the very stupid—but neither did he attack her. He glanced around, looking for any traces of back-up, or anything that might hint that this was an ambush, but from what he could tell, both he and Shelke were alone. That wasn't definitive, though. It had already been proven that Nero could appear out of virtually nothing.

"Shelke," he said, taking a step towards her.

Her expression didn't change, but her shoulders squared as he moved, her entire body going tense. One of her hands moved a little bit closer to the sabers at her waist. It was a calculated movement, something that wasn't born out of fear or anger but as a reaction to his own. He stopped moving, his thoughts going back to what had happened earlier, when he'd glimpsed Shelke from where he had been studying the murals in the mural room. She'd glanced _back_, waiting the few seconds to make sure he'd noticed her before leaving the room. He'd thought that meant she was willing to talk, but maybe he'd been wrong.

The silence dragged on past the point of discomfort, neither of them moving. Shelke didn't so much as twitch. Kunsel knew enough by now to know that she could probably hold this stance indefinitely. If he wanted a conversation with her, he would have to begin it. It was a good thing he had questions, and quite a few of them. "What is this?" he asked her. "What are you doing here?"

"This is part of my mission," Shelke replied.

"Spying on us is part of your mission?" Kunsel repeated. "If you knew we were here, why didn't you just attack? We were there for hours! You didn't tell the Tsviets where we were?"

Shelke was silent. As far as silences went, this one was rather loud. Kunsel stared at her, his mind slowly picking at the unspoken answer. Years of being taught to follow orders, to attack, to fight loyally and without question warred with that one single year of his childhood, the one year of training that stood out from everything else he had learned at Shinra, the one year that had started and ended with two words.

_Question everything. _

"You knew," he said, his voice soft. "You've known where we were all along."

"It wasn't difficult," said Shelke, still speaking in that neutral tone. "The fact that you would follow us was inevitable."

"But if you knew, then why not attack? Why watch us? Why let us rest, and plan, and come to our own conclusions?" It had been almost two hours since they had first arrived at the mural room. The SOLDIER in him couldn't disregard the tactical advantage they had gained in that time. It didn't make sense. When they'd first arrived from the Temple's puzzles, they had been disoriented, confused, irritated, and exhausted. Why let them rest?

Question everything.

Kunsel lowered his eyes to the ground, trying to think. There was only one reason why a group as powerful as the Tsviets would give them the chance to rest and recuperate before battle—because they didn't think it would matter in the end. Because what they wanted wasn't an AVALANCHE that believed it was weak, but an AVALANCHE that believed it was strong.

Sephiroth's strategies were elegant in their simplicity. If you had the strength, cut. If you didn't have the strength, regroup, defend yourselves, find an alternate path to victory. Sephiroth as a leader didn't hesitate to order an attack if he believed he had the advantage. Zack was the same way. For that matter, so was he. SOLDIER had made them that way. When you had enough strength, you stopped worrying about things like your enemy being able to turn things around. And for the most part, that didn't matter. There were very few people who could go toe-to-toe with Sephiroth and come out unscathed. Every single member of AVALANCHE had come in here today expecting a hard battle. Leaving Tseng out at the entrance had already primed them for this.

They'd expected to be challenged, and in all honesty, they'd probably expected things to be over by now, one way or another. The fact that it wasn't, the fact that all they had seen of Jenova and her retinue so far had been an image projected by the Temple and a bloodied Turk at the entrance unsettled them. They'd come into the mural room tired, but ready—a unified, determined fighting force. Two hours later, a third of them were uneasy, jumping at every shadow, a third were overconfident, and a third were just bored. It was the equivalent of waiting until an army was feasting and celebrating to declare an attack, and they had walked right into it.

Jenova hadn't been fleeing from them, racing to get the Black Materia before they could stop her.

She'd _lured _them in, using what she knew of their personalities to make sure that the seasoned among them were complacent, and the unseasoned were scared, jumping at every shadow. But why? So that she and the Tsviets could swoop in and kill them all in one fell swoop?

No.

If Jenova's plan had been to engage them in battle, one would have already been fought. She had Genesis with her, and Genesis wasn't just dramatic, he was a full on diva. He would have relished the epic battle, the duel to the death between him and perceived nemesis. It wasn't just about killing Sephiroth. It was about beating him, humiliating him, and making sure the world saw him do it.

So that wasn't it. What then? What was the point of catching them off-guard, of unsettling them, if it wasn't going to come to battle?

He looked up at Shelke, the answer coming to him. "You want something," he said.

The clues had been there all along. He just hadn't bothered to look. Why leave the Keystone with Tseng if they didn't want to be followed? Why not just take it with them, sealing off the Temple for good?

Because they wanted AVALANCHE to follow them in. Because for some reason, AVALANCHE…or someone in it was critical to the next step in Jenova's plan. That was why they were waiting. It wasn't just to unsettle them, although that was a nice bonus. It was because they were waiting for all the pieces to start to fall into place.

"You need us." Shelke didn't move. He couldn't tell from her expression whether or not there was any truth to his statement, but the more he thought about it, the more convinced he felt. "For some reason, you can't get to the Black Materia. That's why you're letting us regroup. It's not about attacking us, not yet. You want to use us to fetch it for you."

He watched her, waiting. When she continued to say nothing, he went on. "The thing I don't understand is, why come find me? You came to see me, and it looks like you came alone. Why? Are you ready to talk about what we discussed before?"

Shelke didn't answer for a long time. When she finally did, the words she spoke weren't the ones he had been expecting. "Why did you leave?" she asked.

"What?"

"Your combat abilities are exceptional, as expected from a SOLDIER of your rank."

Kunsel frowned. "I've already told you why I left Shinra," he said.

"I wasn't talking about Shinra," said Shelke.

Kunsel froze. Shelke watched him, then went on.

"As I was saying," she said. "Your combat abilities are exceptional, but when compared to others of your rank, they're merely average. Any SOLDIER candidate of decent aptitude can become an exceptional fighter—mako allows this. Exceptional combat ability as a First Class isn't extraordinary. It's simply expected."

Shelke stepped forward, with the air of someone who had also come to her own conclusions. The emotionless quality of her voice had begun to wear away somewhat, but what it revealed in its place—uncertainty, doubt, confusion—made him stop and listen to what she had to say. With a sudden chill, he realized he knew where this was going.

"Your entire career, as far as your file notes, has been exceedingly average," she said. "You were never last in your cohort, nor were you first. You were promoted to Second Class but your commanding officers note that you seemed content to remain there. You were never even chosen for the SOLDIER program in the first place, you were recommended to it by Angeal Hewley, for valor in a battle where you were only back-up."

This time, it was Kunsel's turn to say nothing. That much was true at least. During the Battle of Hong Guo, it had been Zack, Essai and Sebastian that had taken the lead. He'd provided cover fire, but had been included in the recognition anyway. It wasn't recognition he had ever sought, but he hadn't refused it when it came to him.

"In all the reports pertaining to your activities as SOLDIER up until the capture of Zack Fair and your promotion to First Class, you are mentioned only tangentially. You didn't take part in any of the events that made Zack Fair stand out the way he did."

"I guess you could say I was just a boring guy," said Kunsel, keeping his voice neutral. "I never really liked the attention."

Shelke seemed to ignore him entirely, continuing with her own theory. "And yet…" she said. "How did Zack Fair, Essai Le Blanc, and Sebastian Withers know where to place the explosives at the Battle of Hong Guo? None of them were seen anywhere near the sites where the explosives were placed. They couldn't have had the prior knowledge of the terrain necessary to know where the blasts would have caused the most impact. There is also no record of them being involved in the actual theft of the explosives used—none of them at this time had any knowledge of the measures required to steal powerful explosives in the middle of a high-security camp the night before a major battle."

Kunsel said nothing. He still remembered that night. It had been Zack's idea, of course it had been Zack's idea. The four of them were making the rounds, patrolling while the rest of the camp ate, and Zack had mentioned how much easier it would be if they could collapse the mountain passes, set explosions that would draw the enemy onto the bridge and then collapse it. And Kunsel had said…he'd said…

"The shed was unlocked," Kunsel said. "That's how we got the explosives. It's in the file. The person who left the shed unlocked _was _punished."

"You did it," said Shelke. "You studied the terrain, determined where to place the explosions. You picked the time for the attack. And you made it look like it had been a coincidence. The person you pinned it on was already intoxicated. It wouldn't seem strange that he couldn't remember."

"That's a big leap to take from just reading my file," Kunsel said. "I was fourteen. Do you really think I stole a keycard, unlocked the shed, steal the explosives, and had just enough presence of mind to pin it on a drunk guard, all without being noticed?"

"I didn't," said Shelke, her voice seeming softer somehow. "He did. Angeal Hewley."

Kunsel stared. "Angeal…?" he repeated.

"He left notes," said Shelke. "Not on the record, but to himself, in a journal discovered when his personal effects were cleared out of his quarters after his death. He claims to have known your role in the incident from the beginning. It was why he recommended you to SOLDIER. You…showed promise."

He thought about Angeal. The SOLDIER First had been especially close to Zack, but it wasn't just Zack he had time for. Angeal knew each of them. He knew the names of all the men under his command, and he had spoken to Kunsel a few times. Each time, Kunsel hadn't had the feeling that the man knew more than he let on. But maybe that was because he wanted to believe that he didn't, that he had finally managed to escape notice.

"There's more," said Shelke. "Emails. During your time as a Second Class, you kept Zack Fair informed on multiple issues relating to the Shinra Company's administration. Things you had no business knowing. As a SOLDIER, you were average, but only outwardly. Your records from your first year of training state that you showed promise, both in gathering and interpreting information, and in the types of strategy required to conduct covert operations. Your instructors wrote that you showed promise, and would become a talented agent had you completed your training. Your abilities would have been far better suited to that training track than to the SOLDIER one. So I ask you again."

"Why did you leave?"

Kunsel didn't answer. He remembered fire. He remembered standing in front of that hollowed out house, his fingers stained with ash as he stared, wide-eyed, into what had once been his living room. He remembered the hand on his shoulder, firm but not comforting. He'd known the man behind it before, the man in the dark suit whose eyes said that he understood the loss Kunsel was feeling, understood, but that somehow his pain had turned inward, changing him, warping him beyond repair. Known him, but never like this, never in that way. But that was when he was the man from down the road, the one who worked in Shinra, but settled his family outside in Kalm where it was supposed to be safe.

That was when he was just Felicia's dad.

His own words came back to him, his voice cracked and breaking. _"This was an accident," _he said. _"That's the truth isn't it? That's what you said." _

The man looked back over his shoulder at him and said only two words.

"_Question everything."_

He looked up at Shelke, taking a deep breath as he thought of how to answer that question.

That was when he caught sight of the first tendrils of shadow, starting to creep across the floor of the hallway.

**END FILE**


	119. File 033: Gathering Storm pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Certain things in this chapter may not make total sense. I promise that most of them will be explained by the last chapter of this file or the first of the next (before they leave the Temple).

Whew, it's done. Sorry for the lateness guys. I've had midterms!

Thanks go to **Furionknight, Gohan Roxas, Riku Uzumaki, JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, dante67, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Some Major Fan, XXTakaraXX, Gameplayer23, Eavenne, **and **Natalie** for your reviews and support! Appreciated as always!

**Some Major Fan, **the shippings are coming eventually. Sephissnei at least will be resolved by the time the Disc ends (I hope). One thing I do want to point out is that this is an action/adventure story with romance elements, not the other way around, so the plot DOES take preference over any romance (which is more like the icing on top of the cake). So it's coming, but getting the Temple of the Ancients done is my priority right now. Don't worry, I have plans. Mwahahahaha.

**Gameplayer23, **well, to answer that question, I have to invite you to read on. I do plan on answering it in detail later, BUT…for now just know that it happened and it was a thing that Kunsel did. Glad you're enjoying the fic, and please feel free to leave another review! I do appreciate them!

XxXxX

**File 033: Gathering Storm**

_Nero. _

Kunsel didn't have time to think much else as the darkness behind Shelke coalesced, forming into the shape of a man. He took a step back and reached behind him, his hand closing around the hilt of his sword. Kunsel jumped to the side as tendrils reached out from the darkness, gathering in the air and shooting towards him. The tendrils pierced the air, waves of shadow emanating from them as he rolled to the side, coming up and pointing his sword at Nero.

He caught sight of red eyes coming from the shadow behind Shelke and a smirking face. Then, Nero was directly in front of him, standing just inside the reach of his sword. Kunsel's eyes widened as Nero's eyes met his. The shadow flung him back and he struck the wall hard, shadows swirling around him. The shadows wrapped around his torso and arms before he could blink, pinning both his body and his sword arm to the wall. He sucked in a breath, attempting to pull his sword arm free. It came loose for a moment before the shadows surrounding him latched onto it, pulling it back down again.

Pinned to the wall as he was, he could only watch as Nero stepped forward, shadows filling the air around him like mists. The metallic wings attached to his back stretched outward with a clanking sound, the guns attached to their ends locking onto him. Kunsel braced himself for the impact, but Nero didn't fire. Instead, his eyes met Kunsel's, and he was smirking. Kunsel could see that clearly now—the bandages around Nero's mouth had been removed, and the smile they revealed made him shiver. It wasn't the smile of a madman, not quite, nor was it an especially cruel smile—Kunsel had seen a smile like that on Hojo's face. He knew what it looked like.

This was a conqueror's smile. The smile of someone who had been studying the game, who had been watching the pieces move. This was the smile of someone who knew that they had achieved victory. Now all that was left to do was wait until their enemies burned to the ground.

"Well, well, Shelke," Nero said, not taking his eyes off Kunsel. "What do we have here?"

Kunsel's eyes moved towards Shelke, who was walking forward quietly, coming to stand behind Nero. The shadows emanating from Nero pooled around her feet, making it look almost as though she were walking through mist. Her eyes flicked towards Kunsel, and for a moment, he thought he saw her impassive expression break. Her thumb ran lightly over the hilt of her sabers, as though she was considering drawing them, but as soon as the expression came it vanished, her face becoming as smooth as glass again.

"You needed a sacrifice," she said, her voice cold.

Nero glanced at her, the smile becoming one of vague approval. "So you…snared one for us?" he asked, looking back at Kunsel. He walked forward, and Kunsel fought down a wave of cold fear as the spines of his wings scraped against one another, their razor sharp edges gleaming in the torchlight. His grip tightened on his sword, and he forced it down. He wouldn't show fear in front of Nero, no matter what was coming. He glanced at Shelke, but she was—perhaps purposefully—not looking at him. Her eyes were only for Nero. "I'm impressed, Shelke. I wasn't aware you had that much cunning in you."

"Sacrifice?" Kunsel repeated. "What's this about, Shelke?"

"Be quiet." There was an edge in Shelke's voice when she spoke. Irritation, maybe? Or anger. She glanced at him, and her hand removed itself fully from the sabers at her waist. She turned towards Nero. "I have other duties," she said.

"Stay a while," said Nero, coming to a stop directly in front of Kunsel. "Bear witness to the fruits of your labors."

Shelke stopped mid-turn at Nero's words. She moved slowly, almost as if she was hesitating, but she turned anyway, facing towards Kunsel. She didn't look up at him or meet his eyes, instead keeping her gaze focused somewhere around his torso. Nero's wings moved, and Kunsel braced himself for the cut, but it never came. Instead, the wings hovered just above him, a silent promise. The gun attached to one of the wings was now pointed directly at his head, forcing him to look down and meet Nero's eyes.

"Kill me if you want," he said. "It isn't going to stop them."

"Kill you?" Nero repeated, sounding as though the concept amused him. "Why would I do such a thing, when you're so much more useful alive? For now."

"What do you mean?" asked Kunsel. He was tired of riddles, tired of games. He thought he had finished that when he transferred into the SOLDIER program, but the games had only intensified, becoming bigger, darker, and deeper, with the stakes getting higher and higher each day.

Nero chuckled darkly. "You don't truly know what's at the heart of this Temple, do you?" he asked. "Well then. Allow me to enlighten you."

The last thing Kunsel saw before the shadows converged, sending him plunging headlong into darkness, was the glow of Nero's eyes, and the sight of his smile. He looked past Nero, his eyes catching Shelke, but she hadn't moved, hadn't raised her gaze towards him. He held that image of her in his mind, taking in her rigid stance and her stoic impression. In the back of his mind, he was remembering another little girl, one from Kalm, who liked to play with dolls.

He remembered Shalua, the promise he had made to her.

That was his last thought before the nightmare took him.

XxXxX

Aerith stood in the center of the room, nervously chewing on her lip as she watched Zack. Her discovery had caused the others to abandon their previous tasks, congregating in the center of the room as they started asking questions about Kunsel—where he was, who had seen him last, that sort of thing. Zack looked as worried as she felt, standing across from her with his phone pressed to his ear. The room was quiet enough that the ringing sound echoed, allowing everyone to hear it. At length, Zack pulled the phone away, flipping it shut.

"He's not picking up," he said, looking up at the others.

"Maybe he can't hear it ring," said Tifa, looking up. "He'd have turned it to silent, wouldn't he?"

"Or maybe he can't pick up." The voice came from Cissnei, who was standing about two places away from Aerith, her arms folded. Her expression was grim. As soon as she said the words, everyone rounded onto her.

"How can you say that?" asked Yuffie, stepping forward. "We can't just _give up _on him!"

"I'm not saying we should give up on him," said Cissnei, looking across at Yuffie. She folded her arms. "But that's the reality. The Tsviets are out there. He might be dead. We need to be prepared for that possibility."

Aerith lowered her eyes to the ground, her hand curling into a loose fist at her side. "He's not dead," she said. She knew the reaction she would get the moment those words left her mouth, but not even that could have prepared her for the speed with which everyone's eyes turned towards her, even Zack. They were looking at her like she had the answers, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that, considering she didn't fully believe that she _did _have them. But she did know that Kunsel wasn't dead. She exhaled slowly, lifting her eyes back towards the group.

"No one's died yet. Not in this Temple. The Temple would have felt it…if someone did." She was glad that no one asked her _how _the Temple would have felt it, because she couldn't answer that. All she knew was that it felt like the right thing to say. She'd seen death before, even though there were times when she really wished she hadn't. She'd felt what happened when a person let go, when their connection with their body was broken and they returned to the Lifestream. Something like that wouldn't have gone unnoticed by the Temple. She was sure of it.

"If he's not dead," said Cissnei, meeting her eyes. "Then where is he?"

Aerith really wished she knew. She shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "But whatever darkness is in this Temple…it's getting closer."

"Jenova," said Sephiroth.

No one contradicted that. The evidence was clear enough.

"So, what?" asked Zack, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Does Jenova have him?"

"It's safe to assume that if Kunsel isn't picking up, it's because he's been incapacitated in some way," said Cissnei. "So, yes, that's what it looks like. But if they haven't killed him yet, the question is why?"

"Maybe he's fighting," suggested Nanaki, his ears perking up.

Cissnei nodded. "That's possible," she said.

"What?!" asked Yuffie, her eyes widening. She unfolded her arms rapidly, the motion making it look like she was throwing something at the ground. "If he's fighting, we need to help him! He can't take on Jenova alone!" She strode forward, heading towards the door. Vincent caught her arm as she passed, holding her in place. Yuffie froze, her eyes widening as she turned towards him.

"Vincent…?" she asked.

Vincent's response was to look across the room at Cissnei. They exchanged a glance—Aerith didn't have enough experience with Turks to know what it meant, only that they agreed. Cissnei nodded in response.

"That's exactly the sort of reaction Jenova would expect," she said. "We can't discount the possibility that this is a trap, with the intention of drawing us out."

"Then so what?" asked Yuffie, swiveling around to face them. The movement was awkward, considering Vincent hadn't let go of her arm, but she managed it anyway, attempting to twist her arm out of Vincent's grasp. She gestured wildly with her other arm. "Let's take the fight to them! Isn't that what we've been wanting to do since we came here?"

"It is, but…" Cissnei trailed off, hesitating. She took a step back, looking over the rest of the group for advice. Aerith noticed, not for the first time, how her eyes seemed to avoid looking anywhere in Sephiroth's vicinity.

It was Vincent who spoke up, not relinquishing his hold on Yuffie's arm. "We need to fight them on our terms," he said. "If we go out there, we'll fight on whatever terms Jenova has set."

"And whatever trap she's laid for us," Nanaki added, his tail flicking back and forth as he looked up solemnly at the group.

"Well, shit," said Cid, his hold tightening on his spear.

_Traps. _

Something about that word resonated in her, sounding almost like a warning. Aerith felt a chill run down her spine like a cold droplet of water, making her stand straighter. The voice that gave the warning wasn't her own. The Temple of the Ancients held a lot of voices, and some of them spoke to her, but this wasn't a new voice. It was one that Aerith had heard before, in a lot of different situations. It was a voice she knew from her childhood, a voice that, as far as she knew, she had always listened to.

The voice of the Planet.

_Beware…_the voice said softly. And then again. _Traps. _

Aerith scanned the group, her eyes fixing on Blaire. The little girl was standing beside Sephiroth, but her eyes were fixed on the ground. Her face was pale, her left hand holding onto the sheath of her sword. Her right was holding onto the hilt. A cold sweat had broken out over her skin, and Aerith noticed that the hand gripping the hilt was shaking.

Aerith went cold, her hands gripping her staff tightly. Everyone else in the room seemed to fade into the background, even Yuffie's voice becoming nothing more than white noise. Aerith had only enough attention for Blaire, for the way her eyes flashed green, and for the way she seemed to be struggling with herself, as if fighting something inside her. She only had enough attention for the way Blaire's palms were sweating, the way her _katana_ rattled inside its _saya, _the way she bit her lip. The Planet's voice swirled in her mind, mixing with her thoughts until she didn't know where it ended and she began, repeating over and over again, the same warning.

Beware of traps.

"Blaire?" she asked, her voice sounding strangely disconnected, as though it wasn't really coming from her. "Are you okay?"

The question was still on her lips when Blaire shot forward like a bullet, her sword clearing its sheath with lightning speed. Torchlight gleamed on the edge of Yoshiyuki's blade as Blaire darted through the crowd, cutting towards her.

XxXxX

"Yo, how much longer is this gonna take?! We gotta catch 'em!"

Shalua Rui looked up from her seat in the back of the car, watching as Barret glared at the driver. AVALANCHE's leader was already practically hanging out of the open window, his gun arm trained on the air. She lowered her eyes back to the GPS she was holding, trying to control the pounding of her heart. The hand on the GPS shook slightly as she ran her thumb across the screen, trying to get a good fix on their position. She wished she could have shifted hands so that her human hand wouldn't be too far from her pistol, but though she had programmed more motor control into her prosthetic, she didn't trust it enough to trust their only means of navigation to it, and it was more important that they get there in time than that she be in any condition to shoot anything. Already, it felt like her heart was in her throat, the parts of her that weren't made of metal feeling cold and clammy. The message that they had received still hung in the back of her mind. It was a distilled message, and it had changed hands many times before making its way to them—coming from Auriel the Golden, to Tseng, to Reno, to Shion, and finally to her, but whatever details had been exaggerated or downplayed, whatever had been left out, the message was clear enough.

They were running _out of time_.

"Almost there," said the driver, sparing Barret an annoyed glance before turning his attention back to the road. He gripped the wheel with one hand, and Shalua didn't miss the way his other rested on his seat, just inches away from the hilt of his gun.

"And why the hell should I trust _you_?" asked Barret, pulling himself away from the window long enough to settle himself into his seat. He snorted, turning his attention to the scenery passing them by. "Damn Turk."

From the rearview mirror, Shalua caught the way the moment of decision passed in front of the ex-Turk's eyes. She caught the way his hand moved just a little bit closer to his gun. Shalua tensed, about to put down the GPS, when the man's shoulders relaxed, and he moved his hand away, placing it on the wheel instead. "You don't have to trust me," he said, his voice cool. "But unless you want to start walking, you can shut up."

"Barret, try to calm down," Shalua said, looking up at the AVALANCHE leader. "We're doing what we can."

"What the hell do you know?" asked Barret, glancing back at her. "My team's in danger! You expect me to take that lyin' down?"

_It's my team too. _The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Shalua said nothing, lowering her gaze back to her lap. It wasn't her team, not anymore. Not since Rocket Town. She tried to not hold it against Barret too much. He had already seen what was left of AVALANCHE die once, he had lost his best friend, his family, and his arm once before. The only thing he had left was this current incarnation of AVALANCHE and Marlene, both of which were in danger. Shalua could understand that. And unlike Shalua, who was heading towards Shelke, Barret had chosen to leave Marlene behind a second time to save AVALANCHE from themselves. He'd been in Midgar three days before leaving again. He'd only gotten in contact with her, Shion and the others in the day before this information arrived, and he'd had turn around and leave. She couldn't even begin to fathom how hard a decision that must have been.

"We're approaching Rocket Town," said Nico from the driver's seat, in the sort of tone that was shorthand for '_Do as I say before I put a bullet in your head'. _"Be quiet and let me drive."

Barret either didn't catch the danger in Nico's tone or he didn't care, but for what it was worth, Shalua thought that his voice was a little softer the next time he spoke. He folded his arms. "That's another thing I don't get," he said. "Why're we goin' to Rocket Town anyway? The Temple's in the other damn direction!"

Nico drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. Shalua found herself wishing that someone—Chris, Shion, anyone, could have driven them instead, but she knew why it had to be him. Unlike Chris and Shion, Nico had connections, and though he might _appear _more dangerous than either of them, the truth was that as Don Corneo's ex-bodyguard, Nico had spent a lot of time putting up with stupidity. "Do you want to swim?" he asked.

"We're here for a plane?" asked Barret. "Pfft. Good luck. We already took that damn plane from Cid. There ain't nothin' left in this town."

When Nico spoke again, he sounded almost amused. "I didn't say I was looking for a plane."

"Then what _are _you lookin' for?" asked Barret.

Nico didn't answer. In part because Shalua was certain that that wasn't a discussion he wanted to have at that moment, and in part because they had arrived. The Rocket stood out against the landscape, a monolith that marked Rocket Town for miles in any direction. Shalua leaned back in her seat as Nico parked the car in a shady spot near the entrance to town, trying to focus on her task and not think about the last time she had approached Rocket Town by car and what had happened there. Barret had been one of her accusers then, not that she could blame him.

Nico had opened his door and was out of the car before Barret could finish his next rant about ex-Turks. Shalua climbed out of her seat as well, blinking in surprise as Nico opened the door for her. The gesture must have been automatic—as bodyguard, he would have also served as Corneo's chauffeur—but she hadn't been expecting it from him. She shut the door behind her, following him as they walked towards the town.

Nico locked the door before Barret could finish getting out of his seatbelt, not looking back. Barret cursed from inside the car, and she heard him fumbling with the door. It took two tries for him to get it open and catch up with them, and by the time he managed, he was not in a good mood. Shalua wondered who out of the three of them would end up shooting first. Given the circumstances, she was not above writing herself into the equation.

"Wait here," said Nico as they entered the town. "I'm going to find my contact."

"Oh no, you don't," said Barret, turning to face him. "You think we're just gonna let you waltz out of our sight?"

Nico turned, eyes narrowed, and Shalua saw the hand that wasn't facing Barret drop to his gun. Shalua tensed, ready to break up the fight. It never came to that. Instead, the three of them turned in the direction of a crashing sound, followed by a woman's scream. It had come from a house on the other side of the Rocket from where they were standing, a house that Shalua thought she recognized.

"That's…" she began.

"Shera's place," finished Barret.

She turned towards him in alarm, but he was already running.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	120. File 033: Gathering Storm pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: I started taking battojutsu classes a few weeks ago. ^^ Hopefully it'll help the sword fighting scenes, although that's certainly _not _why I'm taking them (and it's not like physics matters much in this game anyway).

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Furionknight, SpiritDreamWarriors, Meteor Panda, Gameplayer23, XXTakaraXX, Riku Uzumaki **and **Irish-Brigid **for the reviews and support! Yes, I know the last one was short and full of cliff-hangers. Hopefully this one makes up for it—don't worry, there's only one more chapter after this before the File ends, so bear with the cliffies. ^^

**Meteor Panda, **they haven't found Marlene yet. But don't worry, I don't plan on leaving her there for much longer. They'll find her by the book's end.

**Gameplayer23, **I live in the US. You're welcome to PM me, but please be aware that I will not answer all questions regarding FUTURE plot points. I'm happy to clarify past and present events though. As far as cliffhangers go, well…sad to say, we use them because they work. It's easy to put down works that don't leave you hanging!

XxXxX

**File 033: Gathering Storm**

The shadows around him unwound, depositing him onto a stone floor. Kunsel grit his teeth as he landed on his side, clutching his head. He had turned away from the impact out of instinct, his mind still in the past. If he closed his eyes tight, he could still feel it, hear it, taste it, the memories that Nero had dredged up for him. He was watching the house burn. He was watching her die, her body contorting in pain as she turned, reaching out towards the front door.

In reality, he'd only heard about his family's death after the fact, but in Nero's dream he had been standing there, watching as the fire crept up her arms, her hair, watching the fear in her eyes. Watching, and unable to move. He was rooted to his spot at the front door, somewhere between the boy he had been and the man he was now, unable to move forward, unable to help her.

Her lips mouthed his name. He shut his eyes tighter.

And then her eyes flashed blue, the bright color of mako. Her body changed, and suddenly it wasn't his sister anymore. It was Shelke standing in front of him, dying in the fire.

A kick to the small of his back woke him, and he bit down on his scream, opening his eyes. At once, the darkness faded, but he could still feel it in the back of his mind. His body felt cold, and for a moment it felt like his mako-enhanced strength—a part of his life for so long that he often forgot it was there—had left him. His heart pounded in his chest, that last vestige of the nightmare refusing to leave. Kunsel swallowed and tasted blood. He sat up, realizing that he had bitten the inside of his cheek during his thrashing. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself, and focused on what was in front of him.

He was lying in the center of a small chamber, at the base of a fountain. This fountain glowed the same deep violet as the viewing pool Aerith had used, but it was smaller, the flow more focused into a steady stream. There were other people gathered around it now, Kunsel noticed. From the ground, he could see only feet, but as he turned over and looked up, he realized he was standing in a circle of Tsviets.

Rosso smirked down at him, her eyes meeting his. Her hand moved over her weapon almost lovingly, a gleam in her eyes telling him that she was just contemplating using it. Beside her stood Azul, a hulking figure in blue, with a gun. Kunsel's eyes widened—Cissnei had reported him crushed in the depths of Mount Corel—but he didn't have any time to wonder about why Azul was still alive. Beside _him _stood Weiss, both hands resting on the hilts of his katanas. He was smirking, like he had just won a game. Over his shoulder stood a stately dark-haired woman that could only be Argento, and next to her, wreathed in shadow with his wings outstretched, was Nero.

Kunsel knew he should have been paying more attention to Nero, but instead his eyes were on the Tsviet right next to him. Shelke stood a little bit behind the others, her body partly obscured by Nero's wing. She wasn't looking at him, studying something off to the side. Once again, he saw her thumb brush over the hilt of her saber, once, twice, three times, a steady rhythmic pattern. Kunsel turned away from her, rolling over, and only then did he get a good look at the man who had kicked him.

Genesis looked exactly the same. In the five years since he had been an active member of SOLDIER, he hadn't aged a day. Where he'd been degrading before, he was whole. He carried himself confidently, one hand closed around the hilt of his Rapier like he was a hero waiting to strike.

_A peacock, _Kunsel thought, glaring at him. _That's all you are. You hide behind real heroes and pretend to be one. _

He would have said it to Genesis's face, had his words not been cut off by the sword at his throat. Genesis smirked down at him, and Kunsel could see the madness in his eyes, barely restrained by control. He pulled his sword back a few inches, giving Kunsel room to sit up but never removing the threat completely. Kunsel sat, glaring at him the whole time he did. He was still aware of the situation he was caught in. He knew it looked bad; that there was no way he could get out of this alive. But perhaps that was why he was able to look at Genesis with such defiance. He had the preternatural calm and recklessness of a man who knew he was about to die.

His mind raced, going through the situation around him. All of the Tsviets and Genesis. It was an impressive show of force, but what was important her wasn't who was present. It was who wasn't.

Where was Jenova?

He looked back towards Genesis as the sword at his throat inched closer, demanding his attention. Kunsel glared up at him, eyes narrowing. Genesis raised an eyebrow at the show of defiance, looking back at Nero and Weiss.

"Was this the best you could do?" he asked.

"You'll have to thank our dear Shelke for that," said Nero, giving the girl next to him a knowing smirk. Shelke didn't even look up. "It was her idea."

"It should work." The voice was Argento's. "Assuming all goes well. He hasn't been contaminated, either by S-cells or G-cells."

"Contaminated." Rosso folded her arms, smirking at Argento. "You make it sound like a disease, darling."

Argento said nothing, her eyes fixed on Genesis. He nodded at her, looking back at Kunsel. "Well, we'll see," he said. He stepped back, casually flicking his sword in an upward direction. "Up. Let's see how useful you are."

"What makes you think I'll do anything for you?" asked Kunsel.

"Because it's not for me," said Genesis. He gestured at the fountain behind him, and Kunsel saw an image reflected in it. He froze. The image was of AVALANCHE, standing in a circle. They weren't moving—the image was frozen in time—but he could see the concern on each of their faces. The image changed one after another, panning up and down the group until he could see them all. Vincent, Yuffie, Cissnei. Tifa, Red, and Cloud. Cid, Sephiroth, Blaire. Aerith.

Zack.

Genesis's smirk grew more pronounced. "It's for them," he said. He withdrew his sword. "Now, are you going to stand, or do I need to drag you to your feet?"

Kunsel's eyes moved from the fountain to Genesis and back to the fountain again. He exhaled, slowly getting to his feet. Genesis gave him an indulgent smile, like he was talking to a puppy.

"That's better," he said. "Now, we can begin."

XxXxX

Barret's run picked up speed as he neared the door. He rammed it with his shoulder, the door splintering with a loud crack. Dust flew as it fell inward. From behind him, Shalua saw Barret drop into a roll and come up on the other side of the door with his gun arm braced on his knee, pointing it into the living room. He didn't shoot, though, instead squinting into the darkness. His eyes widened, and Shalua saw him tense.

"What the—?" he asked.

She picked up speed, her pistol already in her human hand. Shalua pulled back the safety but kept her finger off the trigger, dashing into the house right after Barret. It was only once she was inside that she saw what had stopped him. A woman—Shalua presumed she was Shera—was on the floor with her back against the kitchen counters, a frying pan clenched in her hands for defense. In front of her stood a little boy, no more than seven or eight years old, with mako green eyes. His eyes were unfocused and unfeeling, and he held a large wrench in one hand, probably stolen from Cid's workshop. Allen Malkuth, Shalua remembered. Blaire's little brother…and the eighth Sephiroth clone. The kitchen table had been knocked over and a decorative vase was in ruins.

Shera looked up at Allen. She didn't even seem to notice that the two of them were there. Her eyes were fixed only on the boy. To her credit, she wasn't shaking. Although she eyed the wrench warily, her hands were steady, and if there was fear on her face, she did her best to keep it hidden. Shalua wasn't sure she would be as calm under the circumstances. Already, she was fighting to keep her aim steady.

"Allen," Shera was saying. "Allen, it's me. Shera. Don't you remember me?"

Allen hesitated, his grip tightening on the wrench. Shalua could see the way his fingers were white at the knuckles. She watched them, unable to breathe. The boy took a step back, as if uncertain of himself, and then, as soon as it had come, all the uncertainty on his face faded away, and he stepped forward as though pushed by an unseen hand.

"Allen…" began Shera again. "Al. You can fight this. I know you can."

Allen took another step forward. His grip on the wrench trembled, the only sign that he was struggling. His steps were slow and robotic, as though his body was having to fight his mind for each one, or as though he wasn't totally in control.

"Shit," Barret swore from the ground next to her. "What do we do?"

Shalua shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. Her grip wavered, her aim moving on and off target. If she aimed for a non-lethal area—but he was so _small_. Mako would keep him alive, but could she really shoot a child? It was obvious that if she didn't do something, stop him somehow, then whatever presence had taken hold of his mind would kill Shera. Maybe kill them all. It wasn't even him anymore—it was whatever being had possessed him. Logic dictated that she shoot, that she take that risk and maybe save both Allen and themselves. She knew what she had to do.

Yet somehow, her finger wouldn't find the trigger. The gun in her hands shook, the end of the barrel quivering so much that Shalua was half-certain she was aiming at the ceiling.

And then Nico arrived, dashing between her and Barret with both his guns in his hands. Shalua's eyes flicked towards him in that one terrifying moment that he passed her. Time seemed to slow to a stop, until it was just her, Nico, and Allen. Nico's guns were trained on the boy, his face the calm mask of a professional killer.

"Don't shoot!"

The words were out of her mouth before she even realized she'd said them. They hung in the air between them, and for a moment she thought Nico either hadn't heard or wouldn't comply, but then he dropped his weight, twisting around at the last moment. He flipped one of his handguns over in his hand, the back of it striking Allen neatly in the back of the head as his other hand swept the wrench down and away.

Allen staggered back and dropped the knife and Nico turned again, holstering his gun in a motion so fast Shalua almost didn't catch it. He pulled something from a pocket on the side of his holster, striking at Allen with an open palm. Light flashed, and Shalua caught sight of the needle before Allen swayed, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

He fell backwards, crumpling to the ground.

XxXxX

The world paused in the space of a breath.

Tifa's eyes widened as Blaire rushed forward, her katana clearing its sheath with a hiss. Everyone moved, turning towards her. She saw Aerith take a step back as if in slow motion, saw her raise her staff to defend herself, but it was too late. Tifa could see that easily. Blaire's attack had been too sudden, too unexpected, and Aerith was too inexperienced to properly block against it. She could see the space in Aerith's defense that Blaire's sword would cut through, could see the opening as clearly as if she were the one holding the sword. Her blood ran cold, her hands clenching into fists. The shout tore itself from her lips, even though a part of her knew it wouldn't do any good.

"_Aerith!" _

A figure moved, slamming into Blaire from the side. The two of them careened off to the right, and in the split second that time seemed to freeze, Tifa saw Zack, one of his shoulder pauldrons lowered as he shoved Blaire from her left side. The sword was in her right hand, and Tifa saw the girl turn and cut, saw Zack raise his arm to defend himself just in time as the blade cut a gash down his right arm. Blood splattered onto the Temple's stone floor and the two of them went down.

Now Aerith was the one shouting.

"Zack!" she said, running up to him.

Zack said nothing, fighting to get Blaire's sword arm under control. She thrashed like an animal, lashing out once, twice, three times. Each strike hit—Tifa could see the cuts opening on Zack's arms, his chest, one on the side of his face, but he didn't let up, gritting his teeth as he pinned the girl to the ground with one arm on top of her waist, his other hand trying to grab her sword wrist and wrench it away from her.

"Zack—," said Cloud from behind her, stepping forward.

Zack sucked in a breath as Blaire's foot found his stomach, but didn't let go. He grabbed onto her sword arm finally, hooking her hand around her waist. "Help me out here," he said through clenched teeth, struggling to pin Blaire's arm to the ground.

Cloud didn't hesitate. He ran forward, coming up to Blaire's other side. Cloud grabbed onto her sword arm, pulling it away from her and holding it steady as Zack pushed himself up off the ground to get more leverage on the struggling girl. Between the two of them, they managed to pin Blaire's sword arm to the ground, although her grip on the hilt was proving more difficult to break. Zack sat up, breathing hard, and braced his uninjured arm against the ground as Blaire continued to thrash.

"Where's Sephiroth?" he asked.

Cloud's eyes widened, and he looked up as well, as if only now realizing that the ex-First wasn't there. He turned his head just as Zack looked over his shoulder, and both their eyes widened. Turning as well, Tifa realized why. Sephiroth was standing a few feet away from the group, facing away from them. He held Masamune in a ready position, gripping the hilt with both hands close to his ear. The blade was facing upwards, the tip pointed towards the door.

The door that had someone standing in it.

Cissnei stood behind him, Rekka in one hand. On her other side, Vincent had released Yuffie, the both of them drawing weapons as they faced the door. Red bristled, rising up on his haunches. His tail rose straight up in the air, and he bared his fangs, letting loose a low growl. Next to him, Cid scowled, stamping out his cigarette underneath his heel and lowering his spear so that the tip pointed at the door. Tifa glanced over her back at Cloud and Zack, and saw how Aerith had taken up a position in front of them and Blaire, her staff held in both hands defensively. Making her decision, she jogged over to the other group, getting into place between Red and Cid and on the front line. She bounced twice on the balls of her feet to loosen up, clenching her hands into fists and bringing them up in front of her.

The woman stepped forward, her features becoming clearer. It was Jenova, and Jenova as they had last seen her, wearing the guise of Aerith's mother. She was smirking, her eyes the same slitted mako green as Sephiroth's and Blaire's. Her hands were folded in front of her almost serenely, her feet ghosting noiselessly over the stone of the Temple's floor. She came to a stop in front of them, her eyes moving over the assembled group. She eyed each of the weapons with amusement, as if they were nothing more than child's toys. Tifa felt herself shiver with revulsion as Jenova's eyes brushed over her. She held firm, keeping her stance steady as the creature's eyes finally landed on Sephiroth.

"Such a warm welcome you give me," she said. "Did you not like my gift?"

Blaire let out a shout of rage and frustration from behind them, her feet pounding against the floor as she tried to get away from the people holding her down. Tifa saw Sephiroth's eyes narrow at the sound, Masamune inching forward slightly as he shifted into an oblique stance, putting one foot forward. When he spoke, the anger was clear in his voice.

"You will release her _now_," he said.

"I'm afraid you're not in any position to be giving me demands," said Jenova. "After all, you are but witnesses to the coming of my glory."

"You're delusional," Sephiroth said.

"Am I?" Jenova closed her eyes serenely, a smile on her face as though the statement amused her. She opened them, looking straight into Sephiroth's as the smile faded. "Or are you? Didn't you hear the old man you visited? This Planet is dying. It is already doomed. Why cling to a dying husk? To the dreams of a fallen race?" She inclined her head towards Aerith in a mock show of respect, turning back towards Sephiroth. "My chosen and I shall use what is left of this husk to usher in a new age. Stand against me, and you will surely die. Stand with me, and I can grant you unimaginable power."

"I will never stand with you," said Sephiroth.

Jenova's eyes hardened. "Then you will die," she said simply. "You and your band of fools." Her expression softened again, and she looked over the others with a magnanimous smile. "But," she said. "I see no reason to allow such…potential to go to waste. So, I give you all this choice. Stand with me, or perish." Her smile sharpened, becoming a smirk. "One of you already has."

"What do you mean?" asked Sephiroth.

"Come now, Sephiroth," said Jenova. "Don't tell me you haven't wondered it. You disposed of Shalua Rui—yes, we know about that—but that hasn't stopped us from knowing your plans, has it? Ask yourself, whose idea was it to dispose of the Rui woman in the first place? Who heard the suggestion that there was a traitor in the group and offered up a candidate on a silver platter?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on his sword. He stepped forward, his voice like ice. "You're lying," he said.

Jenova made a show of sighing, one hand covering her mouth. "Genesis was right," she said. "You do suffer from a weakness to those close to you. It will only lead to your destruction, my son." Her eyes moved over the group, fixing on each one of them. She spoke before Tifa could finish considering the implications of that statement. "So," she said. "Will any of you join me, or will all of you die?"

No one moved. Jenova waited a few more seconds before smiling, taking a step back. "Very well," she said. "In a few moments, I will have the Black Materia in my hands. I will call Meteor, and this world will burn."

"Meteor?" asked Tifa.

"The…Ultimate Destructive Magic," said a voice from behind her. Tifa looked over her shoulder to see that Aerith was speaking. She looked uncertain now, and looked over her shoulder at the murals behind her. "In the murals there."

Tifa looked past Aerith. She forced herself to look past Cloud, Zack, and Blaire, focusing on the mural directly behind them. It depicted a large object falling from the sky, fire trailing behind it. The people on the ground beneath it were running and screaming. A chill ran down her spine at the sight. From somewhere ahead of her, Cid snorted.

"I don't know what the hell it is, but it's falling from the sky?" he asked. "Hmph, it's not even an omen."

"I don't know…" said Yuffie. "It looks like it's going to make a mess."

"Is something going to fall from the sky?" Tifa asked, turning towards Aerith. She gripped her staff tightly, not looking up. Tifa stared at her. "Aerith?" she asked.

Aerith bit her lip, then exhaled, her grip on her staff loosening. She lowered it slightly, looking up. "Meteor is the ultimate destructive spell," she said. "It finds small drifting planets with its magic and then collides with them. This Planet might get wiped out entirely."

Jenova looked up, giving Aerith something that might have been a smile…or a sneer. "So you do know something of your heritage after all."

Aerith said nothing, looking back down at the ground. Yuffie blinked, looking up. "But why would the Ancients create something that would destroy the world?" she asked. "Weren't they the good guys?"

Aerith flinched as if she had been struck, biting her lip.

"Yuffie!" said Tifa, turning towards her.

"What?!" asked Yuffie, folding her arms. "I'm just asking!"

"This is hardly the time for that," said Red, looking back at her. He turned towards Jenova, his tail flickering. "We're not going to let you take the Materia."

"Yeah!" said Cid, stepping forward. "We're gonna take it first!"

Jenova gave him an indulgent smile. "You are more than welcome to try," she said. She moved, fixing over the rest of the group. "However, I must warn you. For you to take the Black Materia, one of you must die."

Tifa's eyes widened. She looked over her shoulder, and saw that she wasn't the only one. "What—what do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh?" Jenova's eyes moved past them, fixing on Aerith again. "You haven't told them, Ancient?"

Silence fell, all eyes looking back at Aerith. Aerith said nothing, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"A—Aerith?" asked Yuffie.

"Aerith, what's she talking about?" asked Zack, looking up from where he was crouched beside Blaire.

"She's wrong, right?" Yuffie let out a nervous laugh. "She's lying?"

Aerith took a deep breath, raising her eyes towards Jenova's. "No," she finally said. Jenova's smirk widened. "No. She's not wrong."

"She's telling the truth."

XxXxX

The fountain stood in front of him, black water trickling down from its spout into the basin below. Kunsel stared into it, watching as Jenova threatened AVALANCHE. Her words came through the fountain somehow, as did their responses, the sound distorted as if it were traveling through water. He understood that this was something like the viewing pool Aerith had activated, although how the Tsviets had managed it wasn't something he could understand. He kept his face smooth as he watched the figures, keeping his back straight as though he was unaware of the collection of Tsviets gathered behind him.

Genesis stood just over his right shoulder, Nero on the left. The sable Tsviet had one wing extended, the gun at the end of it pointed at the back of Kunsel's head. He glanced over his left shoulder, his eyes moving over the muzzle before he looked back at the fountain.

For the first time, his eyes moved upward, focusing on what was sitting above it. A dark orb lay nestled in the fountain's uppermost basin. It was just slightly translucent, as though it wasn't actually there, but the water did ripple around it, giving it the illusion of physical presence. Even from here, he could feel its power.

He held his hand up, holding it close to the orb without actually touching it. Genesis's voice from earlier still rang in his mind, explaining the terms of their 'agreement'.

"_It's simple, really," _Genesis was saying. _"We cannot touch the Black Materia. It…rejects us. But whoever obtains the Black Materia will die. This Temple will collapse, crushing them inside it and trapping their soul for all eternity, unless they can escape before that occurs. You don't have the means to do that. Neither do your friends. We do." _He smirked, his eyes traveling to Nero before fixing back on Kunsel. _"Here's what I offer. Save your friends. Take the Black Materia for us. We'll leave this Temple, and if you wish, you can join us. Help us reclaim the world. Or you can die." _He made a motion with his hand, as though he was brushing dust off his coat. _"It doesn't matter to me." _

"_You're insane," _Kunsel had said. _"What are you after?!" _

"_What I've always been after." _Genesis turned around, his hand sweeping over the Temple in a grandiose gesture. _"The Gift of the Goddess. Now make your choice."_

_Choose. _

Kunsel studied the image of the Black Materia, his eyes moving over every facet of its surface. Simple enough, he told himself. The Temple _was _the Black Materia. As such, it could theoretically be accessed from anywhere—the altar, or this room, both were connected to the Temple's heart. And if he obtained the Black Materia…if he took it from the fountain. If he gave it to the Tsviets…

No one would need to die. Not Zack, not Aerith, not any of his friends. No one but him. He'd never join them. Better to be crushed by the Temple than betray his friends, or let any one of them die.

But if he did get it for the Tsviets, what would happen? Jenova would summon Meteor, and many more people would die. He couldn't let that happen either. Didn't it make more sense to sacrifice one life for the fate of the world?

One life.

That was his only bargaining chip. His life, and the Black Materia. Refusing to get it would get one of his friends killed, but the Black Materia _might _be safe. Getting it for the Tsviets would mean sacrificing the world to save a friend—someone who might die anyway. But if he could somehow have the best of both worlds…if he could somehow obtain the Black Materia and keep it from falling into enemy hands…if he could _survive _just long enough to see that through…

Nero stepped forward, and he felt the gun poking at the back of his head. "You'd do well to hurry," said the Tsviet. "You're running out of time."

Time.

It all came down to time. If only he had more _time_. More time to think, more time to plan. But he was a SOLDIER, wasn't he? He had no plan. Maybe he needed to take a leaf out of Zack's book and improvise. He took a deep breath, then stepped forward, his hand inching closer towards the Black Materia. His fingers moved, ghosting over the surface. He took a deep breath, fighting through the cold in his heart, trying to will his hand to close, to claim it, to pull it back, but his fingers wouldn't move.

_Focus, _he told himself. _Breathe. You can do this._

He took a deep breath, his fingers moving to close around the Black Materia.

A humming sound started behind him and he froze, pulling back. Something moved out of the corner of his eye, a flash of bright orange. Kunsel's eyes widened, and he turned. Shelke flew from the crowd, her orange sabers humming. She sliced through the air, landing on the ground beside him.

The tip of Nero's wing, gun and all, slid off, clattering to the ground.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	121. File 033: Gathering Storm pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: **Price of Freedom **where appropriate. You'll know when. ^^ And feel free to cut the music short or switch to something else when it becomes inappropriate. Also, Shera and Shalua should never have a dialogue scene again. My fingers are still confused _ . God forbid Shion get in on the conversation.

I also have an **announcement **to make. November is coming up and it's NaNoWriMo. Last year, I lost NaNo because I was writing this fic. This year, I have an idea I actually want to see through, so while this fic will **not **be going on hiatus, I'm only setting my goal for **one **file for November instead of my usual two. We'll get back to normal when December comes around. Thanks for understanding!

Thanks to go **JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Natalie, Irish-Brigid, Eavenne, Furionknight, Gameplayer23, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **and **XXTakaraXX** for the reviews and support. I would like to point out that while this fic is a little happier than the original game, it's still based off FFVII and its atmosphere. Bad stuff might happen. So if something sad does happen…well, don't hate me. That's all I'm saying. And maybe give the fic a chance.

XxXxX

**File 033: Gathering Storm**

He saw Shelke moving as if in slow motion, her saber finishing its arc. Orange sparks trailed behind it, the cut edge of Nero's wings shining a dull red from the heat. The portion of his wing that she had sliced off hit the ground with a clatter that seemed to reverberate through the chamber, stealing even his breath. Eyes moved, heads turned, hands reached towards weapons. A stunned silence settled over the room.

And through it all was Shelke, moving a half-beat faster than everyone else. She spun her saber in a circle at her side, holding it by the cord before catching it and straightening up, like this had just been a routine attack. Her posture was perfect, her eyes resolute as she took a half-step forward, raising her sabers up in defense. He could see the coiled tension in her back and shoulders, could see the way her lips pursed just briefly, her eyes darting around the room and assessing in the half-second before things all went to hell.

And then the tension broke like shattering glass, and she shot forward like a bullet, ducking underneath Rosso's strike and spinning around. Her saber caught Argento's broadsword on the backspin, light flashing as Argento skidded back. The saber burned a line down the front of the steel. Genesis, Nero and Weiss sped towards her, forgetting him in the chaos as she twisted, one of her sabers stabbing at the weak point she had made in Argento's sword. The orange glow intensified, cracks rippling across the huge ornate broadsword like a steel star. The shards exploded outwards, and Argento slid back and raised an arm to shield her face as she was peppered by white hot metal.

Kunsel watched as if in a trance, a part of him realizing that Shelke's sabers shouldn't have been hot enough to do that. It was when she ducked under a swung sword and flipped out of the way that he noticed the power source attached to her sabers glowing a bright orange, sparks emanating from the circuit. He saw Shelke wince as she landed on the ground, quickly snapping her blades away from herself. The air shimmered around them from the heat as she landed in front of him. She bounced once on the balls of her feet then settled, raising her swords again.

"Shelke…" he began, "Your sabers."

"Your sword," she said, not looking over his shoulder. "Draw it."

It was in his hand before he even fully registered her words, and she was shooting towards the fray again. Rosso scowled in fury, raising the gun set in the middle of her weapon and firing shots at Shelke. Shelke danced out of the way, turning and coming to stand behind Azul. He watched as she used Azul's bulk to shield her as she ducked beneath Weiss's strike, lashing out at his hamstrings. He took a step forward to avoid it, but nearly stumbled into Argento who had recovered and was coming in for a charge, swinging the haft of her broken sword. Shelke rolled forward and straightened up, turning around to parry a slash from Nero's whole wing. Nero fired, a look of rage on his face, and Shelke jumped back, raising her saber to protect herself and skidding back into the crowd. The sabers fluctuated, the light shining brightly before fading. It told Kunsel that she couldn't keep this up for long. She spun out of Nero's way anyway, sidestepping around Azul's shots and making it so that Rosso had to dodge them as well.

Rosso raised her blade over her head, spinning it and lashing out at her with one end. Shelke turned, about to block it, but Weiss was coming, his blades extended towards her. Kunsel reacted instinctively, rushing forward and raising his sword. Weiss's blades clashed against it, the impact jarring him. He slid back and felt pressure as he nearly collided into Shelke. She was standing with her back towards him, holding off Rosso with both her blades as the other Tsviets surrounded them. He could feel the heat of her blades from here, and realized it was a wonder that she hadn't been hurt by them yet. It would only be a matter of time before her swords gave out.

Kunsel took a step back, gritting his teeth and raising his sword against Weiss's onslaught as the other Tsviet pressed the fight. He took a step back, feeling himself losing ground. Behind him, he could see the other Tsviets gaining ground on Shelke. She was putting up an admirable fight, but they were pressing in on all sides, and her dodges were getting tighter, her circles smaller and smaller. The battery pack at her hip flashed and began to smoke, electricity arcing from one end of it to another. Shelke jumped back and spun her swords again, resetting her grip. Kunsel raised his sword just as Weiss swung again, the speed and unexpectedness of the blow nearly taking his head off.

"I would be careful if I were you," Weiss said. "Mustn't let your attention waver."

Kunsel grit his teeth, settling himself into his defense. He raised his blade again as Weiss tried an overhead strike, trying to keep his attention on the blades coming towards him and not on Shelke's fight, but his eyes kept drifting towards her as she whirled and turned. Her expression didn't change, but he could tell that she was getting harassed by the constant attacks coming in on all sides. His eyes widened as the battery pack at her waist finally gave out with a pop, her sabers growing dull just as Genesis came in, sword raised towards her. Shelke jumped back and shook out one of her swords, a feeble light coming back into it, but it wasn't enough. Genesis's Rapier caught fire, splitting the saber right down the middle.

"Shelke!" Kunsel called.

Weiss's next attack took him by surprise, the force behind it sending him flying back. He struck the ground hard, skidding to a stop a few feet away from the fountain. Kunsel let out a grunt as he hit the ground, rolling over quickly and onto his side. He gripped onto his sword, stabbing it in the ground and using it to pull himself up. Ahead of him, Weiss turned around, his katanas leveled towards Shelke, who was being held by Argento in a tight grip. He took a step forward, his katanas poised to strike. Kunsel quickly stood up, but they were too far away. There was no way he could reach them in time. No way, unless—

His eyes flicked towards the Black Materia. "Wait!" he shouted, extending his free hand.

Weiss's swords stopped an inch from Shelke's neck. Kunsel turned towards them to see that Genesis had stepped in, interspersing himself between Weiss and Shelke. He had an arm out, directing Weiss to stop the strike. His eyes turned towards him. Kunsel took a deep breath, straightening up.

"I'll do it," he said. "I'll get the Black Materia for you. Just—let her go." His eyes moved towards the fountain, where the faces of his friends were still reflected. "Let them all go."

Genesis stared at him, holding his gaze for a moment. Then, he replied with a smirk, lowering his sword.

XxXxX

"Wh—What do you mean?"

Aerith's words hung in the air, a heavy silence falling over them. Across from her, Jenova stood, her smirk triumphant. She had her arms folded in front of her and her shoulders back, looking every inch the queen. Zack sat up, his grip on Blaire still tight as he faced Aerith. She stood with her back towards him, her eyes fixed on Jenova, but he could read the regret in her from the way her shoulders were set, the way she held onto her staff. He took a deep breath.

"Aerith?" he asked again.

Aerith exhaled, the sound seeming almost too loud in the quiet of the chamber. "They say the Temple itself is the Black Materia."

"What?" asked Yuffie, looking back at her. "Who says?"

"The Ancients," Aerith said, looking down at the ground. "Over there is a model of the Temple." She indicated the altar to their left. "Inside it is a device that gets smaller each time you solve a puzzle. As the model becomes smaller, the Temple becomes smaller too. Until it's small enough to fit into the palm of your hand."

"So if we solve the puzzles," said Cloud. "The Temple will become smaller and smaller, and we can take it out?"

"Yes," said Aerith, "But…there's one thing." She looked up at Jenova, who at this point seemed to be beaming. "You can only answer puzzles inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzles will be crushed by the Temple."

"How many puzzles have we solved?" asked Sephiroth, taking his eyes off Jenova just long enough to look back at Aerith. "How many are left?"

"One," said Aerith, looking up. "We've solved all but one. The puzzle of this room."

"And once you solve that," said Jenova, smiling. "It will be impossible to leave. So tell me, which one of you will sacrifice themselves for the good of all?"

Silence fell over the group. No one spoke, although a few exchanged glances. Jenova watched them, then laughed, the sound echoing throughout the chamber. "No one?" she asked, raising her hand and sweeping a slow circle over the group. "No rousing chorus of volunteers? No one competing for the honor? But I thought you were the heroes? Prepared to stop me no matter what the cost? Or, I'm sorry. Was that just empty bravado, when the cost turned out to be your very lives?" Her eyes moved away from the group, looking back at Sephiroth.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Sephiroth. In the end, there are no heroes." She let her hand fall to her side. "No dreams." Her words echoed in the chamber.

"No honor."

Zack's hold tightened on Blaire. He took in a breath, glancing at Cloud next to him. The entire group was watching Jenova, but no one moved. No one spoke. It was as if they had all been turned to stone. He thought about Aerith, thought about his parents, thought about Cloud and that time in the desert. One of his hands released Blaire, resting on his chest, where he still had the scars from his escape.

He thought about the world and what it meant to save it.

"Cloud," he said, catching his friend's attention. He glanced at Blaire. "Hold her for me."

Cloud immediately moved forward to capture Blaire's arm when he realized it, his eyes wide as he turned towards Zack.

"Zack?" he asked.

Zack smiled at him, saying nothing. He reached out with one hand, ruffling Cloud's hair, then got to his feet, facing Jenova. A ripple of motion ran through the group. Heads turned as he stepped forward, walking past Aerith with one hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword. Her eyes widened and she turned to face him.

"…Zack?" she asked as well.

He offered her another smile. He could have said a million things. He could have told her how much he loved her, how much he wanted to be with her. But all he said instead was, "I'm sorry."

The smile faded again as he stepped forward, planting his feet firmly on the ground. He faced Jenova and breathed in deeply. Angeal's words rang in his mind.

"_Embrace your dreams. And whatever happens, protect your honor…as SOLDIER." _

"Oh?" Jenova asked. "What's this?"

"I'll do it," he said. "Just tell me where the puzzle is. You guys clear out. We can't let her win."

Jenova smirked, extending her hand towards the altar. "Very well," she said. "You're welcome to try."

"Zack!" said Cissnei sharply, whirling around to face him.

Zack offered her another smile. "It's what has to be done, isn't it?" he asked. Sephiroth turned as well, and Zack looked away from Cissnei, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. There was a question in them. Zack nodded once in response, reaching back. His hand tightened on the hilt of the Buster Sword, and he drew it, holding it in both hands. Zack closed his eyes, turning the blade so that the broad flat edge was towards him. He pressed his forehead against the sword, breathing in deep. Then, he exhaled, opening his eyes and turning it over so that he could present the hilt to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth reached out with his right hand, keeping his eyes on his. He took the sword hilt, and Zack slowly released it, letting Sephiroth pull it to himself.

"I want Cloud to have it, but he's busy right now," Zack said. "So keep an eye on it for me. Get them out of here." _You're the only one who will, _he added silently, _and the only one who can. _

Sephiroth paused just long enough that it could have been marked as hesitation. Then he nodded, fixing the Buster Sword to the magnetic sheath at his back. "You heard him," he said, looking at the others. "Time to leave."

"This isn't right!" said Yuffie. "We can't just—!"

Zack cut her off with a wave of his hand and a smile, walking towards the altar. The model on it was such a small thing, he noticed now. The puzzle was simple too. It was just moving a piece and completing a circle. Anyone could have solved it. The problem was being willing to solve it. He reached out a hand.

"Zack, no," Aerith was saying from behind him. "Don't do this…"

He didn't turn around. If he did turn around, he would lose his resolve. Instead, he fixed an image of her in his mind. The same one from back when they were in the church together, and she was wearing her white and blue dress. She was sitting on the ground beside the flowers, talking about the sky. It was the same image he had held back in the wasteland, when he thought he was going to die.

He thought of her smile.

Zack reached out, his hand moving onto the stone. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him, the sound of a door starting to close.

"Zack!" Sephiroth called.

Zack didn't look back, but he did raise his hand. "Don't worry!" he said, trying to inject some confidence into his voice. "I've got this."

Stone grated. The door closing. It was just him and Jenova now, he mused, and him without a sword. He could feel Jenova watching him, could feel that she thought he was going to give in at the last moment. The thought of proving her wrong made him strong, and he realized that even though she'd kill him when he made his move towards the altar, at least he'd taker her down with him.

He placed his hand over the puzzle.

"No."

Zack froze, looking over his shoulder. "Sephiroth?" he asked. Sephiroth stood in the doorway, holding it open in the instant before it closed. His eyes were on Jenova, but as Zack watched, they turned towards him.

"Not this time," Sephiroth said. He drew Masamune, holding it in both hands and pointing it at Jenova. "If we kill you here, it doesn't matter who has the Black Materia."

Jenova smirked, turning to face him. "Ah," she said. "Now _this _is more of the reaction I was expecting. Come."

Sephiroth charged forward, Masamune piercing the air. With his other hand, he pulled the Buster Sword from his back, flinging it towards Zack. Zack's eyes widened and he ran, jumping the last few feet towards the sword. He grabbed it by the hilt and pulled it close to himself, tucking into a roll. Zack jumped up, pointing his sword at Jenova just as she moved, easily sidestepping Sephiroth's cuts. Sephiroth pulled back as her arm suddenly extended, forming a claw and lashing out at him. Zack held the Buster Sword at the ready, standing a few steps behind Sephiroth.

"It would have been easier to just let me get the Black Materia," he said, listening as the others flooded the room again, all drawing weapons, except for Cloud, who was still holding onto a struggling Blaire.

"And when have we ever taken the easy way out?" asked Sephiroth. He batted away one of Jenova's strikes with a flick of his wrist, charging through the opening he had created. Zack immediately turned to the side, raising his Buster Sword across himself to block a strike and searching for an opening. He swung his sword at Jenova's waist just as Sephiroth pulled back, dodging two strikes to his head. Jenova spun back, avoiding the blow, then took two steps back, turning her head to the side to dodge the shots that Vincent had fired her way. She spun around as Tifa charged in, and smirked as one of her hands found Tifa's wrist. Tifa's eyes widened, and she immediately pulled back as Jenova lashed out at her, Jenova's clawed arm tearing a gash across Tifa's front. Nanaki leaped in, snarling, and Jenova released Tifa, jumping out of the way of his slash. She raised her arm, batting aside the three ice crystals that Aerith sent towards her, stepped back and away from Cissnei and Yuffie's thrown shurikens, then turned on her heel to the right, dodging Sephiroth's next strike.

Zack grit his teeth, raising his sword to defend against another attack as Yuffie landed next to him, bouncing lightly. She caught her shuriken in the air.

"She's toying with us," Zack said, observing the smirk on Jenova's face.

Yuffie scowled. "Not for long," she said, charging back into the fray. Zack saw something red flash in Yuffie's hand, saw her raise it over her head. The light quickly turned from red to blue as Yuffie drew to a stop, a few feet from Jenova.

"_Leviathan!" _she called.

Water surged up out of the ground, enveloping Yuffie. The water became a giant wave, rushing towards Jenova, and out of the middle of it flew a great coiling dragon. The dragon opened its jaws, letting out a roar, and Jenova jumped back, the tendrils of flesh that surrounded her converging in front of her. The water parted around it, the force of it strong enough to move her back, droplets splattering against the ground. The wave moved past her and fell away, revealing Yuffie in a crouched position, her shuriken out behind her. Behind her, Jenova's protective shell fell away and she raised one hand, the clawed tendrils rushing towards Yuffie.

A flash of red passed in front of Zack's field of vision, and the tendrils struck the ground where Yuffie had been standing. Vincent lowered her to the ground with one arm, firing at Jenova with the other. She took a step back, forming her shield to protect herself.

"You've had your fun," said Jenova, looking up. "Now, let's end this little game."

Jenova raised both arms, the ground beneath her feet quaking. Her eyes shone, the smirk on her face becoming even more malevolent. A dark aura surrounded her, a ball of darkness appearing between her spread hands. Zack grit his teeth as the orb expanded, holding the Buster Sword up at the ready. Jenova floated up off the ground, her hands outstretched. The orb grew, becoming larger and larger before exploding outward.

Aerith ran forward at the last moment, running past him. Zack's eyes widened, and he held out a hand to stop her.

"Aerith!" she called.

Aerith raised her staff, a bright light surrounding her. She spun her staff around her back, then held it in front of her, letting it float as she moved her arms in a circle, ending with them clasped in front of her. She bowed her head, as though she was praying.

"_Great Gospel," _Zack heard her mutter.

Jenova's attack struck Aerith, the shadows parting and rushing to either side of her. Light shone down from above, a ray of light piercing all of them. As Zack watched, the wave of darkness crashed over each of them, leaving them unscathed. His looked down, noticing with wide eyes that the wounds he had sustained from restraining Blaire had been healed. Aerith swayed, propping her staff up on the ground to steady herself, and Zack quickly ran up and grabbed her as Sephiroth charged in for the kill.

"_No. Stop, all of you!" _said a voice, causing Sephiroth to stop. His sword was pointed in the air towards Jenova, one of her tendrils pointed at his neck. She had stopped as well, just in time.

Zack froze, looking around. The voice was Kunsel's.

"Kunsel?" he asked, realizing his friend was nowhere in sight. "Kunsel, man, where are you?"

"_I'm…" _The voice paused, as if hesitating. _"I'm with the Tsviets. But don't worry. I'm alright. I need you all to stop fighting and leave the Temple. Now." _

"Why?" asked Zack. "What are you going to do?"

"_It's…hard to explain," _said Kunsel. Another pause, just long enough for a breath. _"I'm going to get the Black Materia. Please, Zack. Don't fight me on this." _

"But—!" Zack began.

"_You can't beat her," _said Kunsel, _"Not like this. Trust me." _

_Trust me. _Those words hung in the air between them, making Zack catch his breath. He looked over his shoulder at Jenova, who smiled, looking like a predator that had finally caught its prey. Her eyes moved over the scattered group. "I see," she said. She raised her hand, waving it in the air as though she was swatting a fly. Blaire shuddered, then finally went limp, her sword clattering to the ground. She turned to face Sephiroth as he charged in towards her.

Masamune stabbed through empty air. In that instant, Jenova was gone.

XxXxX

"He's just unconscious," said Shalua, carefully handing a cup of tea to the woman seated at the kitchen table. Shera took it with both hands, setting it down lightly on the table. She leaned forward, pressing her hand against her forehead. Shalua took the seat opposite her, resting her human hand on the table top. "Nico used a medium dose of mako suppressants. He should recover soon."

Shera sighed, the motion making her look older than her twenty-seven odd years. "Why did this happen?" she asked. "I was finally starting to make some progress with him, I think. What changed?"

Shalua hesitated, glancing down briefly at her own cup. "…I don't know," she said.

The hesitation didn't go unmarked. Shera looked up at her, and Shalua could tell that she knew. She glanced down at her hand—her mechanical hand—turning it slightly and watching the way the light reflected against the joints. No matter what she did, she couldn't quite make it as useful as a human hand, or as real. It felt like an omen—that no matter how she tried, there were some things that she would never be able to regain.

"We…received some information," she finally said.

"About what?" asked Shera.

Shalua looked over her shoulder, but neither Nico nor Barret were present. The two of them were probably still in Allen's room, glaring daggers at each other. Nico had insisted that Allen not be left unsupervised, in case he woke up and lost control again. Barret insisted he was going to go up there to 'make sure that damn Turk doesn't put a bullet in the kid's head'. Shalua kept her ears open for the sound of gunfire, but for now, all was still.

"…AVALANCHE," she said, looking back at Shera. "And the enemy they're fighting."

"Why?" asked Shera. She thought for a moment, and then her eyes widened a fraction, her hand tightening around her cup in alarm. "Did something happen to them?" she asked. "What about Cid?"

Shalua blinked. "Cid?" she asked.

"That's—." Shera lowered her eyes back to her cup. "Er—Captain Highwind. He went with them."

"I don't know," said Shalua. She recalled a pilot with a spear in Rocket Town, but hadn't been around long enough to learn his name. "I didn't see him."

"What was the information about?" asked Shera.

She thought back to the cryptic message they had received, her eyes moving towards the stairs. Shalua thought about Nico standing against the wall, his hands on his guns. He was the last person Shalua would have expected to come along, but he had volunteered; whether it was a favor to Shion or because of the people involved was a question of Turk dynamics that Shalua couldn't answer right now. But he'd come anyway.

"It was regarding the Turks," said Shalua, staring down at her hand, "And one of their ex-members. You might have met her."

Her mind recalled another conversation, one just outside this house, on a bench in the center of town. She recalled a woman with reddish brown hair, remembered implicit threats, and honest regret.

"Her name is Cissnei."

XxXxX

The Materia looked like such a small thing, floating in the center of the fountain. It seemed impossible to him that something this small could end the world. And yet, that was the reality they were dealing with, it seemed. Aerith seemed to think so too. That was good enough for him. It would have to be enough.

Kunsel kept his eyes on the reflection of the group in the fountain's pool, waiting until all of them had left. He watched too, the reflection of the situation behind him in the fountain's flowing water. Argento still had Shelke in a hold, but no one was watching her anymore. Their eyes were all on him, swords upraised. Shelke's eyes bored into the back of his head, their mako blue reflected even in the fountain. He wondered if that was just a trick of the light, or if the Temple was trying to tell him something.

He hoped it was the latter, although at this particular point in time, his chances didn't look good. At least the others had gotten free. Whatever would happen next, he would have to leave that to them. Sephiroth and Zack had escaped. Between the two of them, they could save the world.

His job had been saving them.

"Hurry up," snapped Genesis, pointing his sword at him. "We don't have all day."

Kunsel half-turned, raising his hand in apology. He gave Genesis a sullen glare. "Alright," he said, turning back to the Materia. "I'm getting it now."

Kunsel took a deep breath and reached out, about to plunge his hand into the fountain. His mind showed him his sister's face, showed her as she was, a small child that liked to play with her dolls and send him letters in Midgar. It showed her smiling. He thought it was strange that his mind would choose to think about her now, in a place where he should have been thinking about anything else, but he drew strength from the memory. If anything, he'd be with her. With all of them.

His hand broke the surface of the water.

Shelke moved like lightning, driving the back of her head into Argento's chin. Kunsel whipped around as he caught sight of the motion, his eyes widening as he watched her. She whirled, breaking free of Argento easily and dropping her to the ground with a kick at the knees. Shelke snatched her broken sword up from the ground, twirling it once in her hand. The others turned, about to close on her.

"Now!" she barked, looking over at him.

Kunsel didn't hesitate. He reached into the fountain, snatching the image of the Black Materia and drawing it out. At once, the Temple began to shake, stones and debris falling from the ceiling. The walls began to glow and move, closing in on them. Genesis's eyes widened, and he pulled back from Shelke.

"Nero!" he said, looking over his shoulder. "Now!"

Nero took a step back, extending out his hand. The shadows rushed forward, enveloping the Tsviets and sucking them into a point of swirling darkness. Kunsel stared, then stumbled, struggling to keep his footing as the shaking rocked the Temple to its foundations. Behind him, the fountain cracked. Above his head, a chunk of stone fell down, splitting the ground below.

Shelke was at his side in an instant, placing one hand on his wrist. He looked over at her, his eyes wide as he glanced at the image of the Materia in his hand. It hadn't become any more opaque, nor did it feel like it had gained any substance, but it was still there, floating above his palm like an orb made out of shadow.

"I hope you have a plan," he told her, raising his arm over his head to shield himself from the debris.

Her eyes flicked towards him and her mouth tightened briefly, in something that might have been impatience. Then, she was running forward, dragging him towards the swirling mass of darkness. Kunsel's eyes widened, but before he could react they were inside it, plunging into shadow as the Temple collapsed behind them.

**END FILE**


	122. File 034: Wounds Unhealed pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Well, as promised, here you go! Expect updates every Friday from me for the rest of the month! This file might answer some questions…or it might just add new ones. We'll see ^^

Thanks go to **SpiritDreamWarriors, JazzQueen, Furionknight, Eavenne, Riku Uzumaki, Irish-Brigid, Gameplayer23, Meteor Panda, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, DarkSeraphim1, SubZeroChimera, XXTakaraXX **and **T.T **for the reviews and support! NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, it's a challenge to write 50,000 words of fiction in November.

XxXxX

**File 034: Wounds Unhealed**

The world faded out of focus as he and Shelke careened through the darkness. Kunsel stared as the shadows closed in on him, taking with them all noise, all color, all feeling. He tried instinctively to wrench his hand out of Shelke's grip, but she held fast, Argento's broken sword flashing in the darkness. Shelke moved purposefully, her eyes narrowed. She slashed at the shadows around her, once, twice, three times, all too fast to see. The sword flashed as Shelke pressed on, pulling forward and continuing with her furious assault.

The shadows broke with one slash, bringing with it sunlight. Kunsel eyes widened as Shelke continued to press forward, pulling them through the tear and back into the real world. They reappeared in the air, the ground rushing up to meet them. Shelke released him, pulling the sword close to herself to minimize damage and going into a roll. Kunsel landed on his stomach, throwing his hands out just in time to protect himself and letting out a grunt as he smacked the ground hard. Something small and round landed on the ground next to him, just beside his head.

Kunsel closed his eyes and waited for the world to stop spinning, then opened them, slowly sliding his hands underneath his torso and pushing himself up. His muscles ached, making him feel as though he had spent the whole day fighting, when in reality it had probably only been a few minutes. It was nothing compared to the sheer terror that Nero's last assault had wrought on him, though, so if this was all he'd managed to escape with, he would be grateful for that. He sat back on his heels, surveying his surroundings.

He was sitting in the middle of a grassy clearing, the sun shining bright overhead. Ahead of him, Shelke was already on her feet, her back towards him. She was pacing the clearing, her broken sword in one hand as she studied the woods. Her sabers still appeared to be useless. There was a black burn mark on the power source strapped to her hip, and she had tucked the swords back at her side. His eyes moved past her to the grass next to him, and he picked up the orb that had fallen with him. It was a deep black, but cool to the touch, the surface of it seeming to suck in all the light around it. The Materia was larger than any he had seen before, obviously too large to slide into a common Materia slot. He slipped it into his pack instead, his other hand going up to his back to check that his sword was still there.

It was at that moment that Shelke decided to notice him. She turned her head towards him, lowering the sword so that it pointed at the ground. "Is the Materia safe?" she asked.

Kunsel nodded, getting to his feet. "It came with us," he said. "How…?"

"Nero likes to make it appear as though he has perfect control of his darkness," said Shelke, rubbing at her shoulder. The gesture looked very human coming from her. "It produces more fear. But the truth is, there are certain situations in which he has difficult maintaining control. One such situation is when transporting large groups of people."

"So you knew that we would be able to escape?" asked Kunsel.

"No," said Shelke, turning to face him fully. "I guessed."

Kunsel stared. Shelke turned away before he could comment, looking back out at the forest. "They do not appear to be nearby," she said. "Our best estimates give us at least a few hours before they find us here."

He looked around. The forest seemed to stretch on for ages, with no landmarks, and especially no Temples in sight. "Where _is _here?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Shelke. "It's unlikely that we reappeared too far from the Temple of the Ancients. However, Nero's methods don't seem to obey any rules of logic."

"So, we could be anywhere," said Kunsel.

"Within reason."

"Right." He shook his head, trying to get himself to think, and began surveying the area. "We're in a forest," he said. "That leaves out the Corel Desert, the Grasslands, and the Midgar Wasteland. If we keep walking, we should eventually run into a landmark."

Shelke nodded, looking unsurprised. He wondered if she had come to the same conclusion as well. Kunsel put that thought out of his mind, focusing on the situation at hand. They were alone, somewhere on the Planet, with the Black Materia but no way to activate it and one weapon between them. But they were alive. The first thing to do would probably be to contact the rest of AVALANCHE. Kunsel's hand moved to his pocket, where he kept his phone. His eyes widened as his fingers brushed against nothing. He withdrew his hand, flattening it against the outside of his pocket. Nothing there either. He looked around, scanning the grass, but nothing else appeared to have fallen out.

"What?" asked Shelke, taking in his expression.

"My phone," said Kunsel. "I can't find it. I must have dropped it in the Temple. We can't contact AVALANCHE." If he had dropped his phone there, it was gone. The same went for if he had dropped it in Nero's darkness. It was a small price to pay for his life, but if he didn't manage to contact AVALANCHE, it wouldn't do any good.

Shelke frowned, folding her arms. She unfolded them slowly, beginning to walk forward. "Then we should keep moving," she said, picking her way through the trees.

XxXxX

The collapse of the Temple brought with it an earthquake, shaking the ground. Cissnei stuck her foot out in front of her to stop herself from falling over, looking back over her shoulder. She watched as the Temple seemed to collapse into itself, a chill running down her spine. How close had they come to being caught in that? It was too much to hope that the collapse had crushed Jenova and Genesis with it. She wondered if Tseng had managed to escape.

Her hand had already drifted to her phone before she realized that that would be a bad idea. Cissnei took a deep breath, pulling it back as the rumbling finally stopped. She looked back over her shoulder at the others.

Zack did have his phone out, his eyes still fixed on the space where the Temple had been. From the expression on his face, Cissnei could tell it wasn't good. He took a deep breath, pulling his phone away from his ear. "He's still not answering," he told Sephiroth.

Sephiroth nodded, his expression grave. He stepped away from Zack, walking over to Cloud. Cissnei didn't miss the fact that his eyes purposefully avoided passing over her as he moved, a pang of loss running through her. She glanced down at the ground, her hand clenching into a fist. She couldn't think about that now. This wasn't the time.

Sephiroth reached Cloud, watching him as he lowered the little girl to the ground. Blaire had gone limp since Jenova left, and she didn't seem to be moving now. She looked paler than usual, and even smaller as Cloud moved her to the ground, gently keeping her head from striking it. Her hand still held on to the hilt of her katana, the edge wet with blood. Sephiroth looked down at her, and though his face was stoic, there seemed to be genuine regret in his eyes.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's unconscious…" said Cloud, getting up. "She hasn't moved since we left."

Sephiroth nodded, bending down and tugging her katana out of her grip. He sheathed it, placing it next to her, then turned around to face the others. "Set up camp," he said, before walking off towards the forest. "Zack. Take command."

"And where d'you think you're goin'?" asked Cid, his teeth already clamped around another cigarette.

Sephiroth barely spared him a glance as he passed, his expression telling Cissnei that he was focused on other things. "Looking for Kunsel," he said, disappearing into the woods. Silence fell, everyone turning to watch him go.

Aerith broke the silence, striding over to Zack. He turned towards her, a questioning look on his face, but before he could get the words out, a _smack _echoed throughout the clearing. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she turned, looking over her shoulder to see Zack staring wide-eyed, his head turned slightly to the right. Aerith's eyes were shining with tears, one open hand upraised. Her other was clenched into a fist.

"A—Aerith?" asked Zack.

Aerith's shoulders trembled. "Don't you _ever _do that again, Zack Fair. Do you hear me? Never again."

Zack raised his hand, rubbing at the cheek where he had been struck. He pulled his fingers away, still looking stunned. "I—."

"I don't care!" said Aerith. "You said you wouldn't leave me. You promised!"

Zack reached a hand for her. She turned away, stepping out of his grasp. One of her arms was folded against her waist, gripping tightly at the other. Aerith bit her lip, then turned, running off into the woods. Tifa's eyes widened, and she stepped forward. She raised a hand.

"Aerith!" she said.

Aerith ignored her, rushing past her. Tifa jogged after her, pausing after a few steps. She gave Zack an apologetic look, following Aerith into the woods.

The silence that followed that was even deeper than before. Cissnei took a deep breath, her hands at her side as she watched Zack stare at the forest helplessly, blinking at the trees as though he still didn't believe it had really happened. She cleared her throat, stepping forward.

"We should set up camp," she said, keeping her tone as neutral as possible. "Yuffie, Nanaki, do you two mind looking for firewood? Vincent, set up tents. Cid—."

She turned towards the pilot. He glared at her, biting down hard on his cigarette. "No."

Cissnei blinked, surprised at the anger with which he looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"You heard me!" said Cid, raising his voice so that everyone could hear. "No. Why should I take orders from you?" He looked up at the rest of the group. "Y'all heard what that bitch said. One of us is workin' for the enemy. It's gotta be her!" He pointed at Cissnei, gesturing with his cigarette.

"W—What?" asked Cissnei, her eyes widening. "Why would you think that?"

"Who makes all our travel plans?" asked Cid, looking over at the others. "Who planned out the route to get here in the first place? Whose idea was it to stop at that damn weapons merchant's store anyway?"

"Hey, back off, Captain Cranky!" said Yuffie, stepping forward with her arms upraised.

Cid swept out an arm, brushing her away with a scowl before she could reach him. "You're all thinking it!" he said, looking around at the group before turning back towards Cissnei. "She knows too damn much."

"You can't be serious," said Cissnei. She glanced around at the rest of the group, most of which had fallen silent. Her eyes widened, taking in the looks on their faces. Some of them were staring openly at the confrontation. A few others, including Cloud and Yuffie, wouldn't look her in the eye. She took a step back, feeling suddenly cold. "You don't believe this…" she said, her voice soft. "…Do you?"

Cloud took a deep breath, his mouth opening. He hesitated, looking back down at the ground. "You—you were the one who told me not to tell anyone about Shalua…" he reminded her.

"That was—." Cissnei's eyes widened as she remembered that. "That was a special case."

"You also knew about the Keystone." The voice was Vincent's now. She looked up, turning towards him. He was watching her, no trace of emotion on his face. It was the suddenly suspicious look in his eyes that made her freeze in place. "You knew I had the Keystone the morning it went missing. How did you know that?"

"I…" Cissnei took a deep breath. "I overheard it from—from—."

"That whole Shalua thing was your idea too," said Yuffie, looking up. "You're the only person who knew everything about the plan to trap her in Rocket Town. You said that yourself."

"That was…that was necessary," said Cissnei, looking back at Yuffie. Her heart beat faster in her chest, her breath catching in her throat. She didn't understand why this was so difficult. She'd been in many situations before where she had actually been a spy and had had to lie her way out of detection, but somehow the sight of everyone, all of these people, all of _AVALANCHE _looking at her this way made her blood run cold. Her hands balled up into fists at her side, and she took a slow breath. "That was necessary in order to make sure that no one could ruin the plan," she said. "We had to be sure…"

"We?" asked Yuffie, her arms folded. She looked hurt, and wasn't looking Cissnei in the eye. "We, us? Or we…_them_?"

Cissnei stared at the ninja, unable to speak. Yuffie bit her lip, folding her arms tighter against herself. She said nothing, but the pain was evident on her face.

"You too, Yuffie?" Cissnei asked.

Yuffie said nothing, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. Cissnei took a deep breath, trying to force herself to think of this objectively. She knew how it looked. She _knew_. In their position, she would have suspected herself as well. But knowing that, why was it so hard to accept this?

She knew that in her own mind, Yuffie had had a rivalry with her since she first woke up in Junon Harbor, but they had also been roommates and tentmates for most of the journey up until this point. Cissnei had helped her train in Wutai. They had similar fighting styles, and there were more than a few times that they had exchanged tips.

She'd thought that they were friends.

Maybe that was her problem. Friends. She thought she had them.

"You have to admit, it's suspicious," said Nanaki. His tail drooped, nearly sweeping the ground. "I don't like it," he said. "But it's what's there."

Cissnei turned to the only person who hadn't spoken. "Zack…?" she asked.

Zack stared at her, his expression pained. He lowered his eyes back to the ground, his hand clenched into a fist at his side. "Dammit, Ciss," he said. "I want to believe you. But…"

"Save it." Cissnei spoke without thinking, cutting him short. A part of her wondered if she did that to save Zack the pain, or if she saved herself from having to hear it. She sucked in another breath, squeezing her eyes shut. She could feel them starting to water, and took a deep breath to calm herself down, trying to sink back into the hollow left by her training. She hadn't cried since she was six. She _wouldn't _cry now.

"If that's how you all feel, then I should go," she said, turning away. Nothing she could say here would help her situation. Nothing she could tell them would make her believe her. Her throat tightened at the thought of Sephiroth. It was probably for the best anyway. She didn't know if she could be around him for much longer, not after what happened at the Gold Saucer.

That didn't stop it from hurting, though.

She turned away, keeping her back on Cid's hostile gaze, and her eyes on the ground so she wouldn't have to see the guilt in anyone else's eyes. She was glad that Sephiroth wasn't around to see this. She didn't think she could have mustered up the courage to leave if he was looking. Nor did she think she could have managed not breaking down.

She picked up her pack and lifted it onto her shoulder. With as much dignity as she could muster, Cissnei walked away, her shoulders rigid and her eyes fixed ahead of her as she walked towards the forest. She paused at the edge of the clearing, her back turned towards AVALANCHE. The urge to turn around, to _make _them believe her, had never been as strong as it was just then.

_Don't look back, _she told herself. _Don't look back. _

_You were trained for this. _

_You're a Turk. _

Inhale. Exhale. A single breath. Her eyes hardened, her hand tightening around the strap of her pack.

"For what it's worth," she said, so soft that she wasn't sure anyone could hear it. "I wish you all the best."

No one said anything. No one apologized. No one called her back. Cissnei turned to go, walking steadily into the woods. Her biggest priority now was getting off the island. Once that was done, she'd go somewhere. Bone Village would be close, so would Junon or Costa del Sol. It really depended on which continent she found herself on. Her mind was already working, thinking through the list of contacts still available to her. She was trained for this. She would survive.

And then she saw Sephiroth coming towards her. He was walking back towards the camp, and he paused halfway along the path, his eyes landing on hers. They met briefly, and she saw confusion, followed by the barest hint of concern. He turned towards her.

That was when she couldn't take it anymore.

Cissnei broke and ran.

XxXxX

He held her gaze for a fraction of a second.

Sephiroth remained still as Cissnei brushed past him, her shoulder colliding with his and sending her stumbling forward. She regained her footing, disappearing into woods without looking back. She didn't turn, didn't apologize. She just continued to run, the sound of her footfalls fading as she disappeared into the woods. He didn't turn, staring at the spot where she had been standing. His mind, unbidden, replayed the last few moments of their encounter.

She had been wearing her travel pack. Her face was pale, whether from exhaustion or from something else, he couldn't tell, but that wasn't what had stopped him. In the half-second before she turned away, in the moment before she ran, he thought he had seen something else in her eyes.

Tears.

He had known Cissnei for five years, and in all that time, he had never once seen her cry.

He looked over his shoulder, her eyes tracking her path through the woods. He could no longer see her, but he could see the branches snapped off from where she had bumped into them, could see the footprints her boots had made in the muddy ground. That implied carelessness, desperation.

Cissnei was never careless.

Sephiroth turned away from the sight, his eyes fixing on the rest of AVALANCHE. They stood in a loose half-circle, watching the woods with varying degrees of hostility and shame in their expressions. Cid was the most hostile. Zack…Zack wouldn't even look at him. Aerith and Tifa were missing, but that was a fact he would deal with later. There were more pressing issues.

He walked up to the group, looking each one in the eye and taking particular note of the ones who shied away from his gaze. Zack, Yuffie, Cloud. They all looked ashamed of themselves. Cid met the stare head on, as if challenging him to say something about it, whereas Nanaki and Vincent met his eyes, their own expressions carefully neutral.

"What," he began, looking away from Vincent and speaking to the group as a whole, "happened here?"

XxXxX

Cissnei rushed through the woods, throwing her hands up in front of her face to protect herself from the branches that whipped at her and tugged at her clothes. She knew that she needed to calm down, to breathe and take stock of the situation, but she couldn't. For the second time that week, she just needed to get away. She forced herself to keep her eyes open and focused on the ground in front of her, trying to push the images out of her mind, the look of his eyes as they met hers, the frown on his face as she ran, the look he had given her when she pushed him away in Gold Saucer, the feel of his lips on hers…

She shook her head, putting on speed. Cissnei ran until her lungs burned, ran until her knees trembled and threatened to give out. Only then did she stop, leaning against a tree and sinking to the ground. Only then did she try to catch her breath, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her pack slipped off her shoulder, landing on the ground next to her with a thud.

Running away.

She was running away again.

She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could just stop thinking, wishing she could make the memories go away. Memories of Sephiroth, memories of Ivan, memories of a time before she joined the Turks, a friend she hadn't allowed herself to think about for a while. Memories of being a child in a dirty orphanage in Junon Harbor, always looking for a place to hide…

It didn't matter what clothes they put her in, she decided. It didn't matter what they called her.

Her whole life, she had always been running away.

"Well, now." A silken voice filled the air, the sound of it sending a shiver down Cissnei's spine. She tensed, listening as footsteps sounded from in front of her, footsteps where there had definitely been none before. "What do we have here? Has the little bird flown away?"

Cissnei looked up, her breath catching in her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest, so fiercely that she thought it might escape. Red eyes fixed hers, the stare seeming to pin her to the tree.

Nero.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	123. File 034: Wounds Unhealed pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: So, this file turned out to be a two-parter. Which means I may actually get a file and a half done for November, way more than I expected. For those of you missing the quick updates, don't worry. I plan on devoting December to finishing this fic (and then taking a quick break before Part Two…)

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, ryuukoshi, Eavenne, Furionknight, Meteor Panda, Riku Uzumaki, Draconic, XXTakaraXX, **and **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero **for the reviews! Yes, I know Cissnei has kind of been the Butt Monkey for this story, but it was necessary in order to get her relationship with Sephiroth off the ground. She's like a broken bone that healed badly, I had to rebreak her so I could put her together right. She'll have a much easier time in the next two books when I move onto other victims. *gives Aerith and Cloud an evil grin*

**Meteor Panda, **great song! Thanks for that ^^

XxXxX

**File 034: Wounds Unhealed**

Nero. Here.

Cissnei scrambled back against the tree as the reality of the situation finally caught up to her, getting to her feet. She tensed, staring at the Tsviet in front of her. His eyes were fixed on her, and he was smirking, his wings drawn close to his sides. The guns at the end of them were a painful reminder of what he could do, and she knew for a fact that they were the least threatening thing about this man. Her left shoulder throbbed in memory, and her hand dropped down to her side, near where her sidearm was hidden.

Nero's eyes flicked to her wrist. "Don't bother," he said. "You'll be dead before you can manage a shot. And besides, even if you succeeded in killing me, where would you go?" He waved a hand, and pain suddenly lanced through her shoulder, causing her to gasp and drop to one knee. She pressed her hand against it, gritting her teeth and glaring up at him. He smirked. "You don't have anywhere to run to anyway."

Understanding rushed through her, and she sucked in a breath against the pain, flattening her hand against her shoulder. "You—," she gasped out. "It was always you."

"Perceptive," said Nero, stepping close to her. He eyed her the same way a predator eyed its cornered prey, walking at a leisurely pace. Cissnei's hand moved for her gun again. The pain intensified, stopping her in her tracks. She doubled over, the color draining from her face as her breathing became heavy. Beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead, and she shivered at the feeling of the wind against her skin. She saw stars.

Nero stopped in front of her, and the tip of one wing grazed against the side of her cheek, cool against her face. It lingered there for a moment, the edge reminding her of the danger, before slipping under her chin, tilting her face up so that she was looking at him. "I will admit," he said, "I had intended to kill you with that shot. But luck saved you that day. What was that inane name you gave that? Ah, yes. Lucky Stars." The pain doubled as she glared at him, and Cissnei let out a shaky breath, the world going black before coming back into focus. She clenched her fist, grounding herself in reality as she forced herself to keep her eyes on his.

"It turned out to be a lucky stroke for us both, didn't it?" asked Nero, crouching down so that he was looking her in the eye. "After all, it didn't take me long to realize that I could use our…_connection _to listen through you. And you have a dangerous habit of knowing things you shouldn't know, and keeping things…close." The pain in her shoulder increased, and Cissnei inhaled deeply, retreating back into her mind the way she had been taught. Nero frowned, shaking his head. The wing tip under her chin retreated, only to backhand her swiftly across the face. Cissnei let out a grunt of pain as she went sprawling across the ground, her shoulder protesting enough that her world spun for a moment.

"Now, now," said Nero. "You don't get to hide from me. It's rather rude. After all, we were still talking."

"I'm…not going to tell you anything," Cissnei gasped out, sliding her right hand under herself and trying to push herself up.

"You won't," Nero agreed, walking over to her. "Not yet. You were trained to withstand a great deal of torture, weren't you?" He leaned over, the tip of his wing brushing against her face again. This time, Cissnei shivered as she realized he was touching her with the edge, the blade stark against her skin.

"It makes me wonder," he said, leaning closer to her. His lips brushed against her ear, his breath across her neck sending a chill down her spine, "what I'm going to have to do to break you…"

A figure surged forward from the forest, the weight of Nero's presence suddenly lifting from her. Cissnei's eyes widened, and she turned to see Sephiroth grabbing Nero by the neck, crossing the clearing with surprising ferocity and slamming him against a tree. Cissnei drew in a shaky breath, managing to push herself up so she was sitting down. She slid backwards, propping herself up against one of the tree trunks and pressing one hand against her shoulder.

Sephiroth glared down at Nero, his grip tightening. Nero let out a choked sound, staring at him.

"Release her," Sephiroth snarled, angrier than she had ever seen him. His hand pulled back, lifting Nero away from the tree a few inches before slamming him back across it. He bared his teeth. _"Now." _

He hadn't even bothered with his sword. Nero opened his mouth to speak, another choked gurgle escaping. Sephiroth had lifted him up so that he was pinned to the tree by his neck, his feet a few inches from the ground. As Cissnei watched, the ex-SOLDIER reluctantly relaxed his grip, just enough for Nero to get the words out.

What the Tsviet did surprised her. He laughed.

It was a rough sound, no doubt made more difficult by the fact that Sephiroth's hand was around his throat, but it chilled her to the bone anyway. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and she saw him surge forward, pressing Nero against the trunk again. The movement cut the laugh off, but it did nothing to stop the smirk in Nero's face, or the gleam in his eyes.

"Release her?" the Tsviet repeated. He took in a breath and coughed as though attempting to clear his throat, looking past him and at Cissnei. "Very well. If you wish."

His eyes met hers. In that instant, pain lanced through her, sending her reeling. Cissnei pitched forward with a gasp, one hand pressed to her shoulder as her world threatened to go black. She propped herself up with her other hand and looked down, her eyes wide as something dark and shadowy wove its way up past her skin, coiling just over where the wound had been. Shadows surrounded her, tearing a high-pitched cry from her throat as the healed wound suddenly broke apart. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it, the muscle and bone tearing from beneath her skin. Her world spun, her other hand closing around the blades of grass beneath her. Sephiroth turned in alarm, dropping Nero to the ground. He had taken two steps towards her before he stopped, looking back at the Tsviet.

"What are you doing to her?" he demanded.

Nero swayed unsteadily against his feet as he tried to pick himself up, leaning against the tree. His breath was coming in short gasps, the normally pale skin of his face unusually flushed. There was a white handprint across his neck where Sephiroth had grabbed him. "Releasing her," he gasped out. His eyes fixed on Sephiroth's. "As you wished. I'm removing my darkness from her. But considering it was _I _who healed her in the first place, I wonder…will she survive?"

"Bastard," Sephiroth swore. The part of Cissnei's mind that was still thinking through the pain wondered if she had ever heard him swear before. His sword was in his hand in a heartbeat, the tip pointed at Nero's face. He surged forward, but Masamune stabbed through darkness as Nero disappeared, reappearing at the far side of the clearing. Sephiroth whirled around, sword pointed towards him.

"Now, now," said Nero, smirking. "Remember. _You _asked for this."

Blood welled up from between her fingers, soaking through the front of her shirt. Cissnei grit her teeth against the agony, tearing up the grass with her other hand as she fought to keep herself grounded. Still, she kept her eyes on the confrontation. She couldn't turn away. Through it all, the small part of her mind, whatever was still Rekka, stared, watching the two of them.

He was fighting for her.

The thought was weak, like the last few delirious thoughts of a mind before it finally gave in, but she grasped it anyway, holding onto it and trying to cling to consciousness. She tasted blood in her mouth and wondered if she had bitten her lip.

No one had ever fought for her before.

Something hot and wet trickled down her cheek as she watched him rush forward, his sword flashing as he swung at Nero. Nero vanished again, Masamune cutting through empty air and shadow as the Tsviet appeared just behind him. Her mind flashed back to another memory, the time she had been lying in the forest after being shot, with Aerith next to her trying to heal the wound. She hadn't been looking at Aerith then. She had been watching him.

Like watching art.

A second tear trickled down her cheek as her eyes closed, her mind finally giving out. She swayed forward, feeling the darkness rush up to embrace her as droplets of red blood spattered the ground. Cissnei pitched forward, not having anything left in her to brace for impact. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she tried to open her eyes again, tried to catch one last glimpse of him. Her mouth moved, but she couldn't get the words out. It didn't matter if she could—he wasn't looking at her anyway—but in the dark, in the delirium, through the pain, the words echoed within her, things that she could now finally admit to herself. Memories flashed through her mind, warm nights spent in Modeoheim, the frantic drive from Nibelheim with a semi-conscious Sephiroth in the front seat, banter exchanged in Kalm, that embrace in Costa del Sol, the kiss in Gold Saucer, the time in Cosmo Canyon where she had told him her name…

_I loved you. _

_I'm sorry. _

She closed her eyes, letting the darkness take her.

And her world flared up with light.

Cissnei opened her eyes as the pain faded, her world exploding into sudden, vivid clarity. She glanced down at the wound to see that a single tendril of light had formed in the center of the shadow, expanding outwards like a flower in full bloom. The light grew, scattering the shadow, and she could feel the skin and bone in her shoulder start to knit themselves together, a cool feeling washing over her like a spring rain. She smelled flowers in the air and felt a calm, soothing touch on the back of her mind, and even though she wasn't anywhere in the area, Cissnei knew who had caused it.

Aerith.

She thought back to all the times Aerith had attempted to heal the wound, all the times she claimed that she felt blocked by something. Had Aerith done something without knowing it? Had Nero's removal of his own power finally allowed the healing to take effect?

Nero paused as the light spread, his wing going up to block Sephiroth's strike. His eyes passed over Cissnei, ignoring his opponent for the moment. His voice, when he spoke, was equal parts annoyed and thoughtful, perhaps even impressed.

"Hmm," he said. "It appears the Cetra may be more troublesome than I thought."

Sephiroth took a step back, thrusting Masamune past Nero's defenses. The sword thrust through the remnants of shadow, Nero disappearing in a flash. As soon as he was gone, a whirlwind of power rushed over her and disappeared, light and shadow intertwining before both cancelling each other. The combination of the absence of Aerith and Nero's power and the relief made her feel suddenly weak, and she slumped down to the ground, taking shallow breaths.

Nero didn't return.

Sephiroth was by her side in an instant, one arm sliding behind her shoulders to lift her up off the ground.

"Cissnei," he said, calling her. His voice was calm as always, even authoritative, but there was a note of concern there. "Cissnei."

Cissnei's head tilted back. Her world swam and her eyelids felt heavy, but she forced herself to open her eyes and look up at him. Aerith and Nero had done something without knowing it. The part of her that still thought like a Turk wondered if healing was all they had done.

"My eyes…" she managed to whisper, unsure why that was the first thing that had come to mind. "What color are they?"

Sephiroth frowned, looking at her as though he thought she was delirious. He answered anyway. "Brown."

Cissnei let out a sigh of relief, feeling her consciousness leave her. This time, the darkness that beckoned to her wasn't the dark of nightmares, but a warm, comforting dark, the kind of a bedroom at the end of a long day. She sank into it, closing her eyes. "Good…" she heard herself say, just as the darkness took her.

XxXxX

The camp was silent as he returned, an unconscious Cissnei in his arms. Heads turned from around the campfire, and he felt eyes on him instantly, Zack and Yuffie, Cloud and Vincent and all the rest turning towards him. He noticed that Aerith and Tifa still hadn't returned. Night had begun to fall during his walk back. While the sky at the tops of the trees still shone with light, the campsite itself was drenched in shadow. No one said anything as he moved closer, but Cid propped the butt of his spear against the ground, beginning to get to his feet.

Sephiroth turned towards him. "It wasn't her," he said. "It was Nero."

Silence fell. Cid held his gaze for a moment, then his eyes flicked to Cissnei and he scowled, looking away. He slowly sat back down. No one protested when he moved forward, laying her down on a sleeping bag beside Blaire. A hand reached out, steadying the bag and laying it flat. Sephiroth looked up to see Zack crouched down on the other side of them, reaching for blankets and a pack to serve as a pillow.

Their eyes met. Sephiroth nodded. Zack turned away.

Later that night, he sat cross-legged in the center of the tent that had been designated as the 'sick tent', his sword resting across his knees as he eyed the flickering firelight watchfully. Cissnei lay in front of him, her eyes closed. She still hadn't woken, but she seemed to be at peace. There was no injury that he could see, no fever or delirium. As far as he could tell, she was sleeping peacefully, she just had yet to wake up.

Behind him, Blaire lay on her own sleeping bag. The girl's situation was much different. She mumbled and muttered in her sleep, her face pale. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and she occasionally moved, thrashing around and shaking her head. Yuffie had helped change her into more comfortable clothes, but she still hadn't woken up. The tattoo on her wrist stood out starkly against her pale skin as she moved, kicking up her blankets. He turned unconsciously as he heard her move again, reaching out a hand to tug them back into place.

Sephiroth occasionally glanced back at her, knowing that this was something she would have to fight through on her own. Zack had come in to check on them an hour ago just as his watch ended. To his credit, he hadn't asked how Blaire's stuffed chocobo ended up under her arm, when the last anyone had seen of it had been in her pack on the other side of the tent. He'd simply come in and sat for a few moments, not speaking, before he opened his mouth as if to apologize. The words wouldn't come, but the look in Zack's eyes told the whole story.

Sephiroth told him to get some sleep, then turned back to his watch.

Cissnei turned her head, and for a moment, he thought she was going to stir, but she only let her head fall to the side, frowning deeply and muttering something under her breath. He reached forward without thinking, his fingertips brushing against the side of her cheek. He pushed her hair back and away from her face, letting it fall over her shoulder. She tensed at the touch, then relaxed, exhaling softly as she fell into a deeper sleep. His mind went back to the time in the Gold Saucer, and all of the things he wished he had done—the things that he still, if he was being honest with himself, wished that he could do.

He let his hand fall away, landing on the hilt of his sword. What was he doing? He didn't know how to protect, only how to destroy. This, all of this—whatever was happening between her and him…this was beyond him.

A sound alerted him, drawing his attention away from Cissnei. Sephiroth looked up, turning towards the world outside the tent. He didn't look directly at the campfire, looking straight past it, into the shadows that ringed the small clearing. He had heard it coming from there—the sound of footsteps. A figure was moving through the trees, heading away from the camp.

Sephiroth got to his feet, giving Cissnei and Blaire one last look as he left the tent. He kept Masamune in his hand, keeping the fire between him and the intruder as he studied the camp. The ring of tents surrounding the campfire was quiet. No one stirred, and he heard nothing but the soft sound of snoring. His eyes moved over the campfire, falling on Tifa. He'd heard that Tifa and Aerith had arrived just as night fell, allowing the group to assume its usual schedule of watches. If the martial artist was on watch, it must have been just past midnight.

Tifa was asleep, lying on her side next to the fire. Her eyes were closed, one arm draped over her waist as she breathed softly. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on Masamune's hilt. His guard went up immediately.

Tifa wouldn't sleep on watch. She was too conscientious for that.

Sephiroth moved past her, making his way into the trees. While stealth wasn't his strong point, he knew some of the basics. He kept pace with the figure, moving just behind the intruder as he moved through the woods. The intruder moved ahead of him, a silent shadow. When they reached a point at which the ground sloped downward and the intruder came to a halt, Sephiroth moved forward, grabbing onto the figure's wrist with his free hand.

Aerith jumped and turned, nearly smacking him in the face with her staff.

Sephiroth tilted his head back, the Princess Guard's winged tips passing just in front of his eyes. Aerith whirled to face him, trying to pull her hand out of his grasp. He held fast, her eyes widening as she realized who it was. She nearly dropped the staff.

"Se—Sephiroth," she said.

"Aerith," he said in reply, his eyes moving from the staff in her hand to the pack over her shoulder and back to her eyes. She lowered hers to the ground. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Nowhere."

His eyes moved to her pack, then back to her eyes. Aerith studiously avoided his gaze, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground. "You're leaving," he said.

It wasn't a question. Aerith said nothing. Sephiroth sighed, his eyes narrowing.

"Tell me what this is about," he said.

He thought that Aerith wouldn't answer. Her shoulders slumped, and she gripped the Princess Guard's shaft in both hands, twisting it around her palms like she was wringing out a wet cloth. But then, she looked up, meeting his eyes.

"There's something I have to do," she said.

"Which is?"

Her mouth opened, then closed. She dropped her eyes back to the ground, turning her face away. "It's nothing," she said. "Please, just pretend you didn't see me."

She turned, taking a step away. He reached out, catching her by the elbow. Aerith froze at the touch.

"Aerith," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on her. "I've had enough lies."

Aerith exhaled, a shudder running through her with the motion. Her shoulders slumped, her eyes lowering to the ground. She took a deep breath, then tugged her arm out of his grip. Sephiroth let her, taking a step back and watching as she turned around to face him. Slowly, very slowly, she reached up her hands, her eyes never meeting his as she reached for the ribbon she wore in her hair.

It was, Sephiroth remembered someone saying, the same ribbon that Zack had bought her.

Her fingers closed around the ends and she pulled, the knot unraveling. As the cloth fell away, he caught sight of light gleaming between her fingers. The light faded as she closed her hand around it, bringing it around her back. Aerith cupped both her hands around the object, raising it to chest level. Then, slowly, she removed the top hand. Light flooded the clearing, white light gleaming from between her parted fingers. Only then did she raise her eyes to meet his.

Sephiroth stared.

There was an orb in her hand, an orb, about the same size as the image of the Black Materia in his dreams had been. But unlike that Materia, this one was white. It gleamed with its own inner light, here white, then blue, then the same shade of green as Aerith's eyes.

She clasped her hands back over the Materia, the light fading. Sephiroth inhaled slowly, meeting Aerith's eyes. There was a resolution in them that he hadn't seen many times before, and he understood.

White and Black. White…to counter Black.

She meant to see an end to this after all.

"That's how it is," said Aerith, the glow from the Materia fading completely as she lowered her hand back to her side. "That's why I have to go. You'll let me go now, won't you?"

He looked at her, and had the feeling that he was looking out over a fork in the road. Both paths led somewhere, but the right path was unclear. His path, however, his path would be decided here.

His eyes fixed on hers, and he took a breath. He knew what he had to do.

"You're not going alone," he said.

Aerith stared. "What?"

"Wait here." He turned around, not looking to see whether or not she did. Sephiroth made his way back to the camp, walking quietly through the rows of tents and past a still-sleeping Tifa. He walked over to where his pack lay on the ground outside of the sick tent, picking it up. As he lifted it up off the ground, his eyes moved towards the tent at the far end of the line, where Zack slept.

The situation wasn't ideal, but he knew that if he alerted the others, he would be wasting time, and Aerith would go alone.

Something fell out of the pack as he slung it over his shoulder, twinkling red in the firelight. Sephiroth turned, bending down to pick it up. It was a small red orb, the surface of it glowing with its own inner light. His fingers brushed against it, and he was suddenly reminded of fire.

He cradled the Materia in his hand, his eyes moving towards the sick tent again.

XxXxX

The morning dawned bright and sunny, the heat from the sun rousing her more than the light did. Cissnei opened her eyes, staring up at the tent ceiling. The events of last night were at the forefront of her mind, but she felt more rested than she had in a long time. She pushed the blankets off of herself with her right hand, her hands curling as she raised her arms over her head and stretched languidly.

Cissnei paused, feeling her left hand close around something. She sat up and looked around, realizing that she wasn't in her tent. Blaire slept on beside her, her arm thrown around the stuffed chocobo Sephiroth had gotten for her at the Saucer. Her free hand went up to her shoulder, and she pressed against the wound there. The fabric of her shirt was stiff with dried blood, but the skin beneath it was unbroken, and it didn't hurt to put pressure on it.

Whatever had happened last night, she had been completely healed. She glanced down at her hand for the first time, bringing her left hand up to her face and uncurling it.

There was a Materia in it, a small red orb, and curled around it was the necklace she had been admiring in the Gold Saucer, a single silver wing.

Her heart thudded.

_Sephiroth? _

The sound of heavy footsteps outside her tent drew her attention. Cissnei turned, reaching for her weapon. She had Rekka in her hand by the time Zack pushed the tent flap open, his eyes wide. Cissnei stared at him. He looked out of breath. Beside her, Blaire was sitting up, rubbing groggily at her eyes with one hand. She ran the other through her mess of tangled hair, blinking up at Zack.

"Zack," said Cissnei. "What is it?"

He looked from Blaire to her, still frantic.

"Aerith and Sephiroth are gone!"

**END FILE **


	124. Interlude 006: The Ones We Love pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Remember how I said the Gold Saucer would the last interlude of the Disc? Well, I changed my mind. Here you go. Consider this a definite 'calm before the storm'. ^^

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Isayan Jesmayan, Riku Uzumaki, Meteor Panda, Irish-Brigid, Gameplayer23, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, fandomkitty462, XXTakaraXX, **and **WraithHeart **for the reviews and support! I appreciate you guys sticking by this story, and giving me inspiration to write!

**Meteor Panda, **thanks for pointing that out! Fixed it!

**Gameplayer23, **no, I don't plan on doing Advent Children because the events that make AC possible will be…kind of moot by the end of this fic. However, the future fic _Our Generation_, which I update sporadically, kind of fills that hole in the mythos, even though it's 20+ years in the future.

XxXxX

**Interlude 006: The Ones We Love**

Shalua tightened a screw, watching as the reading on the voltage meter suddenly spiked, before dropping back down to safe levels. She placed the screwdriver on the table top, experimentally flexing her fingers. The fingers of her mechanical hand moved, slow and robotic. She slowly turned the hand over, careful not to damage the exposed circuitry, and curled the fingers inward again. The response time was still off. She would need to find a way to tweak that, if she wanted to be able to do anything useful with the hand at all. Still, she noted, as she set it back down on the table, it was better than not being able to move the hand at all.

"Do you regret it?" asked a voice, causing her to jump. Shalua looked up, noticing that Nico was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She stared at him, wondering how long he had been there, and where he had been before this. The ex-Turks' frequent absences had been a point of contention over the past few days in the Rocket Town house, between her and Barret. Barret, unsurprisingly, wanted to move on.

She wanted to stay.

It wasn't that she particularly trusted Nico, she decided, as the Turk made his way to the seat opposite hers. On the contrary, the Turks had taken Shelke from her. She still wouldn't forget that. But she hadn't been entirely innocent in the years since Shelke had been taken. She knew better than to judge.

Besides, he was their best lead at the moment. And while she might have been paranoid, she certainly wasn't stupid.

"Losing my arm?" she asked, looking up as Nico took a seat. "It's certainly not one of my better memories. I can't say I'd want to repeat it, but…I'm not entirely sure it could have been avoided."

"Hm." Nico grunted in reply, leaning back casually. Shalua studied him, taking note of his posture. She picked up a screw with the magnetic point of her screwdriver, beginning to secure the plating around her arm back into place. Nico looked up sharply as the steady rat-at-at of machine gun fire echoed from the hangar behind the house, and Shera exhaled slowly through her teeth.

"We should leave him behind," said the ex-Turk. "He's becoming a liability."

"Go easy on him," said Shalua, tightening the last screw. "His daughter's still missing." She set the screwdriver down, listening as the last echoes of gunfire faded back into the quiet. Shalua waited until Nico had settled back fully in his seat before meeting his eyes. "Tell me you have something for me."

The mood had been tense over the past few days. Barret had gotten increasingly less patient as time wore on, and now spent most of his time grumbling about when they were going to leave. Couple that to the fact that Shera spent most of her time upstairs tending to a still unconscious Allen and the fact that Shalua's status as peacemaker was starting to make Barret blow up at _her_, and things were tense. She wanted nothing more than to be on the move again.

Nico frowned. "That depends," he said. He reached into his jacket pocket, drawing out a small manila envelope. It was too small and too stiff to contain papers, but just the right size for photographs. Shalua fought the urge to snatch it out of his hand, keeping her hands folded on the tabletop, one on top of the other. "We've found AVALANCHE. They're heading straight to Bone Village."

"So that's it," she said. "We'll meet up with them at Bone Village?"

"That's the plan," said Nico. He was eyeing her strangely, and Shalua wasn't sure she liked where this was going. She took a deep breath.

"But…?" she prompted.

"See for yourself," said Nico, flicking the envelope across the table at her. It landed just in front of her hand, knocking the screwdriver slightly aside. She picked it up gingerly, turning it over and undoing the clasp. A set of photographs fell out, the first of them showing a small beach village.

"These were taken in one of Costa del Sol's less-crowded coastal settlements," Nico said, with an air of someone who was repeating the words he had heard from someone else. He shrugged. "In other words, one of the poor beach towns. Tourists don't usually go all the way out there."

She said nothing, already shuffling through the pictures. The second showed an inn, one looking a little worse for wear. There was a man walking into the inn, his back to the camera. The next photograph showed his face in the window of one of the bedrooms, peering out.

"Kunsel," she said, surprised. What was Kunsel doing so far away from the rest of AVALANCHE?

"Keep looking," said Nico, gesturing at the pictures.

Shalua nodded, flipping through them. The next two photographs showed Kunsel leaving and entering the inn, but the last one made her freeze in place, her breath catching in her throat.

It showed a young girl with reddish brown hair, walking out of the inn. She had her face turned away to avoid being seen by the camera, and wasn't wearing her Deepground uniform, but Shalua would have recognized her anywhere. Ahead of her was Kunsel, gesturing for her to follow him. Shalua ran her fingers across the photo, stopping at the image of the girl. Her voice caught, her breath shaking as she whispered the word. Her human hand covered her mouth, and she blinked tears out of her eyes.

"Shelke…" she said.

XxXxX

Bone Village rose up out of the mists, a collection of houses and dig sides built into the side of the mountain. Zack put a tired smile on his face as the group dispersed, directing some of them to head towards the inn and others to go for supplies. It was the fifth day since waking up to find Aerith and Sephiroth missing, and in that time, they had tracked them out here, after finding that there was no way to get through the Sleeping Forest without something called a Lunar Harp. It had been Cissnei that had led them here, saying that if they had to find an artifact like that, Bone Village would be the place.

"Get some rest," he said to Cloud as his friend drew up next to him, looking uncertain. Zack clapped Cloud once on the shoulder to show that he was alright, motioning for him to continue on to the inn. "We'll try again tomorrow."

Cloud paused, as if he was going to say something, but clearly thought better of it. He nodded, following the others to the inn. Zack watched him go, the smile fading as he rested his hands on his waist.

It had been a long five days since Aerith had gone.

Without thinking, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing at it. There was nothing on the screen—no returned calls from Kunsel, and none from Sephiroth either. Zack snapped the phone shut, sliding it back into his pocket.

_Kunsel, man…_he thought, looking off into the distance. _Where'd you go? _

It would have been easier, maybe, if at least one of them had replied. He thought about trying Sephiroth again, but decided against it. The ex-SOLDIER had never been great about picking up the phone, but he hadn't been known to let it go completely either. There was no way that he hadn't seen the fifteen other calls Zack had given him over the past few days. If he wasn't answering, it was either because he couldn't, or because he didn't want to.

Or because Aerith didn't want him to.

His eyes drifted toward the ground, his mind going back to what had happened in the Temple of the Ancients, what he had done wrong, and what he could have done differently. Zack allowed himself to think about that for a little while, but not too long. When a few moments had passed, he put the thought of his mind, then straightened up to go look for Cissnei.

He found her standing on a rocky outcropping overlooking the village, the fingers of one hand toying with the pendant around her neck. It was a silver necklace, shaped like a wing, and Zack didn't think he had seen her take it off in the past few days. Her eyes were fixed on the setting sun just above the mountains, and her other hand, he saw, was also closed around her phone, the screen showing that she had made a call and ended it almost immediately. He drew a little bit closer to her and shivered. There was a cold wind blowing off the mountaintops, coming from the north.

"Calling them again?" he asked, coming to a stop beside her.

Cissnei shook her head, her grip tightening on the necklace. "Not this time," she said.

He looked down and noticed that the number displayed on the screen wasn't Sephiroth's. Her thumb moved to clear it before he could read the name, but he caught a glimpse of the letter I before all was said and done. "Friend of yours?" he asked.

She lowered her eyes to the ground. "You could say that," she said, putting the phone away.

Zack sighed, scratching the back of his head in frustration as he glanced down at the village. "What a mess," he said, more to himself than to her. Aerith was gone. Sephiroth was gone. Kunsel was gone, and for some reason, he had become the leader of the party. He knew he needed to remain focused or the others would start to worry, but he didn't think he was doing a great job of that these days.

He just wanted Aerith back. But he guessed neither he nor Cissnei could ever get everything they wanted.

_Screw it, _he thought, looking up and over his shoulder at her. Cissnei was still looking out at the setting sun, the chain of the necklace wound around her fingers. He didn't bother putting a smile on his face. He was fairly certain Cissnei wouldn't have believed it even if he tried.

"You want to get a drink?" he asked.

Cissnei sighed, turning away from the sunset. "You read my mind," she said.

As far as bars went, Zack had seen better, but Bone Village's tavern was the only place in the city besides the inn that one could actually get a good drink, and as far as bars went, he had also seen worse. Cissnei had ordered the same thing he did, and he watched as she sat down across from him, tipped the glass back, and took a long sip. She set the glass down on the table, wiping at her mouth.

"Long day?" asked Zack.

"Long week," Cissnei said in reply, tapping the rim of the glass with one finger. Zack nodded in agreement, raising his own glass.

"I can drink to that," he said, taking a sip.

No one spoke again until they were both well into their second round. The bar was quiet, most of the customers apparently still working on the dig site. It would, according to Cissnei, pick up in the next few hours as the men who worked for the research group were let off for the day. The two of them drank in silence, and Zack pretended not to notice that both of them had placed their phones on the table beside their cups, as though they were both still expecting a call.

He set his glass down, looking across the room at the television set mounted on the wall. It was playing a soap opera, not exactly his thing, but a welcome relief from the Shinra news stations that seemed to be on in every other bar, inn, or restaurant this side of the world. Shinra's presence wasn't completely absent, though. A faded logo had been painted onto the tavern wall, just beneath the TV. Zack gestured at it, looking back at Cissnei.

"The diggers work for Shinra?" he asked, deciding that that was a safe enough subject.

"More or less," she said, in reply. "They work for the Withers family. They practically own the town."

"And they?" asked Zack.

"Work for Shinra," Cissnei finished, taking another sip.

"Figures," said Zack, setting his cup down.

He thought that that was the end of the conversation, but Cissnei went on. She spoke with an almost distracted air, as though she wasn't really thinking about what she was saying, or as though she wouldn't have been talking in any other way. "They didn't used to work for Shinra. Before Shinra bought them out, they had a research firm. They also did some technology development, mostly for labs. They were known as Echelon Electronics."

Zack stared at her, wondering where she was going with this. She looked down at her cup, not volunteering any more information.

"You knew them?" he asked.

"I knew their youngest son," said Cissnei. She took a deep breath, then let it out. "He was my partner. Up until…"

"Until you left the Turks?" asked Zack. He thought back, but all of the times he had encountered Cissnei, she seemed to be alone, or working with Reno, Rude, or Tseng. He did remember that a blond Turk used to hang around, but it had been a long time ago, and honestly, in that time, he'd been more focused on trying to get her to go out with him than on who was around her.

She shook her head. "Before that," she said.

"What happened?" asked Zack.

Her hand went up to the necklace again, her fingers curling around the chain. Zack wondered if she was even conscious she was doing that. "We…had a falling out," she finally said. "We grew apart."

"Was he the one you were calling?" he asked.

"I thought about it," Cissnei admitted. "But I couldn't do it after all. I guess I wouldn't know what to say." She exhaled, then raised her cup to her lips, taking a quick sip. She lowered her glass back down to the table, her eyes downcast. "I'm really good at pushing people away."

Zack set his glass down with a thunk. "Come on, Ciss, don't say that," he said. "I'm still here." She looked up at him, and he felt a pang of guilt as he remembered the way he had treated her when Cid first suggested that she was the spy. He looked away. "I should have stuck up for you back then," he said. "I'm sorry."

Cissnei shook her head. "Don't be," she said. "You were only trying to look out for everyone, Zack. It's what you do. It's one of the things I admire about you."

Zack fell silent, staring down at his glass. He thought back to Aerith and how angry she had been with him after exiting the Temple of the Ancients, about how she had left. He thought about Kunsel and how they still hadn't heard anything from him, how he _knew _that the other members of their group were thinking the worst. There were nine of them now, where there should have been fourteen. Kunsel, Barret, Sephiroth, Aerith, Shalua. He didn't think he had felt their absences more keenly than he did at that moment in time.

"Yeah, and I've been doing a great job of that," he said, taking another drink.

"You can't blame yourself, Zack," said Cissnei. "You tried. It's all any of us can do."

Zack said nothing, swirling the liquid around in his glass. Cissnei folded her hands on top of the table, watching him with a concerned frown on her face. He eyed her, wondering if she realized that she had turned the conversation away from herself again. Every single time any one of them talked to her, it was like this. Everyone else would get a say, but personal questions slid right off of her. Zack wondered if she even realized she was doing it anymore.

"Tell me what happened with you and Sephiroth," he said, meeting her eyes. "At the Gold Saucer."

XxXxX

"That's enough. We'll stop here."

Aerith exhaled, letting out a long sigh at Sephiroth's words. She was standing with one hand against a tree, her staff bearing the majority of her weight and her foot caught in one of the tree's long gnarled roots. A part of her wanted to say that she could still go on, but her legs and arms trembled with the effort, and she knew that if she had fallen, she would be hard-pressed to get herself back up. Sephiroth had spoken in a tone that brooked no argument, so she drew herself shakily to her feet and walked over to the center of the clearing.

Aerith dropped down onto the ground with as much grace as she could muster, drawing her knees up to her chest. Sephiroth glanced in her direction, and she was very much aware of his eyes on her as she pressed the heel of her hand to her closed eyes, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Her body wanted rest, but she didn't think she would be able to sleep. They were close—_so _close. She could feel it in her bones. An image flashed into her mind, that of seashell homes built close to a lake, gentle ripples spreading across the surface of the water. She didn't know if it had been the Temple or the Planet that had placed the thought there, but once it was there, it refused to leave her.

The Forgotten Capital.

One of the few places left on the Planet with enough energy to do what had to be done. To awaken the White Materia and summon Holy, and quickly.

The scent of burning wood made her look up, and she realized that Sephiroth had already started making a fire. The former SOLDIER crouched down to fan the flames, not looking at her. She felt a flush of embarrassment start to spread across her face. It was supposed to be her turn to make the fire, just as it had been her turn yesterday, and the day before that. She placed one hand on the grass next to her, getting ready to get back to her feet.

"I'll get water," she began.

"Stay," said Sephiroth, stopping her before she could rise. She stopped, watching as he added more kindling to the slowly smoldering pile of wood. The wood up here had been dampened by a recent rain. Even with Materia, staring the fire took more work than otherwise would have been needed. "I'll take care of it."

Aerith knew better than to argue. She propped her chin up on her knees, watching as the wood slowly caught, white smoke coming off of it from the moisture. Sephiroth waited until the fire had gotten as strong as it ever would get, then sat back down next to it. They had been going at a constant pace for nearly five days, and while she felt like dropping from exhaustion, he barely looked tired. Or at the very least, she noted, watching as he pulled Masamune from his back and laid it on the ground next to him, his weariness wasn't physical. He looked up at her when he realized she was staring, and she lowered her eyes to the ground, embarrassed. His eyes didn't lift from her, and she realized she was going to have to say something.

"Don't you ever get tired?" she asked.

"Sometimes," came the reply. "Everyone does."

"You don't look like it," said Aerith, looking up.

"I can go a little longer," said Sephiroth, not taking his eyes off the flames. She wondered what he was thinking about, whether he was thinking about what lay ahead of them or what they had had to leave behind. Neither of them were things that Aerith wanted to think about, but they hadn't been far from her mind over the past few days. Now, with the Sleeping Forest thick around them, the thoughts were more present than ever.

A low mechanical buzzing broke the silence. Both of them looked up, Sephiroth's eyes moving towards the phone on the ground next to him. Sephiroth picked the phone up off the ground. Aerith looked away.

"It's Zack," he said, as the buzzing went on. He held it out to her. "Do you want to answer?"

She shook her head. "No."

Sephiroth said nothing, lowering the phone onto the ground. The buzzing went on for a few moments before finally coming to a stop. Aerith let out a breath, laying her head back down on her knees. She could still sense Sephiroth watching her. Silence hung around them like a cloud, broken only by the crackling of the fire between them.

"You can't avoid him forever," Sephiroth finally said.

"No, I can't," Aerith agreed. "But I…" She sucked in a breath, trying to work past the knot in her throat. "I can't talk to him right now. I know what he's going to say, and if I hear it, I'll…"

She trailed off, clamping her lips shut and shaking her head. How could she explain what she was feeling? She had to do this; she knew she had to press on. And yet, if she talked to Zack, it would all come falling apart. If she heard his voice again, she wasn't sure she could stop herself from turning back.

Sephiroth either understood or else understood that she didn't want to talk about it. He said nothing, keeping his eyes on the fire. Aerith looked up, noticing that his hand was still over the phone. "What about you?" she asked, wanting to change the subject. "You and…Cissnei?"

"It's a long story."

Aerith shrugged. "We have time."

Sephiroth shook his head, saying nothing. Aerith sighed and leaned back, tucking her legs underneath her. She had enough experience with him by now to know that he could keep the silence up forever if he wanted. Her eyes moved past the flames, looking up at the setting sun through the trees. The Sleeping Forest's trees grew close together, the branches in the canopy above blocking out most of the sunlight. It, and the chill in the air, lent the forest a haunting, untouched feel, as though this was a place where secrets had lain untouched for centuries. She watched the world around them grow steadily darker, her mind wandering.

"When I was little," she said, to fill the silence. "My mother used to tell me stories of places like this."

"Elmyra?" asked Sephiroth, looking over at her.

Aerith shook her head. "Ifalna," she said. The memories came back to her, as clear as if they had happened yesterday. Back then, the lab was all she had known, and back then, she didn't understand why her mother sometimes cried at night, or why she held her close, stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words into her ear. She didn't think she understood until the day her mother died.

Sephiroth watched her, in a way that reminded her that he had grown up in Hojo's lab as well. "Do you remember…much of that time?" he asked.

"I was seven." Aerith surprised herself by how bitter her voice sounded. "Of course I remember it." She remembered Hojo as well. When she was a child, the scientist had been more interested in her mother than in her, but she had newer, fresher memories. She thought back to the last bit of news they had received from Midgar, the last thing she had heard about her adoptive mother.

"I'm worried about her, you know," Aerith said.

"Ifalna?" asked Sephiroth.

Aerith shook her head, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips from his confusion. "Elmyra," she clarified. "I hope she's alright. I really do…I really do think of her as my mom, you know? She took me in. She didn't have to. She could have left me there, especially knowing that we'd escaped from Shinra. But she did…and in her own way, she protected me. She made me feel normal. Human." Aerith looked over at Sephiroth. "Did you have anyone like that?"

Sephiroth surprised her. He answered. "I did," he said. "His name was Gast."

Silence fell. Sephiroth stood up before she could ask more questions, turning away from her. "I'm going for water," he said. "Stay on your guard."

Aerith said nothing, watching as Sephiroth left the camp.

XxXxX

Kunsel ducked into the small inn, keeping an eye out for watchers. He was almost certain they had been spotted the day before, which worried him, but so far, there hadn't been any attack. It actually looked like they might leave this place untroubled, which would be a relief for once, although he knew that he couldn't relax his guard. The Black Materia he carried with him made him a target, and there wouldn't be any safety until he and Shelke made contact with AVALANCHE.

There wouldn't be any safety then either, but at least they wouldn't be alone.

The inside of the old inn smelled like salt, the floor covered with a thin layer of sand. He tracked more sand in with him, having long given up on keeping his shoes clean. Kunsel made his way up the stairs, not stopping to speak with the innkeeper, and knocked once on the door of the small room before opening it.

Shelke sat on the floor, her broken sabers in her hand. The circuitry of the battery pack was exposed, and a set of tools lay scattered around her. He noticed that she stayed far away from the windows. She looked up as he entered.

"Well?" she asked.

"The captain says he'll take us on," Kunsel said, dropping his pack by the door. It landed with a heavy _thunk_. "I managed to get us some supplies too. We leave for the Northern Continent tomorrow."

Shelke nodded, returning to her work. She picked up a metal piece, turning it over carefully in her hands. Kunsel noticed that the edge of the metal had been charred, a scorch mark traveling down the length. "Any luck?" he asked.

She shook her head. "The damage is…extensive," she said. "It is…unlikely that I can restore it to working condition without tools. You have what I asked for?"

He nodded, holding out a package wrapped in brown paper. Shelke took it from him, carefully undoing the ties securing it. She unwrapped it, laying it out flat in front of her. It was a thin, slender rapier, not an exact match for the dual sabers that she had lost, but the best that he could do under the circumstances. She picked it up by the hilt, testing the balance. Kunsel watched her face, trying to decide if she was pleased or not. After a while, he gave up. Shelke's moods were difficult to read, if she even had them.

"I know you would have preferred a slashing sword," he said, as she performed a few quick slashes and thrusts. "But this is all they had in stock."

"It will do," said Shelke, setting it down.

"We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up," said Kunsel, glancing out the window. He took a breath, turning to go. "Try and get some sleep."

Shelke said nothing, turning back to her work. After a moment, he started to walk, heading towards the room door.

"Kunsel," said Shelke, stopping him just as he was about to exit.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Thank you."

He blinked, surprised. Kunsel looked over his shoulder at her, but Shelke wasn't watching him, her attention turned back to her work. "Shelke?" he asked.

"I was taught that it was polite," she said, not looking up. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was embarrassed. "Is it not?"

Kunsel smiled. "It is," he said. "You're welcome."

She said nothing as he finally left, shutting the door behind him.

**TO BE CONTINUED **


	125. Interlude 006: The Ones We Love pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Alright, guys. This is the last of the slow updates. Come December, I'm all yours, and with any luck, we'll see this fic through to the end before the New Year. Thanks go to **Isayan Jesmayan, JazzQueen, Riku Uzumaki, Eavenne, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, XXTakaraXX, **and **Draconic **for the reviews and support! Much appreciated!

**Draconic, **caught me red-handed~

XxXxX

**Interlude 006: The Ones We Love**

The stream's surface was calm, barely a ripple here and there to suggest movement. It was shallow enough that he could see the bottom, and clearer than most of the streams they had seen during this journey across the Planet. It wound through the trees, reflecting the fading light of the sun and the canopy overhead as it stretched off deeper into the woods.

Sephiroth considered the forest. When they had first entered it early this morning, it had looked like any other boreal forest in this part of the world—tall, stately trunks standing like soldiers on the mountainside, sparse, hardy grass, and loose gravel underfoot. Now, as night was starting to fall, the moon lent the trees a chalky white cast, certain areas of the forest glowing with a deep blue light entirely their own and setting a scene nothing short of otherworldly. Once, he might have tried to rationalize it, explaining it to himself until the scene made sense. Now, he simply made sure to fill their canteens, before making his way back to camp.

After the Temple of the Ancients, nothing about the Cetra seemed to surprise him anymore.

_They'll be here soon, _he thought, as he gave the still stream one last glance before heading back into the woods. It was all quiet now, but he doubted it would remain that way much longer. It was too much to hope for that Jenova didn't know what they were planning to do, and if she knew, there was no way she wouldn't try to interfere. He didn't put it past her to be able to find a way through even these enchantments. After all, he had done it.

And Jenova wasn't the only one who was coming.

He glanced down at his phone, noticing the slew of missed calls. Most of them were from Zack, although that one phone call earlier had been the last. Two or three were from Tifa. There was one from Cloud, although that had been cut off after the first ring, as though the former infantryman had thought better of the call. None of the calls were from Cissnei.

Sephiroth wondered why he was thinking about that now.

He found Aerith where he had left her, staring at the fire with her staff laying by her side. Even the flames in the Sleeping Forest seemed to be a shade bluer than they should, as though the forest was reminding them that things were not entirely normal here. Sephiroth wasn't sure they needed the reminder. He placed the canteens on the ground, found their cook pot in one of the packs, and started heating some of the water. He didn't attempt to speak to Aerith until the pot was secured over the fire, and he was sitting down again.

"We should reach the center of the forest tomorrow," he said.

Aerith nodded, looking up.

"Are you ready for what we'll find there?"

"Is anyone?"

"No," he said, glancing at Masamune. "I suppose not."

They fell into silence again, broken only by the crackling of the fire. Sephiroth didn't mind the silence, having gotten accustomed to it over the years. He watched the flames, his mind going back to other things, other fires, and other camps in the distant past. It seemed like every time they came closer to ending this conflict, it continued on, making him wonder when this would finally end, and who would come out the victor.

"Why did you come with me?" asked Aerith, breaking the silence.

He looked up to see her watching him from the other side of the fire. Sephiroth thought back to the night when he had come across Aerith slipping out of camp and tried to remember what had been going through his mind then. "I couldn't let you go alone," he said.

"But you didn't have to follow me out," said Aerith. "You could've woken someone up. You could have told Zack. You could have stopped me from leaving. You had Cissnei and Blaire to look after. Why did you decide to come with me?"

"Maybe I also want to see an end to this," said Sephiroth.

"That doesn't explain why you decided to join me," said Aerith.

"Then maybe I felt I had to."

Aerith said nothing after that, staring at him. Sephiroth dropped his eyes back to the fire, watching the way it twisted and turned. Why was he out here? Since the beginning, it felt as though their entire group had been led around on a string, pulled from city to city all across the face of the Planet. Now, he was here for himself, but he didn't understand why. He wasn't prone to doing things without a reason. But he couldn't stop the nagging feeling at the back of his mind, the feeling that something was familiar, that he was missing something, something very important that could change the course of the rest of their journey.

He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling it had to do with Aerith.

"The Planet wants you here," said Aerith, her voice so soft he almost didn't catch it.

Sephiroth looked up, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. "What?" he asked.

"The Planet," Aerith repeated, looking up at the sky. "I think it wants you here. But it can't reach you, the way it can reach me. I don't know…I don't really understand it." She exhaled, wrapping her arms around her knees and looking back at Sephiroth. "He's watching, you know."

"Who?" asked Sephiroth.

"Your friend. The one you asked me about in the Shinra Building."

Sephiroth stared. "Angeal…"

Aerith nodded. "Yes," she said. "I can…feel that much, at least."

"He's here?" Sephiroth looked around, scanning the woods. He wouldn't have believed it in the past, but now…

Now, there were too many uncertain things in the world.

Aerith shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think he's _here _here—the Lifestream doesn't work that way—but I think he's watching. From somewhere. You're going to fight Genesis tomorrow, aren't you?"

"If I have to."

"Maybe that's what he's watching for," said Aerith. She shook her head, looking back up at the fire. "Anyway, we should sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day."

Sephiroth nodded. "Sleep," he said. "I'll keep watch."

"You don't have to." Aerith lay on her side, facing away from the fire. She kept her staff close to her. "This is a safe place, Sephiroth. Can't you feel it? You should sleep too. You might need it."

He supposed she could be right.

XxXxX

Vincent sat on his bed in Bone Village's inn, his gun's pieces scattered on the sheets around him. Outside, the moon shone brightly, illuminating the area as clearly as if it were day. Or perhaps it just looked that way to him. After so much time in the darkness, it seemed as though any amount of light was almost blinding. He shook his head, picking up one of the shotgun pieces and running a cleaning brush through it with his other hand.

The room around him was still, its other bed empty. Ever since Aerith and Sephiroth's disappearance, Cid had taken to pacing around at night with his spear, grumbling under his breath. Vincent could see him now if he looked out the window, standing outside the door of the inn. In the distance, Cloud and Tifa also sat, deep in conversation. Occasionally, the echoes of their hushed voices reached him. As far as he knew, Zack and Cissnei still hadn't returned.

He supposed everyone had their own demons to face. His were just a little more vocal than others.

He put the thought from his mind. He could think about the new voice, that deep, almost robotic terror that had joined the Galian Beast's bestial hunger, or he could think about the current situation, about what he could do to help Lucrecia's son.

He slipped the piece back onto the gun, raising it and sighting at a spot on the far wall.

It was fairly clear what his choice should be.

Vincent lowered the gun, satisfied, and laid it back on the bed beside him. He picked up another piece, studying it intently. The silence around him grew and deepened, and he welcomed it, letting it envelop him. He should have felt it refreshing, a moment of silence after all of the chaos of the past few days, but he wasn't sure he liked being left alone with his own thoughts.

Still, he supposed that nothing was meant to last forever.

"Hello, Yuffie," he said without looking up.

He heard a scrape on the wall outside as Yuffie tensed in surprise, then saw her hand appear on the windowsill. She let out a small grunt of effort, pulling herself up and landing on the floor.

"Sheesh, first Cissnei and now you," she said, placing both hands on her waist. "What's going on here? Are my awesome ninja skills slipping or something?"

For an answer, Vincent inclined his head to the far wall, where the moonlight shone brightly. "Shadow," he said. He'd caught a glimpse of it when Yuffie had pulled herself up to peer into the room. Yuffie looked at the wall, frowning skeptically.

"You can see that?" she asked.

"By moonlight," Vincent replied.

Yuffie tilted her head back, looking out the window. "It's cloudy out, Vin," she said. "What moon?"

He didn't reply, going back to his work. Yuffie watched him, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. For a moment, he actually wondered if she'd leave him alone. The moment passed when he felt the bed dip slightly as Yuffie sat by the foot of it. She bounced once, situating herself, and the pieces on the blanket shifted. Vincent shot her a glare, reaching out and moving them back into place.

"Whoops, sorry," said Yuffie, sounding a little embarrassed. "Didn't mean to mess you up, you know."

He grunted in response, picking up another piece. Yuffie said nothing more, wringing her hands in her lap. Vincent tried to ignore her, but found that he couldn't. The silence that had earlier seemed almost comforting now seemed to stretch on uncomfortably, becoming worse and worse as time passed. At length, he let out a sigh, setting the piece down.

"Is something wrong…Yuffie…?"

Her reaction was predictable. She looked up, startled, and turned towards him, shaking her head and waving her hands. "Wh—What? No—no, nothing's wrong. I'm just—checking on you. You know—making sure you aren't getting too angsty on me! Yeah, that's it!"

"Yuffie."

Yuffie sighed heavily, clasping her hands together in her lap. She looked down at the floor for a few moments, moving her feet back and forth so that her boots scraped against it. Vincent decided that as long as she was thinking, she was quiet, and was about to reach for his gun again when she spoke up.

"…Are things really going to be okay?"

He looked up, surprised, not actually by the question, but by the fact that she had asked it of him. Yuffie seemed to realize that as well, because her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No, I mean, of course it's going to be okay. But, I'm…" He frowned at her, and she shot him an indignant look, rocking back. "No, I'm not _scared_, Vin. I'm just…worried. That's all."

"Hn." He picked up his gun again. Yuffie didn't even glance in his direction, continuing to talk. She tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"I mean, who wouldn't be worried. Seph and Aerith are gone, Kunsel's who-knows-where, Zack and Cissnei are ten kinds of depressed and the bad guys might have a weapon that ends the world. And we say we're gonna catch up to Aerith and Seph tomorrow, but who knows what will happen when we do. So I'd be crazier if I _wasn't _worried."

Vincent grunted in response, saying nothing. He began to put the gun back together, the pieces locking smoothly back into place.

"Anyway," said Yuffie. "Here's what I was thinking. Zack's being all leader-like, and Cissnei's watching after Blaire. Cloud and Tifa are gonna be a team, of course. Cid's being a grump and Red's…who knows. So…um…I was thinking…" She laced her fingers together, resting them on her knee as she crossed her legs. Vincent looked up. "If…uh…if things go south tomorrow…we should stick together. We, uh, make a pretty good team. You know?"

Vincent stared at her, saying nothing. Yuffie lowered her eyes back to the ground, shifting uncomfortably. In the dim light, he caught sight of a blush spreading over her face. After a few moments, she stood up, facing away from him. "A-Anyway, it was just a thought. Sheesh, don't get too worked up about it, Vinnie. I-I'm heading to bed. Night."

She walked away, heading back towards the window. Yuffie placed one hand on the windowsill, getting ready to hoist herself over. She moved slowly, deliberately, as though she was reluctant to leave.

"Yuffie," he said, stopping her.

She froze, then looked back over her shoulder at him, not meeting his eyes.

"Okay."

Yuffie tensed, eyes wide as she stared at him. She shook her head, quickly snapping herself out of it. A smile slowly spread over her face. Vincent looked away, going back to inspecting his gun. He waited until the last sound of her scrambling down the wall was gone, and he was alone again. Then, he slowly lowered the gun to the bed, staring at the far wall.

Yes, he mused.

After so long in the dark, even the smallest light was blinding.

XxXxX

For a moment, Zack thought that Cissnei wouldn't answer. She sat there, still as a statue, with her drink in her hand. He waited, watching as she fought with herself, and took a sip of his drink. He was about to tell her that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to when she let out a long sigh, her shoulders slumping as the strength seemed to leave her.

"I don't know, Zack," she said. "I ask myself that all the time."

"What do you mean?" asked Zack, frowning.

"He kissed me," said Cissnei. "I ran."

Zack stared at her, waiting for her to say more. She didn't, lowering her eyes back down to her drink. The fingers of her hand curled and uncurled around it, drumming awkwardly across the glass surface as though she wasn't sure what to do with them.

"Why?" asked Zack.

"That's the part I don't understand," said Cissnei. "It doesn't…it still doesn't make any sense to me. But I'm good at running away."

"Cissnei…" Zack began.

"No," said Cissnei, cutting him off harshly. She shook her head. "No, Zack, don't try. You know it's true. "When you asked me out, do you remember what I said?"

"Yeah." Zack set his drink down on the table, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat. "You said you weren't girlfriend material."

"I'm not," said Cissnei. "I wasn't. But…" She seemed to slump down even further into her seat, as though she was trying to make herself as small as possible, or fighting the impulse to hide. Cissnei examined the whorls and lines on the table, using every excuse to avoid looking up at him. "I was interested," she said. "Not anymore, of course. That was so long ago. But I was. I hadn't had a friend outside the Turks in so long. But when you asked me out, I got scared. So I did what I'm good at…I pushed you away."

Zack's expression softened. "Ciss—," he began again.

"I'm not done," said Cissnei. She looked up at him, her eyes hard. _You asked me about myself, _her face seemed to say. _Now you sit there and listen. _

Zack sat, falling silent as Cissnei went on.

"You're not the first," she said. "There was my partner, Ivan. He was my age, but he was new to the job. I was assigned to be his partner to supervise him, get him better integrated into the organization. I didn't think there was anything between us, but we became friends. He was young, you know. Older than me by a year, but sometimes I felt like he was so much younger…and almost endearingly naïve."

"What happened?" asked Zack.

She took a breath. "We got sent to Bone Village. Right here. Ivan's job…was to investigate his older brother. He…we…" She trailed off, shaking her head. Zack understood, his grip tightening on his drink. He didn't need to know the details of the Turks' mission.

"Go on," he said.

"When it was over…and we got back to the inn," said Cissnei. "We were both upset. And things got…a little carried away. But in the morning…one of us woke up alone."

"He left?" asked Zack, feeling a touch of fury run through him.

"No." Cissnei shook her head. "I left him the keys to the chopper and was halfway to Midgar before the sun came up."

Zack winced in sympathy. "Ouch," he said.

"Yeah." Cissnei exhaled. "We haven't spoken much since then. He tried to get in touch with me when he got back to headquarters, but I made up excuses to be somewhere else. And I filed a petition to work alone." She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut. When she spoke, her voice shook, and it had none of the strength or certainty Zack was used to hearing from her. "I'm scared, Zack. I don't know how to trust people. I don't want to be hurt. But I don't want to be alone either. I don't want to lose him. Not this time. I don't know what to do anymore. I just…"

She sniffed, wiping at her cheek. Her hand came away wet. Cissnei stared at the liquid on her fingertips as though it was something foreign to her, tears continuing to trickle down her cheek. She raised her hand up to her face, attempting to brush them away, but no matter how many she wiped off, more kept coming. Zack stared at her, unsure what to do.

"Ciss," he said. "Hey, Ciss—."

Cissnei shook her head, her shoulders shaking. She sucked in a breath, letting out a hiccupping sob. "I'm sorry," she said, lowering her head. She wiped at her face more frantically. "I just—."

Zack stood up.

"Cissnei," he said, catching her attention.

Cissnei looked up, blinking tears out of her eyes. She watched as Zack moved over to her side of the table, placing one hand on the tabletop and crouching down so that he was at eye level with her. She sniffed again, wiping at her eyes. He stared at her, not sure for a moment what to say. His mouth opened, then closed, and it took him a while to find his voice.

"Look," he finally said. "There isn't a single one of us that isn't carrying around some baggage, myself included. And Sephiroth's definitely no exception."

"…Zack?" asked Cissnei.

Zack shook his head, indicating that it was now her turn to listen to him. "I'm not the one you should be talking to about this," he said. We're going to catch up to them, and when we do, you're going to tell him what you told me, okay?"

"I don't know if I can," Cissnei said.

"You can," said Zack. "You have to. And it's not gonna get any easier, but no one ever said this had to be easy."

Cissnei drew in a shaky breath, nodding. Her hand went up, her fingers curling around the chain of the necklace again. She seemed to steady herself, drawing herself up a little straighter. "What about you and Aerith?" she asked.

"Aerith and I are gonna have some things to talk about too," said Zack, looking at the ground. "But that's on us."

"I think…" said Cissnei, making him look up. "I think that Aerith had a reason to run off like that. In fact, I'm sure of it. She's not…she's not like us, Zack. She has her own agenda, and I'm not even sure she knows what it is yet, but…but I don't think this will be the last time this sort of thing will happen."

"I know that," said Zack, getting up. He turned away, looking at the door to the bar. "She really is one of a kind." He sighed, looking back at her. "You wanna head out? Cloud and the others should be at the inn. We need to talk about how we're gonna find that Lunar Harp."

Cissnei nodded, finishing her drink and getting to her feet. Zack turned, about to walk away, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He paused, looking down at Cissnei.

"Thanks, Zack," she said, smiling. "I needed that."

"Yeah," he said. "No problem. Anytime."

"If you need to talk about Aerith," said Cissnei, her expression softening. "I'm here."

Zack smiled. "Thanks, Ciss," he said. "I appreciate it."

She smiled in return. "Well, what are friends for?" she asked. Her hand slipped off his shoulder and she moved past him, one foot in front of another. Zack stared, watching as he walked away. He didn't think he had ever heard Cissnei acknowledge friendship with anyone before, at least not anyone outside of the Turks.

When he didn't move, she looked back over her shoulder, and he noticed the light had returned to her eyes. "Are you coming, or am I going to have to get the group moving on my own?" she asked.

Zack blinked. He hurried to catch up as she walked out the door.

"Coming, Ciss," he said. "Wait up!"

The door closed behind him, the two of them walking out into the streets of Bone Village. And for a while, it felt like things were going to be alright.

That was the day before everything changed.

**END INTERLUDE**


	126. File 035: The Forgotten Capital pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: The countdown has begun. There are three more files between us and the end of this disc. THREE. And one is an epilogue. Most of the story will be resolved in the next two files, bringing this story to a close **three years **after it started. Enjoy.

Those of you who like to read to music, I recommend Jo Blankenburg's **Lament for Cherubim **for the Sephiroth introspection scene (the last scene of this chapter).

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, SpiritDreamWarriors, Riku Uzumaki, Draconic, dante67, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, **and **XXTakaraXX **for the reviews and support. Much appreciated!

XxXxX

**File 035: The Forgotten Capital**

The Sleeping Forest loomed in the distance, its trees standing like sentinels as they stretched towards the sky. Kunsel came to a stop on a ledge overlooking it, one hand drifting down to his pack where the Black Materia rested. It was warm beneath the cloth that he'd wrapped around it. Last night, he could have sworn it was glowing.

Beside him, Shelke came to a stop, the cold northern wind tugging at the nondescript brown cloak that she wore. The cloak was fastened at the side, and the wind moved it off her shoulder long enough to reveal the sword she wore at her waist, the slender rapier he had bought for her in Costa del Sol. Her eyes moved over the forest, and he watched her, wondering what she saw there. Whatever she saw was tightly shuttered behind her neutral expression, her eyes cold and calculating. Besides the occasional acknowledgment of danger, Shelke wasn't prone to showing emotion. He would have thought that meant she didn't feel it in the first place, but she was here.

"They'll be in the city," said Shelke, surprising him. She hadn't spoken since they'd broken camp this morning. "In the forest below."

"Who?" he asked.

Shelke said nothing, taking a step forward and beginning her descent. That should have been answer enough. Her cloak moved slightly to the side as she made her way down the mountain, revealing the outline of her Deepground uniform. He noticed that the lighted strips on the uniform were now dull, as they had been for the past few days. Kunsel frowned, but decided against asking her about it, stepping forward. He grabbed onto a small branch sticking out of the rocks for support, carefully lowering himself over the edge and down the mountainside. His pack swayed as he moved, the Materia inside it seeming to weigh it down. He placed a hand over it as he landed on a gentler slope, pulling it closer to his side without thinking as he followed Shelke down the winding path.

She was right at least. There was something there. Kunsel didn't know how he knew, only that ever since acquiring the Black Materia, he had been feeling things. A pull, of sorts. It was almost as though the Materia itself wanted to go into the forest, as though it was wanting to be found.

Or wanting to be used.

The thought worried him, making him think that they should stop, but he shook his head, pressing forward. Where would they go? The Tsviets would find him eventually. Without AVALANCHE, there was no hope of protecting the Black Materia. Or destroying it.

That was what they needed to do, he decided last night, staring entranced at the shifting shadows within the orb. They needed to destroy it. But he couldn't do it, not safely. And if there was anyone who knew how, it would be Aerith. The thought almost made him laugh. Somehow, somehow, at the end of everything, it always came down to Aerith. He didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her, but neither did he think he could solve this on his own.

Either way, he supposed, they'd find out soon.

He drew up to a stop beside Shelke as the former Tsviet reached beneath her cloak, picking up the Lunar Harp they had taken from Bone Village. The fabric of her glove was starting to fray and dull, he noticed, but now wasn't the time to wonder about that. She raised the Harp, drawing her fingers across it methodically and plucking each string in sequence. The forest stirred, and as Kunsel watched, holding his breath, the boughs spread apart, a way slowly opening. It led right into the forest's heart.

Shelke clipped the harp back to her belt, drawing her sword. She held it loosely in her hand, the tip pointed at the ground. After a moment, Kunsel decided to do the same, unclipping his sword from his back and holding it lightly. The two of them exchanged glances, and Kunsel took a breath, placing one hand over the Materia.

The two of them stepped forward, the way into the forest closing behind them.

XxXxX

The road stretched on ahead of them, leading to the collection of houses and archeological sites that defined Bone Village. Shalua had been here only once before, on a trip as a young scientist before Shelke had gone missing. Those days seemed long enough ago that she could hardly remember them. Now, as she walked between Nico and Barret up to the village, she felt like a stranger again, those memories coming from a different time.

Barret moved past her, walking into the village and immediately going to question one of the nearest diggers. Shalua moved to stop him, but was stopped by Nico, the ex-Turk putting himself between her and him and stopping her from moving. She looked up, a frown on her face, but Nico turned away before she could ask her question, moving forward as well. Shalua glanced from him to Barret and sighed, taking a step back and hugging her mechanical arm closer to herself. She raised her human hand, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as Nico pulled a photograph out of a packet and showed it to a group of builders. His words and the images he had given her were still ringing in her mind.

"_Your sister will be on her way here." _

Shelke's face half-hidden from the camera. The cloak she was wearing, the way she wasn't looking up as she walked, the way she walked with Kunsel.

"_We still don't know what her motives are, or what she's doing here." _

Shelke as a child, looking up at her. The trust in those eyes, the sadness in them as they stood over their parents' grave. That was the last time she had seen those feelings in her sisters' eyes.

"_It might come down to a fight." _

Shelke in the Gold Saucer, a cold expression on her face as her sabers streamed light.

"_Are you prepared for that?" _

She knew what he was asking with that question. She hadn't answered him then. If it came down to a fight between Shelke and them, between AVALANCHE and Nico and whatever the ex-Turks' agenda was in all of this—between the Tsviets and the rest of the world, who would she choose? What would she fight for?

She didn't answer that, mostly because she couldn't.

She glanced at Barret, who was busy arguing with one of the supervisors that stood watching over the digging site. When he arrived in Midgar and Shion had reached out to him, he'd said he was there for only reason—finding Marlene. And yet, he was here now, tracking down AVALANCHE with the rest of them. How could he do that? How could he leave Marlene to find a team he had abandoned in the first place?

And how could she turn against Shelke to save a team that had abandoned her?

Maybe it wouldn't come to that. Kunsel was with her, after all. He'd promised that he would do what he could to bring her back. But so many people had made promises to her over the years that Shelke had been gone. So many people had lied. If she chose to believe in him this time, and she was wrong, what would that do? To Shelke? To her?

Nico glanced back at her. Shalua avoided his gaze, her human hand closing around her mechanical one as she turned to watch the forest. One way or another, she supposed, watching as the morning mist began to lift, they would have to find out.

XxXxX

Aerith walked with purpose, making her way down the path of light that connected the entrance above to the City of the Ancients. She hadn't spoken since they arrived, and for the most part, Sephiroth said nothing either, letting her set the pace. He kept Masamune in his hand, his eyes open for threats. Just as in the Temple of the Ancients, he felt like an outsider here. The Ancients had built their city underground, on the banks of a hidden lake. An unassuming stone shelter stood as the entrance way, concealing the structures beneath. He doubted the place would even have been accessible without this stair, and wondered again what it was made of, and how it had remained functional after all this time.

It was another reminder of the mistake Shinra had made, in classifying Jenova as an Ancient. Jenova couldn't create. She could only destroy.

Aerith glanced back at him as she reached the foot of the stairs, and he looked back at her, nodding in answer to her unspoken question. She turned, making her way down a stone path towards the lake, and he followed, a step behind her. The Cetra walked with her back straight, her head high and her eyes fixed straight ahead of her. It was the look of someone who was walking to battle.

Or to her own execution.

She drew up at the end of the path, facing a series of pillars that led towards a stone altar. The altar had been built on a raised dais facing the sun, the pillars that supported it bringing it up out of the lake. The water of the lake was so still and clear that he could see all the way down to the bottom, their reflections seeming to stare up at them from the surface. Looking at it unsettled him for a reason he couldn't name, and he turned back to Aerith.

"There?" he asked, indicating the altar.

Aerith nodded. "It's here," she said, sounding breathless. "Can't you feel it? All that power."

He shook his head. He didn't feel anything, except perhaps a crawling of his skin that spoke of danger. But they had come too far for questions.

"Do you need help?" he asked, eyeing the pillars that led up to it.

Aerith shook her head. "No," she said. "Just…" She looked at him, then looked away, seeming almost afraid to say it.

Sephiroth nodded. "I'm right behind you," he told her.

Aerith took a breath, then took a step, crossing over the gap onto the first pillar. She made her way to the next one easily, her feet finding secure footing despite the slippery stone. Sephiroth could almost have sworn that the stones were drying just for her, allowing her passage when someone else might have broken their neck. Once she was across, she looked back at him, and he made his way across as well, stepping across the stones until he was standing with her at the foot of the steps that led to the altar.

They exchanged a nod, and then ascended together.

"What are you going to do?" asked Sephiroth, once they had reached the top. There was nothing at the top but a single flat surface facing the rays of sunlight that shone down from above—no statues or icons to tell him what this place had once been used for, but there was a hush in the air, the sort that made him lower his voice, as if even the air was showing the place a certain reverence.

"Pray," said Aerith, walking towards the altar.

The answer made him look up. "To what?" he asked, incredulous.

"I don't know." Aerith removed her staff from its place at her back, holding it loosely with one hand. After a moment of consideration, she exhaled, holding it out to him. "But keep watch, okay?"

He took it without a word, propping the Princess Guard up on the railing next to him. "I will," he told her. Aerith nodded at him and turned, walking towards the altar. He watched as she gathered up the folds of her dress with one hand, kneeling down on the raised platform and clasping her hands together in front of her. She closed her eyes, bowing her head.

Sephiroth looked away. He leaned against the railing, shifting his grip on his sword and turning so that he could see the entrance.

He watched.

XxXxX

The group that gathered outside Bone Village was a shadow of its former self.

Vincent hadn't been around long enough to offer a good comparison, but that was apparent even to him. Still, they appeared to have found some sort of resolve over the night. He caught grim looks being exchanged between Zack and Cissnei, saw Cloud with his hand on his sword. Nanaki seemed alert, and even Cid seemed ready, standing with his spear in one hand and an early-morning cigarette in the other. Vincent, leaning against a tree and watching the scene, found his eyes drifting towards the mist that covered the forest, one hand hanging close to his holster.

He didn't like this. Something was wrong.

"Vinnie?" asked a voice from beside him.

He looked over to see Yuffie, leaning against the same tree. She had her hands folded behind her, her shuriken strapped to her back. The ninja tilted her head, a quizzical expression on her face. At the head of the group, Zack raised his hand, motioning for everyone to come closer. Vincent moved his cloak over one shoulder, stepping forward.

"Stay close," he said.

He didn't look behind him to see if Yuffie had listened or not, but heard her footsteps echo behind him as she hurried to catch up. He drew to a stop at the rear of the group, beside Nanaki as Zack took the Lunar Harp from Cissnei. Yuffie drew to a stop beside him, folding her arms across her chest as if to ward off the cold. Vincent found himself wondering why she didn't just wear more clothing if she was cold. His eyes moved away from her, looking back at Zack.

"We don't know what we'll find in there," Zack said, with the reassuring and yet practiced tone of someone who was used to giving briefings. "So we all have to stick together. We're not going to split up, no matter what happens. We're going to go in, find Aerith and Sephiroth, and then we're all making it back alive, you hear me? No heroics."

"This coming from you?" asked Cissnei, with a smile, resting her hands on her waist.

That caused Zack to smile back, breaking the tension in the air for a moment. "Come off it, Ciss," he said. "I'm being serious now."

"We'll be careful," said Cissnei, looking back at the group. Vincent caught sight of a few nods as her eyes moved over the assembled people, including a reluctant nod of acknowledgment from Cid. She seemed in a much better mood than she had been in last night, some of the melancholy surrounding her having burned away into raw determination. He could stand to take a lesson from that. "We'll stick together. We'll be alright. Don't worry about us, Zack. It's time to go."

"Alright," said Zack. He exhaled, holding up the Lunar Harp. "Everyone here?"

"We're just waiting for Tifa," said Nanaki, looking around.

Cid stamped his cigarette out on the ground. "She went to settle the brat," he grumbled in explanation.

It had been decided that Blaire would not be accompanying them into the forest, her control still being in question from the incident at the Temple of the Ancients. There had been an argument about that this morning. Vincent had been one of the proponents that she be brought along, as having her under watch in the forest was better than having her alone. He had been outvoted.

Yuffie glanced back over her shoulder, looking at the inn. "She's coming now," she said.

Vincent looked. Sure enough, Tifa was running from the village gates towards them, her dark hair streaming behind her. It was only when she neared that he first realized something might be wrong. She was running quickly, her eyes wide, and was out of breath by the time she reached them.

"Teef?" asked Zack, as Tifa placed her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "What's wrong?"

"It's Blaire," said Tifa, looking up. "She's gone."

XxXxX

The Forgotten Capital was as silent as the grave.

There were no sounds, neither from the world above, or from the world around them, not even a drop of water marring the surface of the lake. It was almost as though the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for something. Watching. The same way he was. He shifted his grip on his sword, watching the way the light reflected against Masamune. The sword reflected the roof above the altar. It reflected the sunlight shining in from above, and, as he turned it just a little further, it reflected his eyes. He turned the sword a little more, letting it reflect his face. The man that looked back at him wasn't someone he knew. It might have been the man he was, once upon a time. The fourteen-year-old boy who had first been given this sword, first been let loose on the battlefield. Had he been scared? It was so long ago that he didn't even remember any more.

He supposed he must have been. Even if for a little while, he had been a child, and what sort of child wouldn't be afraid in a battlefield? But when he looked back, he didn't remember. He remembered that it was loud. He remembered that people were shouting at him, someone—Hojo, probably—talking to him in a earpiece. He remembered blood and fire, and Masamune, cutting arcs and lines through the air, a streak of silver as he moved from opponent to opponent. Perfection.

He'd been trained for that. His whole life, everything he had worked for had led up to that moment. So why was it that he couldn't remember feeling fulfilled? At the end of it all, he had just been tired. He remembered standing still through the debriefing, waiting patiently until he was told he could go and change. He remembered that his clothes smelled like smoke for days, that it had taken him hours to get the blood out of his hair. He remembered Hojo grabbing him by the arm after a routine physical, telling him he needed to keep his hair short—that it was affecting his performance.

He hadn't had short hair since.

Teenage rebellion, or a boy wanting to prove that he was the strong enough that it didn't matter? He didn't know anymore. Perhaps he never had.

How many times had he seen his reflection in this sword? Seen himself over the years as he laid it across his lap after each battle, going through the ritual of cleaning, sharpening, and polishing the blade? He'd seen himself change from a boy to a man, seen friends gained and lost, seen people come and go. He'd seen his whole world view change in an instant, seen doubt where there had been none, anger, where there had been nothing. But each time in the sixteen years that he had this sword, he'd always recognized himself. So what was different about this moment? What had changed? Had he changed that much? Or was he just seeing himself clearly, seeing himself as he really was, underneath all of that conditioning, underneath the lies and the secrets and everything Shinra and Jenova had wanted him to be?

He looked old, he decided. Not physically—physically, he didn't look much different than he had at twenty-five. But he looked older somehow, more tired. Like a man who had seen more of the world, who'd realized too suddenly that it was wider and deeper than he had ever believed it to be.

For the first time, Sephiroth understood wanting to retire. He'd been fighting for so long, lost so much, been so close to the edge so many times. It would be so tempting to let someone fresher, someone younger, take up the fight. Someone who still had hope. Hadn't they fought enough? Himself…and Zack too. Hadn't they earned their rest?

But what would he do? Go back to Modeoheim and hide? Close his eyes to the world and hope that if he forgot about it, it would forget about him? Battles weren't won by wishing. If they were, there would have been no need for people like him. He wasn't made for peace. For better or for worse, his life was tied to this sword, and no matter what happened, he had to see this fight through.

He turned the blade, his reflection disappearing from view.

That was when he saw the sword headed for Aerith.

Sephiroth reacted instantly, crossing the distance between him and the praying girl in two steps. He reached out with his right hand, grabbing onto Aerith's arm as the sword neared. The movement felt slow, sluggish, as though he was in a dream and couldn't move. He saw everything happen as if in slow motion, saw Aerith turn towards him with her eyes wide and her mouth open, saw his fingers close around her arm, saw the enemy blade coming towards them, the light flashing across its edge.

He pulled Aerith down and turned, putting his body between her and the sword.

A foot of steel slid into his chest, exiting through his back. He heard his breath hitch, but it sounded almost as though it had come from someone else. He looked back to see Aerith staring at him, sprawled on the stone floor of the altar. She had her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide and fixed on the sword.

It was a katana.

Yoshiyuki.

He didn't need to look to see who the swordsman was. The entry angle told him enough. Down, coming up. As though the person stabbing him was much shorter than he was.

He looked anyway.

Blaire stood with both her hands on the katanas hilt, her green eyes dull and flat, as though she wasn't aware of what she was doing. The hands that held the sword didn't shake. She didn't look up at him. She didn't even seem to see him there.

A figure stood behind her. Sephiroth caught sight of hands on Blaire's shoulders, long red nails fluttering across the fabric of her shirt. He looked up and into Jenova's eyes. The woman was still wearing Aerith's mother's disguise, but her features had shifted even more since the last time he had seen her, blurring the boundary between beautiful and monstrous. The smirk she wore didn't belong to anything human.

"What was it, Sephiroth," she began, tracing the backs of her fingers across Blaire's cheek in a way that almost seemed parental, "that Genesis told you about distance?"

His grip tightened on his sword. Jenova glanced at him, her hand settling almost casually against Blaire's neck. The fingers of that hand elongated, the nails becoming claws. They rested against the column of the girl's throat.

He felt his free hand clench into a fist.

"I would," Jenova said, brushing her fingers lightly across Blaire's skin, "think very carefully about what I say from here on out, if I were you. We wouldn't want to hurt the puppet."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	127. File 035: The Forgotten Capital pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Thanks go to **Furionknight, Meteor Panda, Riku Uzumaki, SpiritDreamWarriors, Isayan Jesmayan, JazzQueen, SubZeroChimera, Irish-Brigid, **and **Roza Anne** for the reviews and support. Again, don't worry. I don't plan on abandoning this story, not after coming so far with it. This disc will be completed, hopefully soon. So enjoy (well, you might not enjoy next chapter. But enjoy anyway overall)

**Meteor Panda, **the logic of a stressed out group who decides to take a vote, lol. And Seph was standing with his back to Aerith facing Jenova and Blaire.

**Irish-Brigid, **Jenova and Blaire got in the same way Sephiroth did in the original game. Which is to say I have no idea, but Nero is a good explanation!

**IMPORTANT NOTE: **While I was writing this chapter, I realized that I kept changing Sephiroth's position accidentally so that he was facing Jenova and Blaire instead of facing Aerith. After correcting myself for the fifth time, I decided to just go with it, and edited the previous chapter to reflect this. So if you read the previous chapter the day it came out, it changed slightly, but only with regard to which direction Sephiroth was facing.

XxXxX

**File 035: The Forgotten Capital**

The world froze, the Planet itself seeming to hold its breath. Sephiroth stared, his fist shaking as Jenova let the tip of one clawed finger rest over the girl's fluttering pulse. Blaire stood unresponsive, her eyes fixed straight ahead and her hands on the hilt of the sword as Jenova used her other hand to smooth some of the girl's hair out of her face. She continued to smile at Sephiroth, as though she was waiting. Pinned as he was to the girl's sword, there was no way he could reach her in time.

"…What do you want?" Sephiroth heard himself ask.

"What I want is simple," said Jenova, letting her hand come back down to Blaire's shoulders. She squeezed them as if in reassurance, meeting Sephiroth's eyes. "I want the girl. I want the Black Materia. And I want your life." She smiled again, as though she had just thought of something funny. "The last is negotiable. The first two are not."

Sephiroth didn't need to ask which girl she was talking about. There was only one—could only ever have been one. He closed his eyes, taking in a breath. The sword in his chest throbbed, but it had missed most vital organs, he hoped. He was a SOLDIER. He could handle the pain. Sephiroth used the moment to think, to consider his options. He didn't have very many. He couldn't turn Aerith over to Jenova. He didn't have the Black Materia to give.

But he couldn't abandon Blaire to die.

"Unacceptable," he said, opening his eyes.

Jenova's expression changed almost instantly. Her eyes narrowed, and Sephiroth felt the sword embedded in his skin twist, white-hot pain radiating outward from the site. He gasped, feeling his knees buckle. Sephiroth thrust Masamune into the ground, using both hands on the hilt to prop himself up. The motion had forced him to look away. He sucked in a breath as the pain subsided enough for him to think, looking back up at Jenova.

Blood fell from Blaire's sword, spattering against the stone floor of the altar. Jenova looked down at him from the bridge of her nose, seeming to loom larger than life. Her eyes glowed, her hands fixed tightly on Blaire's shoulders.

"I don't believe you're in any position to be making demands," she said.

"I can't give you the Black Materia," Sephiroth said. "I don't have it."

The sword twisted again, the last word of his sentence ending in a gasp as pain tore at his insides. He squeezed his eyes shut, then promptly opened them again, forcing himself to look at her. Jenova relaxed her hold on Blaire enough to step to the girl's side, coming closer to him. Her eyes blazed with anger and pain lanced through his mind, forcing him to look away.

"Well," she said, raising a hand. The claws grew, becoming longer, and deadly sharp. "I suppose I'll have to settle for two out of three."

He was barely listening now. He couldn't take his hands off of Masamune, so he had snatched on to something else, another weapon. His mind worked past the connection to her, stronger and more overpowering than anything he had ever felt, to another connection, one that was tenuous at best. He could feel it though, a thready pulse against the waves of Jenova's consciousness. Sephiroth pulled at is as Jenova came closer, his eyes moving towards Blaire.

He thought he saw something for a moment, a flash of recognition in her eyes. The moment passed, her eyes becoming glassy and dull again. Jenova didn't seem to notice. Her attention was fixed solely on him, a look of manic glee in her eyes as one of her hands landed on his shoulder. It pushed his hair back and away, exposing his neck. Sephiroth tried to move but found that he couldn't. His hands wouldn't unlock from around his sword.

There was an answering pull from the weak connection between him and Blaire.

He inhaled, glancing at the girl. There were minute changes in her expression now, barely noticeable, but they were there. The sword trembled ever so slightly in her grip, a vibration so weak that he could only feel it because the sword had pierced through him. He felt resistance, then more frantic pulls at the connection between them, each one growing weaker than the last.

She was fighting, Sephiroth realized. Somewhere inside, Blaire was fighting Jenova too.

Jenova's fingers landed on the exposed skin of his neck. He felt a prick of pain as she drew blood, then tugged harder on the connection between him and Blaire. Her hands slipped on the sword—he saw that, but Jenova was too focused on him to notice. Her eyes brightened somewhat before becoming dull again, her hands shaking. He felt the resistance intensify as she continued to fight, reaching for him, scrambling to regain control of her body. He sent what he hoped was encouragement her way: _Fight. Fight harder. You're doing a good job. She's weakening. Fight. _

Blaire pulled, the sword sliding back by an inch. The pain made his world fade out of focus for a moment, but he pushed her harder, encouraging her to continue, pouring all of his mental energy into that bond, into that connection.

The sword slid out a little bit further.

Beside him, Jenova's movements suddenly stilled. Sephiroth felt her tense, her hand lifting from his neck to rest on his shoulder pauldron. He saw blood on the tips of her fingers. "What…" she began. "…do you think you are doing?"

At first he thought that Jenova was talking about Blaire. But then he realized that Jenova wasn't looking at Blaire at all. Her eyes were fixed on something behind him. Or rather, someone.

Aerith.

He looked back. Aerith had inched back gradually across the floor, forgotten for the whole time he and Jenova had been talking. She was still on the ground, her back almost to the wall. She had the Princess Guard in both hands now, the jeweled orb set between its wings pointed at Jenova. It was glowing. A fine mist exuded from Aerith, frost crystals forming on the stone around her. She was shaking.

"_Blizz_…" she said, her eyes focused on Jenova. _"Blizzaga." _

Ice erupted from the Princess Guard's tip, a wave of power emanating from her as it shot towards Jenova. The ice struck her in the chest, throwing her back. Both she and the ice crystal slammed into the stone railing on the far side of the altar, the railing shattering beneath the crystal's weight. The ice crystal barreled through the railing and into the lake, both it and Jenova disappearing from sight. At the same time, Blaire pulled, the sword sliding out the rest of the way. He pitched forward, squeezing his eyes shut from the suddenness of the movement and sucking in a ragged breath. Sephiroth opened his eyes to see Blaire toss her sword onto the ground, running to his side.

Her eyes were wide, her face pale. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice hitching as she saw the wound. "I'm sorry." She let out a hiccupping sob. "Oh, Gaia. I—I'm sorry. I'm s—so sorry."

He raised his eyes to meet hers, taking a breath. Her eyes filled with tears, and she sniffed, the tears falling steadily down her cheeks. "It's not your fault," he told her. "You did well."

"I can heal it." Her small hands landed on his chest. "I can—I have Materia—I can—."

"Sephiroth!" said Aerith, scrambling to her feet. She ran over to him, placing one hand on his shoulder. Her eyes fixed on the wound.

At that moment, a dark tendril shot out from the depths where Jenova had fallen, catching Aerith across the chest. She tumbled through the air, flying past the railing on the other side of the altar and landing in the water with a splash. Sephiroth grabbed Blaire by the arm, pulling him behind her as a hand appeared on the rail, an enraged figure pulling herself back up. Sephiroth put his weight on his sword, Masamune shaking as he slowly pulled himself back to his feet.

"S—Seph—?" Blaire began.

"Heal," he said, glancing at her. "Now. Then stay back."

She nodded, her face tear-stained. Slowly, she extended her hands, a green glow spreading from her to him. He felt some of the pain fade, the wound closing part of the way. Blaire wasn't as skilled a healer as Aerith, but it would be enough for now. It would have to be.

He didn't have time to see if Aerith was okay. Not with Jenova in front of him. All he could do was hope she had survived the fall.

Hope, he mused, as he pulled Masamune out of the ground, holding it in one hand and taking a step forward. That was something they had in short supply these days.

He charged forward as Jenova reappeared over the side of the rail, Masamune cutting through the air.

XxXxX

"There! I see them!"

Yuffie dashed forward, brushing past Zack and Cissnei. She ignored Zack's shout, leaping the last two steps towards the bottom and coming to a stop where the path ended and the lake began. Sephiroth stood near the center of the raised platform just ahead, his sword in his hand. Yuffie took a step forward, about to call out, but stopped, her eyes widening as she took in the full extent of the scene.

Sephiroth was standing alone, his sword in his hand. One of the walls surrounding the altar had been cracked and broken, chunks of stone poking up from the lake below. There was no sign of Aerith, but Blaire stood behind him, her hands clasped together in front of her. And there was blood—on the stones, on Sephiroth's chest, and on the blade that had been discarded near the edge of the platform. A dark shape was climbing up the other side of the platform, edging closer to Sephiroth. Yuffie's breath caught in her throat.

"Oh no," she breathed, reaching for her shuriken. The weapon felt cold in her hands, and she adjusted her grip on it, feeling her blood run cold. She heard the others coming up behind her, felt a hand land on her arm. The hand turned her around, and she found herself looking at Zack.

"Yuffie, what are you—?" His eyes widened, and he stopped, taking in the scene behind her. His grip on her arm slackened, his hand going up to the Buster Sword. "Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth was past hearing. He dashed forward, meeting the dark shape just as it reached the top of its climb. The dark figure surged forward to meet him, and only then did Yuffie realize it was Jenova, but not as she'd ever seen her before. Her borrowed form seemed distorted, broken in places. Her right side had been almost entirely blown away, the fabric of her dress clinging like scraps to her skin. As Yuffie watched, her skin bubbled, elastic flesh surging forward and filling in the gaps caused by the wounds. Jenova turned, blocking Sephiroth's sword with a swipe of her arm just as the skin regrew on the right side of her face. She felt her stomach lurch, and for a moment, wondered if she was going to be sick. Jenova raised a hand, and it separated, splitting into dagger-like claws, five of which rushed at Sephiroth. He blocked them each with his sword, taking a step back to dodge the last one as it made for his heart. The talon missed him by a hair, and Yuffie realized she was holding her breath.

"We have to help him," she said, tightening her grip on her shuriken and preparing to jump forward.

"Yuffie, wait!" shouted Cissnei, reaching a hand out for her.

Something closed around her wrist, pulling her back just as two spheres of darkness shot through the air, crashing into the pillar she had been about to jump to. The spheres crushed the pillar, the top half of it sliding off and landing in the water with a splash. Yuffie looked up to see Vincent staring past her, the hand that was not on her wrist already closed around his gun. He pulled her back and out of the way as Nero appeared in the air, and before Yuffie had processed what had happened, was already shooting.

Vincent shot two bullets at Nero, the blasts flying through the air as they soared towards the Tsviet. Darkness enveloped Nero, the bullets striking the shadows and shielding him. The darkness disappeared, revealing Nero floating in the air, his wings lashing out towards Vincent as the ex-Turk soared towards him.

"Vince, watch out!" Yuffie shouted in alarm.

Vincent raised his arm, the edge of Nero's wing scraping against the gauntlet. The blow knocked him back, but he landed easily on one of the nearby pillars, his feet touching the ground only briefly before he leapt back up in the air, his cloak whipping around him. Something slammed into her, knocking her back, and Yuffie jumped, landing smoothly on the ground. Her eyes widened, and she turned to see Cid standing there, scowling at her as he held down a pair of katanas with the shaft of his staff, forcing them away from her.

"Worry about yourself, kid!" he growled, before getting flung back as Weiss swept his katanas upward, the force behind the blow sending the pilot stumbling back a few feet. Yuffie instinctively threw her shuriken at Weiss. The fuuma shuriken tumbled through the air, heading towards the Tsviet leader. Weiss's eyes narrowed in annoyance, and he flicked the shuriken out of the air with one swipe of his katana. The movement gave Cid an opening, and the pilot stepped forward, stabbing his spear through the air at Weiss's torso. Yuffie ran off in the direction of her weapon, jumping nimbly over the pillars and snatching it out of the air. She twisted to the side, avoiding a stray strike from Jenova that Sephiroth had deflected and threw her weapon at Weiss's side.

The Tsviet used both swords to block Cid's thrust, twisting just out of the shuriken's range. He raised one sword, firing a shot at her, but Yuffie wasn't there when it came through. She jumped out of the way, landing with a roll on the ground and plucking her shuriken out of the air.

Above her, she heard the sound of gunfire. Yuffie looked up to see Vincent and Nero locked in a battle, both of them shooting and making passes at each other in the air. She heard the sound of manic cackling and looked to see Rosso the Crimson standing between Cloud and Tifa, dodging and blocking both of their attacks as Nanaki lunged at her from behind. And further back, Zack and Cissnei were tangled up in a battle with a large blue-haired man that could only be Azul the Cerulean.

She grit her teeth, springing back as Weiss charged at her again. Yuffie let her shuriken fly, using it as a distraction as she jumped back, trying to gain distance and ground. Cid was crouched on the ground with one hand over his spear arm. She worried for a moment, until she saw that his arm had only been grazed, and he looked more angry than injured. He picked his weapon up, gritting his teeth and brushing a thumb over his mouth angrily before jumping straight up in the air. Light shone around him as he came down on top of Weiss, his spear angled downward. Yuffie caught her shuriken as it was deflected back towards her, charging in. She let out a shout of anger, stabbing her shuriken through the gaps in Weiss's defense, as he raised a sword to deal with Cid's attack. She felt the shuriken bite into something, but at the same time, a blast went off, and she found herself flying back, slamming into one of the stone buildings of the Forgotten Capital. Stone crunched beneath her, and she slumped down towards the ground, the blow knocking the wind out of her.

Yuffie sat there, dazed, and watched as Weiss rushed at Cid, the pilot being driven back by the flurry of strikes headed towards him. He moved his spear through the air, fighting hard to keep up. The Tsviet had a wound on his chest, but it barely seemed to slow him down, and he was edging Cid closer and closer to the edge of the platform. Yuffie sucked in a breath, reaching for the healing materia she always kept with her. She felt it start to take effect, knitting together bone and skin.

Across from her, she saw Rosso slash at Tifa, the martial artist expertly twisting out of the way of the slashes and cuts as Cloud came in from behind the Tsviet, his sword upraised. In the air above, Vincent crossed his arms in front of himself for protection as Nero's darkness converged, five streams of shadow rushing towards him at once. The combined effect struck him head-on, sending him flying. In another place, Zack dashed in front of Cissnei, pushing her out of the way and raising the Buster Sword just in time to block one of Azul's massive fists.

They had to think of something, she thought, as she struggled to her feet. If they couldn't beat back the Tsviets here, they were doomed. If they couldn't—

Gunfire sounded from somewhere off in the distance. Yuffie's eyes widened as two bullets shot out of nowhere towards Nero, another one heading straight for Weiss. Apparently, the Tsviets weren't expecting the shots either, because Nero turned around in the air, throwing up a curtain of shadow to block the bullets, and Weiss took his eyes off of Cid, pivoting around and cutting the bullet straight out of the air.

That was all the opening Vincent needed. He landed on the roof of the altar, jumping back into the air and firing three times at Nero's back. One of the shots hit the Tsviet in the shoulder, piercing straight through. The other two shot him in the back and he shuddered, an enraged expression appearing on his face as he turned back to Vincent. Cid, meanwhile, gulped down a breath of air, stabbing his spear at Weiss. Weiss turned, but a little too late, the spear tearing a deep gash along his arm.

Yuffie turned, her eyes wide. A pair of shooters stood at the top of the steps, guns in hand. It was a man and a woman, the man with one handgun in each hand, the woman with a single custom-made weapon. One of her arms was completely mechanical, the other was closed around the gun's hilt, her finger resting lightly on the trigger as she fired another shot at Weiss. Yuffie didn't recognize the man with her, but he raised his guns, firing them both at Nero.

_Shalua, _she realized, the truth of it registering somewhere in the back of her mind. Shalua was here. Shalua had come back for them.

Then Zack let out a shout of alarm as Azul stepped forward, swatting Cissnei out of the air with a feral shout. She went flying, and Azul turned, rounding onto Zack. Zack raised the Buster Sword, but it was too late. Yuffie could see that clearly. Azul's fist would tear straight through that defense, and it wouldn't kill Zack, but if he couldn't stop Azul, then who could?

A barrage of gunfire stopped the Tsviet, the bullets slamming into his chest. As Yuffie watched, a figure ran past Shalua and her friend, leaping the rest of the way to the ground and impacting it with a shudder. The man raised his gun arm into the air, blue light surrounding it and him. He fired a shot, and a beam rained down in response, slamming straight into Azul.

Zack turned. Cid turned. Yuffie was fairly sure that even Vincent stopped to look. Barret snarled as the light cleared, pointing his gun arm at Azul.

"Nobody," he said. "ain't _nobody _messes with my _team_!"

XxXxX

A blow shook the forest, shattering its silence. Kunsel froze, one of his hands going over the Black Materia. He turned towards Shelke, noticing his companion had stopped as well. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

Shelke nodded, her expression unchanged. The both of them turned in the direction of the heart of the forest, Shelke placing one hand over the hilt of her sword. As Kunsel listened, the faint echoes of gunfire joined the blast, along with the clanging sounds of metal on metal. It was the unmistakable sound of a battle, a sound that he had become so accustomed to hearing over his years with SOLDIER.

"It's begun," said Shelke.

Kunsel nodded, glancing down at the bag that contained the Black Materia. He couldn't abandon AVALANCHE, but neither could he be caught with the Black Materia. Getting it over there was a risk, but if he didn't get it to Aerith, he didn't know what else he could do with it. And if AVALANCHE fell here, he didn't know how else they could fight.

He made his decision.

"We have to hurry," he said, taking off at a run towards the sounds of battle. He didn't look behind to see if she would come, but Shelke followed, running silently at his side as the two of them ran towards the Forgotten Capital.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	128. File 035: The Forgotten Capital pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: I feel like this chapter may make some of you angry *puts on helmet, braces for backlash*. I apologize in advance. Please know that writing this chapter hurt me as much as reading it (maybe) hurts you, and that I struggled to decide if I wanted to go through with it—but this is FFVII and I planned this from the beginning. I won't tell you to enjoy, but I will ask you not to give up on the story. Crazy things happen from here on out.

Thanks go to **Meteor Panda, Isayan Jesmayan, JazzQueen, SpiritDreamWarriors, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Riku Uzumaki, Eavenne, Draconic, Irish-Brigid, XXTakaraXX, Miss Miss **and **Dark Seraphim1 **for the reviews and support.

**Meteor Panda, **sorry, I haven't heard of the fic before, but I hope you find it! And ack, you caught me, but in fairness the Materia is pulling a One Ring and being a literal Idiot Ball *scratches back of head*

**Draconic, **Azul coming up, Rosso soon~ Glad you like it!

XxXxX

**File 035: The Forgotten Capital**

"Barret," said Zack, his eyes widening as he turned towards the gunman.

Barret ran towards him, his gunarm upraised. He hunkered down as he neared, raising the gun and firing at Azul as the Tsviet started to get to his feet. The bullets slammed into Azul's right arm, causing him to stagger back and delaying him for a moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Barret asked, reaching Zack. "Get him!"

Zack nodded, gripping the Buster Sword's hilt with both hands and charging forward. There would be time to ask Barret where he had been later. For now, what he had to do was fight. He raised the sword over his head, swinging it down hard. Azul raised one gloved hand, the Buster Sword's edge crashing down against the metal. Zack pressed harder and Azul shuddered, sliding back against the surface of the stone as sparks flew from the contact.

The Tsviet grit his teeth, his gold eyes shining. With a growl of effort, he swung his hand outwards, flinging Zack and the Buster Sword back. Zack jumped the last few feet, landing crouched on the ground. He slid back as Barret peppered Azul with bullets, looking over his shoulder at Cissnei as the Tsviet crouched down. The ex-Turk was lying in a heap on the far side of the platform, her back toward him. She wasn't moving.

"Cissnei!" he called.

Her hand twitched, closing around Rekka. Zack quickly turned away from her as Barret let out a shout of alarm, and looked back to see that Azul was changing, his body shifting and morphing into something inhuman. His eyes narrowed, and he gripped onto the hilt of his sword as the Behemoth-like creature rushed at him, darting out of the way and slashing upward. The sword bit into the metal plating that covered it, sinking into its skin, but not enough to draw blood.

Zack pulled back quickly as Azul sent a powerful swipe his way, raising the sword to block it. Claws scraped against the flat of the blade, sending sparks flying and scratching three parallel gashes into the side of the steel. Zack grit his teeth as Azul swiped at him again, three more grooves forming as metal claws scraped against steel. From behind the sword, he could hear the sound of Azul roaring, his paw upraised. Zack tried to step back, but not soon enough. Azul's claws dug into the Buster Sword, tearing free with an unholy screech. The shock of impact traveled through his arms, the sound shaking him almost to the bone.

"_Use brings about wear, tear, and rust—and that's a real waste." _

Those were Angeal's words. It was strange that he would think of them now, but he remembered them, almost as clearly as if it had been yesterday, and he was in Wutai with his mentor again.

Zack grit his teeth, looking up as Azul prepared for another strike. Behind Azul, he could see Barret, shooting. He could see Yuffie, picking herself up off the ground where she had been thrown, her eyes wide as she watched him. Behind him, he knew that Cloud and the others were fighting. That Sephiroth was fighting, even though he couldn't see him. That Aerith was out there somewhere, fighting her own battle.

That all of them were fighting together.

"_You're a little more important than my sword. But only a little." _

Zack let out a shout of fury as Azul charged in, pulling the Buster Sword close to himself and taking a step forward. He stepped into Azul's reach, slicing upward. Metal slammed against metal, Zack's eyes blazing as he pushed through. For a moment, he could almost see Angeal finishing the cut with him, his mentor's hands guiding the sword instead of his own. White feathers floated at the edge of his vision.

Arch Azul's arm went flying, landing with a splash in the lake as the Buster Sword finished its arc.

The beast collapsed onto the ground in a rage, growling in pain and anger. Suddenly, it turned, using all of its strength to push itself back up and lunge at Zack. His eyes widened, and he raised his sword, prepared to block the strike. But it was too late. He could see that. Azul's claws neared, razor sharp, and Zack braced himself for impact.

Fire blossomed out of the edge of his vision.

He turned his head, seeing Cissnei get to her feet. For half a second, he thought she was on fire, but then the flames surrounding her coalesced, a pair of fiery wings forming on either side of her. Her eyes narrowed, fixing on Azul as the red light surrounding her died down.

"_Phoenix!" _

The wings flapped, a firebird rising from behind her. It soared towards Azul, slamming into the wounded beast's side and knocking it back and away. Cissnei charged in behind it, Rekka in her hand. The shuriken was a circle of flame, and she twisted around in the air, her hair streaming behind her as she turned, once, twice, three times.

The shuriken went flying, trailing fire behind it as it cut a path across Azul's throat.

The beast staggered back, losing its footing. It fell off the edge of the platform and into the lake, the ground shaking with a shudder. Rekka completed its arc, the flames burning out as it finished its circle. Cissnei landed neatly on the ground, raising her hand and catching it. He noticed that her wounds had healed, flames covering the places they had been before burning out as well. The phoenix she had summoned banked in the air, flying at her as she raised an arm for it. It pulled its wings close to itself, going into a dive, and seemed to fly _through _her, disappearing from sight.

For a moment, it was quiet, everything, even the sounds of battle that surrounded them seeming to quiet down. Azul did not get back up. Zack was almost afraid to break the silence, watching as Cissnei paused and stared down at Rekka as if it was the first time she had seen it. He noticed now that the slot she usually kept reserved for a Fire Materia was filled with a deep red orb, a light glowing within it.

"…Cissnei?" he asked.

Her fingers ghosted lightly over the Materia. She didn't look up at Zack. "Wings," she said, her voice soft, almost reverent. He thought he heard it breaking.

"He gave me wings."

XxXxX

Aerith lay in a field of flowers.

The flowers were simple things, bright yellow amidst a sea of green. They filled the air with a sweet scent that made her remember simpler times. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling the sun against her face. The sky above her was bright, so bright that she barely recognized it as blue anymore. It was as if the edges of the world were faded, like beyond her small field, the world was nothing but white. A petal drifted across the back of her hand and she turned it, studying the soft yellow petal that rested against her skin.

_That's strange, _was her first thought. _When did I get back to the church? _

Her second was a little more aware, consciousness returning to her in increments as she blinked.

_I'm in a dream. _

Light footsteps sounded from the ground next to her, telling her that someone was walking on the flowers. She had the brief impression of a woman standing there, clad all in armor. Her hair was like spun gold, and she was looking at Aerith. Her mouth was open, but no words came out. Aerith's third thought brought with it a wave of lucidity, and she sat up in alarm, scattering petals around her from the sudden movement.

_I'm not supposed to be here. _

The flowers, field, and woman vanished.

She was sitting in a shallow pool of water, the hand that she had thought was against soil now resting against bare stone. Her clothes were completely drenched, droplets of water clinging to her hair and skin. Aerith caught sight of her staff sticking up from the ground a few feet away from her. The sounds of battle rushed over her—swords clanging, people shouting, and guns firing. The lake before her was littered with fragments of stone. She caught sight of a hulking beast lying on its side in the pool, half-submerged in the water. Black liquid that might have been blood seeped out of him, hanging suspended in the water before sinking down to the bottom. Her eyes moved, sweeping past the battlefield to the pillars that held up the altar, taking in the height from the altar railing to the lake below. One of her hands went up, landing over her heart.

_I fell…_she realized, her mouth hanging open. She glanced down at her body, remembering the suddenness of Jenova's attack. She'd been trying to get to Sephiroth, and had been swatted aside out of nowhere. In those last few moments, she could have sworn that skin had torn, that she had broken bone.

The fabric of her dress was torn in places, but the skin beneath it was whole. She brushed her fingers lightly against it, unbelieving, and then looked down at the water. There was blood in the water around her, light traces, blood on her dress. But nothing on her body. Nothing—.

Her eyes widened as she remembered what she had come here for. Aerith scrambled, plunging her hands into the water next to her as she searched for the White Materia. She'd been holding it as she fell, praying for Holy with Sephiroth watching. And now—.

—It had to be here somewhere, she realized, eyes wide as she searched. Her fingers scrabbled at the surface of the stone, her eyes wide with terror as a sinking feeling washed over her. It couldn't be gone. It just couldn't be!

The woman's face flashed into her mind, gray eyes looking over at her. Aerith remembered her standing in the field of flowers, just at the edge of her vision. She had been saying something, but Aerith couldn't catch it. There had been something intensely familiar about her, something that was just at the tip of her tongue. As crazy as it was, Aerith felt like she _knew _the woman, like she had seen her before. She was almost certain she knew the woman's _name. _

She knew what had happened to the Materia. Aerith was certain of that. She also knew what had to be done. If only Aerith could have _heard _her—could have understood what she was trying to say.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she looked up, watching as the battle raged on above her. From where she sat, she had been mostly forgotten, but she could still see the others fighting. She saw Vincent warring with Nero overhead, saw the reflection of Sephiroth fighting Jenova against the surface of the water. Aerith pushed herself up, heading towards her staff.

Everyone was fighting now. White Materia or not, she couldn't leave them to fight alone.

She was halfway to her staff when she felt it—a shiver running down her spine and causing her to freeze in place. Aerith turned, suddenly filled with the sense that she wasn't alone. Her breath caught in her throat, a voice speaking in the back of her mind.

"…_ack…ia…" _

_What? _she thought back towards the voice, startled. Aerith had heard the Planet before, but this was different. This was almost a different _voice_. It was a voice she swore she had heard before. A voice she thought she remembered, telling her to fight. She found herself clapping her hands over her ears, trying to muffle out the sounds of fighting so that she could hear the voice better.

"…_ack…Mat...ia…" _

_Black Materia? _she thought, her eyes widening. She looked around. The Black Materia was lost, as far as she knew. Did Jenova have it? _I'm sorry. I don't understand. I don't have the Black Materia. _

"…_brought it…to you…you must…" _

_Must? _

Aerith's eyes caught sight of movement from one of the buildings nearest her. She turned towards it, and felt the voice tugging at her, forcing all of her attention in that direction. There was somebody in the house, someone moving in the window.

The figure moved closer, creeping towards the door.

"…_you must…" _said the voice again.

_Must what? _asked Aerith, feeling frantic. _I don't understand! What do you want me to do?_

The door opened a crack, a figure creeping unnoticed into what must have been an alley. The fights raged on, but Aerith's world dimmed, so that it was only her and the person in the house, the person beginning to move towards her. The voice spoke again, one last word, before falling silent again.

"…_hurry…" _

The man ducked out of view, but in that moment before he did, their eyes met, and hers widened in recognition.

Kunsel.

XxXxX

Kunsel Harringer edged slowly towards the lake, fully aware that the intent that drove him onward was not his own. He could feel the Black Materia more strongly than he had ever felt it, felt it driving him forward, pulling him away from the hiding place he and Shelke had slipped into upon arriving at the Forgotten Capital and towards the flower girl. He heard footsteps behind him, and looked over his shoulder to see that Shelke had dropped down onto the ground next to him. She followed without question, although he noticed that her eyes dropped away from him to linger on the battles going on just a few feet away from them, in particular, towards the brown-haired scientist with a gun.

He wondered what Shelke saw when she looked at Shalua. Did she see the sister she had lost? Or did she see, as she claimed, a stranger, someone she might have once known but no longer did He thought about telling her not to follow him—he was almost there—but the part of his mind that still urged caution took comfort in the fact that she was near him, watching. He wasn't entirely sure in his own blade anymore.

But then again, he had never truly been. His mind flashed back to images from his training, to the memory of being a third class SOLDIER, still growing into his mako enhancements the same way a child grew too tall too fast. Back then, Zack had been the first to truly take to the sword. It had been obvious from the beginning—to him, to Angeal, to Essai and Sebastian—that Zack would go the farthest out of all of them. He never doubted that for a second.

He still didn't doubt that.

His eyes fixed on Aerith, standing in the pond and waiting for him. He felt the Black Materia pull again, felt on some level how badly it wanted to go to her. It did want these things, he'd realized over the course of their journey. On some level, it was alive. He didn't know how the Materia thought that Aerith could help it—if it could indeed think, but he took comfort in one thing. It was Aerith the Materia wanted, not Jenova. It didn't _want _to be used. It didn't _want _to end the world.

He didn't understand why the Cetra had created something that could destroy the world, or at least he hadn't at first. But over the course of his journey with Shelke, he had come up with a few theories. Perhaps the Cetra had never truly known what they had. Perhaps, just like Shinra was doing now, they had made a mistake. They had created or unearthed a weapon that they themselves couldn't control. Or perhaps, the Black Materia had been created for something else. Perhaps it had been created to fight a threat, made to destroy something so powerful that the only way to stop it was to create something that could, as a consequence of its use, destroy the world.

He didn't know what sort of threat that could be, but watching Jenova and Sephiroth fight on the other side of the field, he thought he had an idea.

If that was the case, then it was imperative the Materia find its way into capable hands. Because in unearthing it, he suspected that Jenova had dug up not only the only weapon _she _could use, but perhaps even the only weapon that could be used against her.

And in the end, it all came down to Aerith.

Kunsel neared the edge of the lake, the battles around him seeming to fade away as he crept closer to the surface of the water. The flower girl stood on the other side of the lake, watching him. She had her staff in one hand and was drenched, clutching the sodden remains of her jacket to herself. She should have looked like a drowned rat, standing alone in a lake while battles raged on around her. She should have looked weak, scared, like a child playing at dolls. She should have looked anything but powerful, but Kunsel looked at her, and he _knew_. He knew the same way he had always known, the same way he had watched Zack get scolded by Angeal, get beaten in a fight and wind up face first in the dirt, and then spend hours on the training field the night after.

He knew that he was looking at the beginnings of something. It came down to her because it had always come down to her, because on some level, this story was _about _her, and it had been so far on everyone else's periphery, caught up in the drama between Sephiroth and Genesis and Jenova, that no one had noticed that. But he'd seen it in the way she'd drawn people in, seen it in the way that she'd drawn Zack, Cloud, Tseng, and Sephiroth around her. He'd felt it himself, the first day he'd come to her church to check on her when Zack failed to report back from Nibelheim on time. He'd seen it in her eyes as she pretended to smile, the way she hid her face from his as she asked if there was a _chance _that he had heard anything—if Zack was alright. He'd seen it when he offered to fix the flower cart for her and she refused.

There were people that were born for something greater. And then there were people like him, people that were always on the outside looking in. People who didn't _want _to be great. People who just wanted to stand back, and allow the ones who were born for greatness to shine. To watch them grow, to help and protect them, until they shone so brightly that no one else could help but see.

Angeal was one of those people. Kunsel had seen it in the way the man had mentored Zack, supported Sephiroth, guided Genesis. He had never been comfortable with fame himself, but he had no qualms about wishing it on someone else. Zack remembered his teachings, remembered his words, remembered how he had stood by honor and dreams until the day he died.

Kunsel remembered the man.

He would like, he decided, to be that man someday. To be remembered that way.

Yes, he supposed, reaching into his pack. His hand closed around the Black Materia as he neared Aerith, taking a step into the water. At the end of it all, perhaps he just wanted to be remembered.

Her eyes met his, and she smiled at him as he drew closer to her. As the smile met her eyes, Kunsel thought that perhaps he had achieved that after all. He drew the Black Materia out of his bag, the orb warm and glowing in his hands, and took a step closer to her. There wasn't much of a distance between them now. A few steps, nothing more. She extended a hand.

Shelke called out a warning. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Genesis, black feathers trailing behind him as he shot towards Aerith like a bullet, his Rapier clasped in both hands. Without thinking, he dropped the Materia. Without thinking, he rushed forward, placing both hands on her shoulders and shoving, pushing her back. She fell away from him, her eyes wide with shock.

The last thing he saw was the sword coming towards him, fire trailing in its wake.

He heard Aerith scream.

Kunsel's body fell to the ground, landing with a splash as blood stained the water.

**END FILE**

XxXxX

**Firebird: **Cissnei's final Limit Break. She summons Phoenix, which heals all of her injuries and attacks the enemy with a blast of magical energy. Cissnei then rushes in behind Phoenix and throws a flaming version of Rekka at her opponent for one finishing strike. The effect briefly makes it look as though she has wings of fire.

**A/N: **Didn't want to spoil anything, but if you want, you can read the last scene again using **In Memoriam **by **Globus **as the background music.


	129. File 036: Wandering Souls pt1

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Sorry for the lateness, guys. Had a really busy week and then was traveling for the holidays. Because of that, I'm a little behind schedule, so I'm going to _try _to get this done by New Years, but it might be mid-January instead. We shall see. I'm at the ending now so there really isn't that _much_, but this is the climax of the book and I don't want it to be rushed. Anyway, only this and an epilogue left!

Also, I'm sorry. I'm going to try my best to get some of each fight in, but for obvious reasons, the Jenova and Genesis fights are going to take priority. Rosso, Weiss, and Nero are important, but writing _all _the fights to their full extent would take up too much space. (**Draconic, **I am getting the Rosso fight in though, since you asked. ^^).

Thanks go to **SpiritDreamWarriors, Riku Uzumaki, Gohan Roxas, Meteor Panda, Irish-Brigid, RinHildeSora, JazzQueen, SubZeroChimera, Eavenne, KuroArget, Rookiek13, **and **Draconic **for the reviews and support. Sorry for the character death. I was really torn up about posting it, because I was worried about how you guys would react, but I really _had _planned it from the beginning. So this was a death scene 3 years in the making. I wanted to capture something of the same unexpectedness of Aerith's original death scene, so, sorry if I caught some of you off-guard. Thanks for continuing to support this story!

**Meteor Panda, **don't worry about it. I understand. Honestly it was good to see someone finding the humor in it~ Thanks for the review! (And yes, that part of the game wouldn't be the same without the trauma).

XxXxX

**File 036: Wandering Souls**

Aerith's scream died in her throat as the Rapier stabbed its way through Kunsel's heart. In that instant, she felt it, that severance—all at once terrible and final—that told her a spirit had returned to the Lifestream. Kunsel's body pitched forward, his eyes wide and unseeing, face frozen in a perpetual expression of surprise. Genesis withdrew his sword, and Kunsel fell into the water with a loud splash, blood staining the water red.

It was all Aerith could do to stare. She felt numb, felt as though something cold had replaced her blood, coursing through her veins and turning everything from her feet to her heart into ice. She stared down at Kunsel's body, uncomprehending, watching as a flower of blood bloomed in the water just over his heart. She could still feel his hands on her shoulders, still see the sudden flash of desperation in his eyes as he pushed her, roughly, away.

_That could have been me. _

It was a single thought, fractured from the multitude of thought, feeling and emotion in the back of her mind. A second, clearer one, followed it.

_That should have been me. _

Then Genesis turned, pointing his Rapier at her as he stepped through the water, and Aerith knew with sudden certainty that it might still be her, that this wasn't over yet. He stepped towards her, his blade flashing, and Aerith took a step back, feeling as though she was caught in a dream. She raised her staff to protect herself, but she knew that it was too late. Her own movements felt slow, sluggish, her body seeming to react in slow motion as Genesis moved forward, his blade angled straight at her heart.

A cloaked figure darted in front of her, a flash of silver knocking Genesis's sword aside. Shelke landed in the water with a small splash, her cloak

settling over her shoulders as she adjusted her grip on the slender blade in her hand. She paused for a moment, barely a few seconds, before charging back at Genesis, her sword flashing upwards. The blade moved almost too quickly to see, and Genesis took a step back, the tip of Shelke's sword cutting through the leather of his cloak. His eyes narrowed at her, his lips pulling back in a snarl. Genesis turned, slashing at her, but Shelke danced lightning-quick out of the way, the sword passing harmlessly through the space where she had been.

Aerith stood to the side, momentarily forgotten as Shelke charged in, her sword whipping through the air again.

XxXxX

Cloud raised his sword across himself, Rosso's bullets crashing against the flat of the blade. They ricocheted off the metal, spattering the ground around him with small bullet holes. He looked up, his eyes narrowed as he watched Tifa leap out from behind him, twisting around in the air and aiming a foot at the Tsviet's face. Rosso raised her blade, blocking the strike, and Tifa kicked off it, corkscrewing in the air and landing lightly on her feet as Nanaki charged in, his fangs bared. Nanaki's teeth closed around the edge of Rosso's blade as she turned to face him, clamping down on the edge of the blade. The Tsviet swept the blade outward, throwing Nanaki back, and Cloud took that opportunity to charge in, his sword gripped in both hands as he swung it down overhead.

Rosso raised her own weapon, the blades clashing against each other. Sparks flew. Cloud looked over the pair of crossed swords, into Rosso's eyes. She smirked, and he was reminded of the last time they had fought, back on top of the pillar. Back before she had crushed Sector 7. He remembered the pillar falling down, remembered Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie as they had been, remembered the screams.

She'd done that. _She _had, and he'd been powerless to stop it.

She'd _laughed._

He gripped his sword tighter, throwing his weight behind it and gritting his teeth as he pushed down. The Butterfly Edge shook and rattled, sparks flying as it scraped along the edge of Rosso's blade. He pushed harder, using all of his strength.

The blade sank, slicing a line across the top of Rosso's sword.

He saw her eyes widen in surprise, moving from him to his blade. Rosso pulled back, as Cloud pushed forward, the Butterfly Edge shearing off the top edge of Rosso's weapon. A wedge of steal fell to the ground, and Cloud saw her smirk change into a snarl of rage. She rotated the weapon around in her hand, and he jumped back as the other blade rushed toward him.

Pain shot through his side, and he looked down to see that the other side of her weapon had caught him on the shoulder without a pauldron, blood flowing freely from the wound. He clapped a hand over it, glaring at Rosso. She took a step forward, her smirk returning as she saw the blood. Her eyes fixed on Cloud, and he could still see the anger and madness burning within them.

"Now, now, darling," she said, twirling her weapon so that the ruined side faced up. "You shouldn't have done that."

Cloud removed his hand from the wound, returning it to the hilt of his sword as she advanced. She was nearly there when Tifa charged forward from his left, sweeping her foot out in a circle. A wave of water followed the kick, crashing onto Rosso. She raised an arm over her face to protect herself, stumbling back as the blast hit. The distraction gave Tifa enough time to charge in. She grabbed Rosso, pulling her into a suplex hold and slamming her onto the ground. Rosso hit the ground once and bounced, sliding back against the stone platform. She flipped over before she could land again, raising her weapon and firing at Tifa. The martial artist darted out of the way quickly, bullets peppering the ground behind her. Nanaki charged in, roaring, and Rosso spun around quickly, firing at him.

He jumped back, letting out a whimper as one of her bullets hit home, but before Rosso could recover, Cloud charged in, his sword whirling overhead. It slammed into her own weapon, into the gun between the two blades, and Cloud had to pull himself out of the way as she fired again, the bullets moving past him. Tifa charged in with an uppercut, one Rosso had to take her hand off her weapon to block. She blocked it with her forearm, her expression growing more and more frustrated as Tifa immediately spun around, sending a kick at her side. At the same time, Cloud stepped in, slamming the hilt of his sword on her remaining weapon hand. The weapon clattered from her grasp, Tifa's kick hitting her square in the jaw. The kick knocked her back, and Cloud quickly swept her weapon away with his foot as she stumbled, Tifa dropping down to the ground and sweeping the feet out from under her. She struck the ground, pushing herself up and rolling away from Nanaki as he charged in.

Rosso propped herself up on her elbows, pushing back. She flipped over, landing on her feet. The Tsviet was breathing heavily, one hand hanging limp at her side as she glared at them. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, her lip bleeding from the blow that Tifa had landed. He saw a bruise already start to form, purpling just below her eye.

It was Tifa who spoke.

"You can't win," she said, breathing heavily as well. She came to stand beside Cloud, moving her curtain of black hair back over her shoulder. "Give up."

Rosso sucked in another breath, looking up at Tifa and Cloud. Her wounded lips curved into a smirk, her eyes shining. "That…" she said. "…is where you're wrong. We are far from finished here."

A red light surrounded her, her eyes glowing brighter. The light seemed to course through her, traveling through her body. It ran through her limbs like a red river, the wounds that they had inflicted disappearing before their eyes. As Cloud watched, she drew herself up straighter, her breath evening as her eyes fixed on them.

That was when Aerith screamed.

XxXxX

The scream tore through the air, shattering the almost preternatural silence of earlier. Cissnei jumped, nearly dropping her shuriken, and Barret turned, raising his gun arm and pointing it at something in the distance. Around them, the battles continued to rage, Cloud, Tifa, and Red spinning and jumping out of Rosso's reach as Vincent and Nero engaged in a battle in the air above. Across the water, Sephiroth and Jenova fought, and Weiss danced across the pillars, swords flashing as he moved between Yuffie, Cid, and Shalua. Shots rang out through the still air. The world continued to move.

For Zack, the world stopped with the sound of that scream.

He saw her in his mind, the flower girl from the slums, her hands wrapped loosely around a bouquet of yellow flowers as she lifted them into the cart. She'd said something back then, and he'd laughed, trying to take his mind off the nearness of her as he helped her push the cart out onto the streets. The memory was so vivid that he could almost smell the scent of the flowers wafting off the cart, drowning out the slum odors and replacing it with something soft and pure, something so unmistakably _her _that his heart ached at the memory of it.

_Aerith. _

He ran. Before Cissnei or Barret could stop him, he took off, the Buster Sword in hand as he ran to the edge of the platform.

And there he came to a stop, his eyes widening as his grip tightened on his sword. It felt as though all the breath had been driven from his lungs, so that all he could do was stand there and stare.

Shelke was fighting Genesis. The two of them moved apart and came together in a whirling storm of blades, Shelke using her speed to make up for Genesis's larger size. Between the two of them, a figure in a pink dress knelt in bloodstained water, sitting back on her heels. A man lay across her lap, and she had one arm tucked around the back of his neck, her fingers lightly brushing the hair out of his face. He watched, frozen, as Aerith's hands moved, her fingertips lightly brushing across the man's eyelids and moving them down.

It was Kunsel, he realized, taking note of the black First Class uniform the man wore, and the sword that lay discarded in the water not too far from them.

Kunsel was gone.

His grip slackened on the Buster Sword's hilt, the slab of metal slipping out of his hand. Its weight drove it down into the stone and it stayed there, upright as Zack watched. He felt as though he was in a dream. He had to be. His mind went back, to all of the times he had lost someone, to Essai and Sebastian joining SOLDIER with him, and then to their graves in the snow. To Angeal teaching him about honor, and then to Angeal in the Modeoheim bathhouse as he died. To him and Kunsel sharing a drink after Essai and Sebastian's deaths, to the two of them talking in the moments before Zack left for Nibelheim, to Kunsel coming to their rescue in the Shinra Building. To right now.

It wasn't supposed to end this way.

His hand clenched into a fist, the scene in front of him seeming to play in slow motion. The fights around him were nothing but white noise. He barely heard Cissnei and Barret coming up to stand next to him, didn't even register Barret's muttered oath, or Cissnei's hand, light and tentative, on his arm. He didn't notice any of that, because damn it, it _wasn't _supposed to end this way.

No one else was supposed to die. That was what they were fighting for, wasn't it?

They were fighting so that no one else would have to die.

Genesis's black wing unfurled, feathers scattering across the surface of the water as he charged downward, his sword bursting into flames as she rushed towards Shelke. The Tsviet gave him a cool look, moving her cloak over one shoulder. As Zack watched, she vanished, Genesis crashing down at the place where she had been. She appeared behind him, her cloak twirling behind her as she turned, slashing down at the back of Genesis's neck with the sword in her hand. Genesis turned, moving quickly enough to swat the blade aside with his arm, but the tip of the sword stabbed just above his elbow, and Shelke pulled it away bloody.

Genesis turned, slashing at her, and Shelke jumped back, the sword cutting through the plate at the front of her Deepground uniform. Sparks flew from exposed wires and circuitry, and Shelke staggered back but quickly righted herself, slashing at him again. Genesis turned, parrying her blade with his own Rapier.

Aerith bowed her head, her hands shaking.

In the distance, Sephiroth and Jenova continued to fight, Jenova's clawed hands stabbing at his face. He blocked the blow with his Masamune, but just barely as Blaire scooted back, her face pale and both her hands close to her chest.

Cissnei tugged at his wrist.

"Zack," she said.

Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. He ignored her, still staring at Aerith and Kunsel. Yuffie let out a scream as Weiss knocked her shuriken out of her hand, and Shalua immediately darted in, blocking the strike with her metal arm and giving Yuffie just long enough to get out of range. Above them, Vincent flipped over in the air, avoiding two bullets from Nero. He fell head-first, but raised his gun anyway, and _fired. _

Cissnei tugged at his arm with more urgency. "Zack," she said again.

He didn't want to look. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He wanted to explain to her, to tell her to leave her alone. He wanted to tell her that his friend had died, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words, as though saying the words would make it more real. He wanted to close his eyes and believe they weren't here, that when he opened them, he would be lying in Aerith's church like always, and she would be teasing him, and there would be flowers in her hair, and then he would get up and go back to the Shinra Building and Kunsel would still be there. Angeal would still be there.

He wanted to close his eyes and believe that the world was still sane. But he couldn't do it. And maybe that was because the world had never been sane. Would never be.

"Zack!" Cissnei tugged at his arm more insistently. He heard the sounds of gunshots, a steady rat-at-at-at-at like machine gunfire, and saw Cloud and Tifa jump out of the way, avoiding a spray of bullets from Rosso as Nanaki went for the throat. He saw Shelke twist away from Genesis's stab, saw Barret raise his gunarm to cover her, pointing at Genesis as he let loose a volley of bullets. He heard the sound of feathers rustling, heard the barely-there sound of Sephiroth landing on the ground and charging forward, moving in for a strike.

Cissnei tugged at his arm again.

Zack finally turned, pulling away from the sight and facing her. She had her shuriken in one hand, and was glancing at something off in the distance. He noticed that while he had been watching Aerith and Kunsel, she had been watching the fights.

"We have to help them," she said.

He knew what she was asking. She was asking him to fight. His hand inched closer to the hilt of the Buster Sword, his fingers twitching before they fell limp at his side. He wanted to tell her he had nothing left, that he couldn't fight anymore. That everything he'd had he'd already lost, that it was pointless, meaningless.

That he couldn't win. He wanted to tell her all of that, but the words wouldn't come. Because he could _see _Kunsel. He could see him as clearly as he had ever seen him, sitting in the back of a truck on a pile of crates with his sword in his hand. They were all third-class SOLDIERs, dressed in light blue, still children, still strangers to the battlefield. Essai and Sebastian were there too—Essai looking a little green. Sebastian didn't say anything, but then again, he'd always been the type to play it cool. He sat there, looking at the edge of the truck as it rattled, and when no one was looking, wrapped his arms around himself, suppressing a shudder.

They were heading to their first battle, their first official mission as members of SOLDIER. And they were going together. Kunsel was speaking, but he had his eyes on his sword, and wasn't looking at any of them. Zack remembered wondering if he actually saw any of them.

Strangely enough, he couldn't remember being scared.

"_We just have to keep moving," _Kunsel was saying. _"No matter what happens. This is supposed to be an easy mission. But we can't ever stop. As long as we keep moving, keep fighting, we'll make it through…After all, they just need one of us to make it back." _

"_Come on, Kunsel man." _That was Essai, looking up from his seat and giving the other SOLDIER a glare. _"D'you really have to be like that now?" _

"_But it's true," _said Kunsel, not looking at Essai. _"Maybe not for this mission, but for others, and there _will _be others. As long as one of us keeps fighting, it's not over. As long as one of us makes it back." _

"_We just need one." _

One.

Zack glanced down at his hand, turning it palm upward and curling it into a loose fist. As long as there was one of them left, the fight would go on.

As long as there was one.

He reached behind him, pulling the Buster Sword out of the stone. It came free easily, the familiar weight settling into his hand. Before Cissnei could stop him, he shot forward, crossing the pillars to the altar easily. He heard Cissnei shout behind him, heard Barret curse, but he didn't notice. He didn't care. His eyes were fixed on the fight in front of him, on Jenova and Sephiroth.

He pulled his sword back, letting out a shout of anger as he charged in, stabbing it at Jenova.

XxXxX

Aerith's scream echoed in his ears, but he didn't dare turn, his attention focused entirely on Jenova as she charged towards him, her claws pointed at his face. He raised Masamune, blocking the strikes, and stepping back as she clawed at his side. Her form had changed again, over the course of their battle. While it was not the same form she had taken on the Junon Cargo Ship, it was still inhuman, her dark hair streaming out behind her as her dress morphed into some kind of living thing, the skirt ending at nothing. A tail that might have been reptilian extended from the bottom of her dress, but it didn't look like it belonged to any creature Sephiroth had ever seen. Her fingers extended into points, each of the talons razor-sharp.

The eyes that looked down at him were his own, set in a human face that might have been beautiful, but was now nothing short of monstrous.

Sephiroth jumped backwards, his wing unfurling as he took to the air. He spared a quick glance behind him, barely able to catch sight of Genesis and Shelke fighting. Jenova raised both hands as he hovered over the water, blue flames forming in front of her palms. The fireball rushed at him, and Sephiroth flew forward, cutting at the flames as he had with Genesis's and pulling out of the way. A tongue of flame licked at the glove on his right hand, and he shook it out, letting out a hiss through his teeth. Unlike Genesis's flames, these had actually hurt. His hand felt burned.

He gripped onto Masamune tightly with both hands, folding his wing against himself as he pulled into a dive.

He couldn't be mistaken about what he had seen. Kunsel was dead, Shelke and Genesis were fighting. He could only assume that Genesis had killed him, although whose side Shelke was on couldn't be determined at the moment. He didn't have the time to think about that now. As much as he wanted to deal with Genesis, he couldn't. Jenova demanded his full attention. He didn't dare turn his back.

He gripped his sword in one hand, slashing twice at Jenova. Light followed the path of his blade, the blows knocking her back even as she raised her arms to protect herself. He charged forward, slashing at her waist, but she spun out of the way before his sword could reach her, her hands upraised again. Sephiroth quickly flew back, flipping over in the air as he avoided another gout of blue flame. He gripped Masamune in both hands, folding his wing close to himself as he stabbed down. She moved just out of the path of his sword, raising one clawed hand and slashing at him. He pulled back, her claws moving inches away from his face.

Sephiroth landed on the ground, jumping back as Jenova lashed out with another arm, her claws scraping against Masamune's edge. She shot flames towards him again, and he raised his sword to defend himself, reaching for his Materia and quickly throwing up a magical barrier. The flames slammed into his shield, the roar of the flames filling his ears as the heat washed over him. He could feel his shield fluctuating against the force of the flames, and bent the entirety of his will towards it, bolstering his defenses. He pushed back, the flames dying down as he charged forward, slashing at her. She hovered in the air, moving calmly back and away from his strikes, her eyes fixed on him as he moved his sword once, twice, thrice.

She floated lightly out of the way, not taking her eyes off his. He jumped back, guarding himself against another blast of flame. His feet landed lightly on the stone of the platform, and he slid back, pulling his wing close to himself and avoiding another blast. Jenova raised her hand towards him. He raised his sword, about to defend himself when he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye.

Zack charged in, the Buster Sword flashing in the sunlight streaming in from above the altar. Jenova turned to deal with it, her claws scraping against the side of the metal as Zack landed lightly on the ground.

"Sephiroth!" yelled a voice.

He turned, watching as Cissnei jumped over the remainder of the gap with ease, dropping into a slide as she landed on the slick stones and standing up in front of him. She held Rekka out in front of her, her eyes fixed below Jenova. "We'll talk later," she said, before he could speak. She didn't look back at him. "I promise."

Behind her ran Barret, pulling his gun arm towards himself as he landed on the platform with a thud. He braced his gunarm against himself, pointing it at Jenova. Sephiroth glanced at him.

"What about Marlene?" he asked.

"I'll get 'er," grumbled Barret. "But she ain't safe as long as this bitch is alive. We got unfinished business."

Sephiroth nodded, holding Masamune at the ready. "Fair enough," he said, looking back at Jenova. He watched as Zack drew the Buster Sword into a powerful slash. Jenova moved backwards to avoid the blow, giving Zack just a moment to glance back.

"Go help Aerith!" Zack said. "We'll deal with this."

He raised the Buster Sword just as Jenova charged in, her claws scraping along the length of the blade as she lashed out at him in rage. Zack grit his teeth pushing back. The Buster Sword was heavier than Masamune, and the shove was enough to unbalance her, just enough for Zack to jump back and out of the way of her blows. Cissnei quickly ran to one side, letting Rekka fly as Barret let loose a barrage of bullets, both attacks converging on Jenova. On the other side of the battle, he saw Blaire push herself further against one of the pillars, watching with wide eyes.

"I can't—," Sephiroth began.

"Just go!" Barret yelled, pausing in his shooting before letting loose another barrage. Cissnei snatched Rekka out of the air, rolling out of the way of one of Jenova's blasts of fire.

"Aerith's unprotected down there," she said, looking back at him. "And Shelke can't hold off Genesis alone."

_No one else can fight Genesis from the air. _

She didn't need to say it. He could see it in her eyes, as she looked back at him.

He nodded, pulling his sword close to him and slashing outwards to clear it.

Sephiroth unfurled his wing, and flapped once, charging towards Genesis.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

XxXxX

**A/N: **Just as Jenova-BIRTH was represented by Eve's Third Form from Parasite Eve, Jenova-LIFE is represented by Eve's Second Form (the one in the dress).

And yes, Sephiroth used Sudden Cruelty from Dissidia against Jenova. You can probably go ahead and assume that a good chunk of his Dissidia attacks are Sephiroth Limit Breaks. ^^


	130. File 036: Wandering Souls pt2

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Everyone remember Kunsel's Limit from back in the Saucer? Good? Keep that in mind. ^^ Theme music for the second scene is **Take Me Away by Globus. **Enjoy! Next chapter will be the last before the epilogue. I will say that Jenova's monologue was one of the most fun for me to write. Poor Zack.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, Irish-Brigid, Riku Uzumaki, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, damagectrl.07, DarkSeraphim1, **and **XXTakaraXX **for the reviews and support!

Merry Christmas everyone! (whatever your beliefs)

XxXxX

**File 036: Wandering Souls**

Zack watched as Sephiroth flew overhead, black feathers scattering behind him as he shot towards Genesis. He twisted out of the way quickly as Jenova's hand came through, one clawed finger tracing a line across the side of his cheek as he jerked his head away. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step back, raising his sword to block her next strike. Jenova's claws skittered across the flat of his sword, her eyes fixing on him in rage. Her hand flattened against the side of the Buster Sword, blue fire forming between her palm and the metal. The force of the blast flung him back, and Zack grit his teeth as he struck the ground, quickly rolling backwards and getting back onto his feet. He swept the sword out to his side, extinguishing the last remaining traces of fire, and looked up at Jenova.

She spun in the air, one hand reaching out and grabbing hold of Rekka as Cissnei charged in, the other shooting flames at Barret. As Zack watched, Barret threw himself to the side, going into a roll. He came back up, still shooting at Jenova. Jenova turned, using her hold on Rekka to yank Cissnei into the line of fire.

Cissnei released her weapon, dropping out of the way of the barrage. Zack saw her drop down onto the ground, both hands slipping into the pockets of her black vest. They came away with two small, flat disks, which she pressed into the ground, getting up and leaping into a roll. An explosion shook the ground just as she cleared the area, the bombs detonating and consuming Jenova in a circle of fire.

"Zack!" she yelled, raising her head and turning towards him.

"You got it!" said Zack, gripping the Buster Sword in both hands.

He shot forward, pulling the sword back and over his shoulder. Zack thrust straight through the flames, letting out a shout of rage as he swung his sword at Jenova. The Buster Sword tore through the curtain of fire, both Zack and Jenova barreling through the flames and shooting out the other end of the circle. The two of them were locked in combat, Jenova's hands gripping the steel of the Buster Sword as Zack drove them forward. Zack let out another loud shout, putting all of his weight and strength behind the strike. The Buster Sword completed its arc, throwing Jenova back and against a pillar. The pillar cracked with the force of the blow, thin lines forming a spiderweb in the stone beneath her.

Just as Zack straightened up, Cissnei dashed forward, Rekka in her hand. She ran towards Jenova, holding Rekka out in front of her. Before Jenova could recover, Cissnei sliced upwards, cutting a vertical gash across Jenova's chest. She flipped backward at the end of her cut, gaining distance and giving Barret enough space to let loose another volley. Dust flew as Barret's bullets struck stone, shattering it into powder.

Jenova let out a roar of pain and anger, charging out from the cloud of dust. She rushed at Zack, her hands extended and a gout of blue flame preceding her. Zack raised the Buster Sword, angling it so that it shielded most of his body. The flames struck, bringing with them a terrible heat. Zack closed his eyes against it, sucking in a breath through his teeth. His mind raced, thinking back to all of the people that had supported him this far, all of the people he fought for. Their faces flashed through his mind, one after another.

Aerith, Sephiroth, Cissnei. Cloud, Tifa, Red. Vincent, Yuffie, Barret. Cid. Tseng. His parents. Blaire. Shalua. Angeal.

Kunsel.

Zack's eyes snapped open. He charged forward, moving through the flames as Jenova neared him. With a loud cry, he pulled the Buster Sword's hilt back, cutting upwards. The sword swept through the flames, the uppercut catching Jenova in the chest and sending her flying upwards. Zack pressed on, following her into the sky, cutting once, twice, a third time, until Jenova had gone as high as she would go. He shot out from under her, twisting around and raising the Buster Sword over his head. With another shout, Zack cut downwards, the Buster Sword slamming into Jenova and sending her crashing down into the earth.

She landed in the center of the altar platform, the ground buckling beneath her. Cissnei and Barret jumped back, moving to the edges as Jenova landed, Zack landing not too far away from her. He straightened up, looking over at her.

Jenova looked half-melted. The skin on one side of her face and across one shoulder had been burnt away by the blast, something white that might have been bone showing through. Her chest was cut open from Cissnei's strike, and she bore the marks from his latest attack. She twitched once, and was momentarily still. Zack let out the breath he was holding, getting to his feet.

Then something happened.

She laughed.

Zack stared at her, halfway to putting the Buster Sword away. It was a quiet chuckle, nothing more, but in the stillness that followed the battle, it was almost deafening. He, Cissnei, and Barret turned towards it, watching as Jenova pushed herself up on one clawed hand, turning slightly so that she could face them. The movement made her hair drape over the side of her face that was normal, leaving the burned side visible and making her look even more grotesque.

"You really think you've won," she said, a smirk appearing on her face. "You truly believe you've defeated me. How…naïve you are." Zack raised his sword, pointing it at her. Her smirk widened as she looked at the blade, as though the sight of it increased her glee. As Zack watched, the flesh across her face and shoulder began to recover, repairing itself and growing over the burned areas.

"Look around you, Zack Fair," she said, sweeping a hand out to the other fights. Zack turned his head, watching as Nero and Vincent clashed again and again, watching as Rosso fought with Cloud, Tifa, and Red, watching as Weiss slashed with his katanas and Cid fell back, landing with a splash in the water.

"Where is your hope? Nothing awaits you here but death. Accept your fate. You cannot defeat me. Whether today, or tomorrow, or the next day, I will find you, and _all _of you will die."

Zack shook his head, trying to tear his eyes away from the fight. Cloud dashed in front of Rosso's strike to protect Tifa. Her blade came crashing down, cutting a line of blood across his side and making him cry out. Weiss turned away from Cid, rounding onto Yuffie as Shalua fired at him.

"You're wrong," he found himself saying.

"Am I?" asked Jenova. She rose up off the ground, hovering in the air in front of him as she straightened up. "Tell me, SOLDIER, where is your hope? Where is your honor? Is it in that sword you carry?" She floated closer to him. Somewhere off in the distance, Shalua let out a cry of pain. Zack tore his eyes away, turning towards her. He tightened his grip on his sword. "But that sword was owned by another, wasn't it?" Jenova continued, her tone lightly mocking. "An…_honorable _man. Tell me, Zack, what happened to this honorable man. Who killed him?"

He gripped the sword tighter, the tip beginning to tremble as Jenova neared. She glanced at it, her eyes coolly dismissive, then floated around it, one clawed finger landing on Zack's cheek. The finger moved down to his jaw, lightly tracing the scar. "That's right," she said, leaning closer.

"_You _did."

Zack let out a shout of fury, swinging the Buster Sword. "You're _wrong_!" he shouted.

Jenova floated lightly back, moving out of range. She dodged his second strike with just as much ease. "Oh, I'm wrong?" she said. "You _didn't _kill Angeal? You didn't kill Essai? You didn't kill Sebastian? Death follows you, Zack Fair. It follows you wherever you go. There are many who are dead today who would have been alive…if they had never met you."

"No." Zack gripped the Buster Sword tighter, slashing upwards. Jenova moved out of the way, coming around to his side. He turned, slashing out at her, but she flew backwards, her eyes fixed on him.

"Essai Le Blanc. Sebastian Withers. Angeal Hewley. Kunsel Harringer. They're dead because of you. You couldn't stop Genesis in Nibelheim. You couldn't protect Sector 7. You couldn't even protect your beloved Cetra, you had to let Sephiroth do that. You've failed, Zack. You _always _fail. And this time, you've led them all to their deaths."

"That won't happen!" said Zack, stabbing at Jenova. She moved back, dodging with ease. In the air above, Nero fired, and Vincent began to fall, blood trailing behind him as he plummeted to the ground. Yuffie screamed. Jenova glanced skyward, her smirk growing.

"Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Yuffie Kisaragi." She gave Zack a knowing smile. "Blaire Malkuth. Cissnei of the Turks. Nanaki, son of Seto, Barret Wallace, Shalua Rui, Aerith Gainsborough. They'll die before the day is out because you failed to protect them. Because their _hero _failed. I might even be nice and let you die first."

He swung his sword at her face. She ducked beneath it. "Shut up!"

Jenova ignored him. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, dodging another strike. "To sacrifice yourself for the 'greater good'. To lay down your sword, once and for all. You think death will save you from me. Let me tell you a secret, Zack Fair. You cannot hide from me."

The Buster Sword thrust forward, stabbing straight through Jenova's torso. She hovered there, pinned by the sword, her face fixed in an expression of calm as she looked down at him.

"I am death."

As Zack watched, her body began to dissolve, a black mist surrounding him.

It suddenly became hard to breathe.

XxXxX

Sephiroth darted towards Genesis, Masamune in hand as he approached the pair locked in battle. He saw Shelke's eyes drift towards him, and she jumped out of the way, flipping over backwards and landing with a splash in the water as Sephiroth's sword made contact with Genesis's Rapier. The force of the blow sent them both flying back. In the water below, Shelke collapsed into a crouch, one hand over the exposed circuits of her Deepground uniform.

Genesis's eyes met his. "Sephiroth," he said, smirking. "How good of you to join us. I was wondering if you'd forgotten about me."

"I'm tired of your games, Genesis," said Sephiroth, his eyes narrowing. "This ends now."

"Yes, it does," said Genesis, placing one hand on the flat of his blade. Red runes flared into life, light spreading from the Rapier's hilt to its tip. "For one of us."

Sephiroth braced himself for the blast as he was thrown back. He flapped his wing, flipping over in the air and righting himself quickly before flying back down, tucking his wing against himself and going into a dive. Genesis darted out of the way, slashing upwards at him from the side. Sephiroth turned, blocking the strike, their eyes locking from over their crossed swords as the two of them pivoted in the air. They sprang apart, coming together again and filling the area above the lake with the sounds of clashing steel.

"Why are you doing this?" Sephiroth asked as he charged forward again, slashing at Genesis's torso. "What are you after?"

"I'm after what I have always been after," said Genesis. He blocked Sephiroth's strike and moved in, the two swords sliding against each other until they were locked at the hilts. Genesis's eyes met Sephiroth's, his coat flaring up around him as they hovered together in the air. "_My friend_," he quoted. "_my__ desire, is the bringer of life. The gift of the Goddess." _

Sephiroth glared at him, flying backwards and breaking the lock with a flick of wrist, swatting the Rapier aside with Masamune. He gripped his sword with both hands, thrusting it towards Genesis. Genesis moved out of the way, Masamune's tip skittering against his coat pauldron. "You're insane," he said.

"Maybe," said Genesis. "But then again, who's to say that _you're _not the one that's crazy."

"You're basing this off a poem," said Sephiroth. "A story. That's what you're fighting for?"

"What are you fighting for?" asked Genesis, swinging his sword. Sephiroth blocked it easily, falling back towards the ground as Genesis flew upward, hovering in the air. "The world? That Cetra? Your _pride_?" He stared down at Sephiroth, batting aside Masamune as Sephiroth lashed out with the blade, and looking down at him from the air. His characteristic smirk was gone from his face, a serious frown replacing it as he held out one gloved hand, runes tracing themselves in the air.

"You don't even know anymore," he said.

A blast of fire shot outwards from him, striking Sephiroth square in the chest before he could guard against it. He fell back, skimming the surface of the water before landing with a splash in the center of the lake. In the air above him, Genesis flew higher, raising his sword above his head. Flames began to form, wrapping around the tip of his blade.

Sephiroth pushed himself up with one arm, trying to get to his feet. He let out a gasp as pain shot through his chest, nearly knocking him back. Sephiroth clapped one gloved hand over the spot that Genesis had hit. The skin was burned, making it difficult to breathe. He grit his teeth, tightening his hold on Masamune and getting up anyway.

Something had changed.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but standing in the water, it nagged at him. Something was _different. _He raised his eyes to the sky, to Genesis hovering there, runes writing themselves into the air around him as he muttered to himself, then back down at the earth, to the water rippling around him.

Rippling.

The water was moving, where it had once been still, and the ripples were not coming from him. They weren't.

He looked across the pond at where Aerith lay, her head bowed and her hands clasped around one of Kunsel's. She was crying. He couldn't hear her, but he could see it in the way her shoulders shook slightly, in the way she refused to look up. He saw a single tear trace its way down her cheek, landing on the back of Kunsel's hand.

Around her, there was light. A faint light, barely visible, but growing steadily brighter. The water rippled around her, a gentle pulse, forming concentric circles. They had been fighting in this lake for almost an hour, he realized. Besides the splashes formed by people moving within it, he didn't recall seeing the water move at all.

And then he understood. All of the pieces, everything that he had been wondering about since the Temple of the Ancients, since seeing the black lake ripple when she touched it, seemed to come flashing through his mind at once, and bringing him back to older memories, memories of young men playing at fighting in the training room after hours. Memories of Genesis, and the book he always read. The book he'd read from again and again, until Sephiroth almost knew it as well as he did.

_Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess…_

Aerith lowered her head, the light around her brightening.

_We seek it thus, and take to the sky… _

Red runes formed in the water around her. Sephiroth extended his wing, scattering water droplets as he looked up at Genesis's raised hand.

_Ripples form on the water's surface…_

The water lapped at his knees. He pushed up against the ground, flapping his wing once and shooting into the air. The runes around Aerith brightened, along with her light. Genesis was speaking, similar runes appearing around his hand.

He felt the heat and knew that the fire would be coming next.

_The wandering soul knows no rest…_

"I'll end this now," Genesis was saying. "Sephiroth!"

"No, Genesis!" Sephiroth heard himself say. "You have it _wrong_!"

He slammed into Genesis shoulder first, knocking the ex-SOLDIER from his perch in the sky. The runes around Aerith dissolved, the spell that should have struck her striking him instead. His world dissolved into heat, but he grabbed onto Genesis's arm, the two of them falling together through the flames. They landed with a splash in the water, and Sephiroth pushed off of him, jumping back and landing crouched a few feet away. Genesis got to his feet with a snarl, pointing his sword at him.

"You always have to interfere," he said, rushing forward. He cut at Sephiroth, Sephiroth blocking the slash easily. The two of them moved through the water, Genesis slashing at Sephiroth again and again. Sephiroth stepped back, using Masamune to block Genesis's strikes. "Always the hero," Genesis said. "Isn't that right, Sephiroth?"

"Genesis, listen to me." Sephiroth blocked another of Genesis's strikes, looking his friend in the eye. "Jenova is not a goddess. She wants to destroy this world."

"Good," said Genesis. He spun around in the air, aiming a powerful downward cut at Sephiroth's head. Sephiroth jumped back, avoiding the blow, and blocking a second one as Genesis switched directions and slashed at his chest. "This world can burn. What has it ever done for me? What has it ever done for _you_? Why protect it? Why protect _them_? There's nothing in this world worth protecting!"

The last slash brought with it a flash of fire, and Sephiroth found himself pushing through the heat, slashing three times at Genesis in rapid succession. Genesis sidestepped twice, dodging two of them, but the third caught him across the chest, sending him staggering back.

"You're wrong," Sephiroth said.

"I'm not," said Genesis, looking up at Sephiroth. "You know I'm not. A world that created you and I…a world that killed Angeal…" He took a step forward, sweeping the hand over his chest out in a gesture that sent droplets of blood spattering into the water. "Why is that a world worth _protecting?!" _

"Because nothing will ever change!" Sephiroth found himself replying. Genesis stopped moving, staring at him, and Sephiroth realized he had shouted. The world paused. He took a breath, meeting Genesis's eyes. "If you destroy the world," he said. "Nothing will ever change, and everyone that died for it will have died for nothing."

"You can't change this world," Genesis said, looking up. He gripped his sword tightly, raising it and pointing it at Sephiroth. "It's beyond saving. I will destroy this world, and everything in it. Starting with you."

"No."

The voice wasn't his. It was a soft voice, barely there, and yet, it carried the sort of weight that commanded attention. He looked over his shoulder, to where Aerith knelt in the water, sitting back on her heels with Kunsel resting in her lap.

She raised her head, her eyes fixing on Genesis.

"No, you will _not_."

The light brightened around her, becoming almost blinding. She spoke one word.

"_Holy." _

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	131. File 036: Wandering Souls pt3

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Hey guys, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. We had a bit of a family emergency (great-uncle got sick, we had to go visit him at the hospital), and I took a little bit of a break from writing for Christmas. That said, this is the last chapter! The epilogue, and maybe even a scene or two you might be looking forward to, is up next!

Thanks go to **SpiritDreamWarriors, Eavenne, XXTakaraXX, Meteor Panda, Irish-Brigid, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, guest, Riku Uzumaki, Gameplayer23, JazzQueen, **and **Never Morrison **for the reviews and support! Not much farther now!

**Meteor Panda, **yes! Genesis is totally Santa!

**Guest, **actually that's exactly what I was doing—that and using Tifa's fight with Loz in Advent Children as kind of an idea of how the 'normal' humans would handle themselves in a fight with an enhanced person (basically that under some circumstances, they could hold their own for a bit but not win). I do agree that I've been a little lax with that and there's plot armor everywhere, so that would definitely be something to fix or keep an eye out for in later scenes. Integrating gameplay and story is hard, lol.

**Gameplayer23, **nothing much, just that the attack that Zack used against Jenova was Kunsel's Limit Break. Something of a "Kunsel was added to the DMW" blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene. ^^

XxXxX

**File 036: Wandering Souls**

"_Holy."_

The word echoed in the air, the world growing suddenly still. Genesis turned, faced Aerith, raised his sword.

The light streamed outwards from her, white light twisting and turning in the air as it moved towards him. As Sephiroth watched, the light encircled him, before imploding inward, collapsing into his chest. The force of the blast threw him back before he could react, propelling him past Sephiroth and outside of the curtain of light. The light spread outward, moving past Aerith and expanding to cover the entirety of the lake, streams of white light weaving themselves into a dome over them.

As the light brushed against him, he felt a sudden, strange calm, saw something in the back of his mind, something like light gleaming across armor. A voice touched him, the barest whisper as the light ghosted across his skin.

_Rest. _

Masamune slipped from his fingers, landing point down in the soft earth of the lake. The light stretched outward, moving through the dome and beyond.

XxXxX

Zack sank to his knees, helpless against the shadows that pressed in against him. They wrapped around him, closing in on his mind, making it so that he struggled to breathe. He felt the shadows constrict around him, felt his vision begin to blur, his lungs screaming for air. In the distance, Cissnei shouted, and Barret waved his gunarm around threateningly, but they were powerless against the encroaching dark. The shadows wrapped around his neck and tightened. Zack reached out, trying to grab hold of it and pull it away, but they slipped right through his fingers, as immaterial as air.

He heard Jenova laugh and thought for a moment that it would be the last sound he would ever hear, as his eyes drifted closed and his grip on his sword slackened.

Then, his world was filled with light.

It rushed up from the lake below, a white light so bright that even from behind his closed eyes, it seemed blinding. He heard Jenova scream in agony, and then suddenly air filled his lungs, the pressure against his throat vanishing. It was replaced by a touch, hands cupping his face gently, turning it upwards. The touch smoothed his brow, a gesture from his childhood, half-remembered.

_Mom…? _

He opened his eyes and looked straight into eyes of blue. Zack caught a glimpse of fair skin, blond hair, and then the vision faded, and he was kneeling on the broken platform of the altar. Alone.

The Buster Sword clattered onto the ground beside him as he knelt there, still staring at the air.

"Zack!" called Cissnei again.

Zack's eyes widened as he remembered where he was, and quickly got to his feet, snatching up the Buster Sword in one hand and running to the edge of the platform. He braced one hand against a broken pillar, leaning over the edge and looking out. The light continued to spread upward and out, rising into the sky, where Vincent and Nero fought. He saw Nero push away from Vincent, saw him attempt to shield his face with his wing against the approaching light. He cried out, disappearing in a flash of shadow as the light washed over him. On the pillars beside them, Weiss cursed, shouting something to a glowing Rosso. Shadows appeared, coiling around them and plucking them from their fights just as the light began to move over them.

They did not return. He looked up, seeing black feathers fall to the ground below as a streak of red flew through the gaps in the stone, seeking sunlight.

Gone.

Zack exhaled, looking at the scene the Tsviets had left behind. Tifa had run to Cloud, who was crouched on the platform the three of them had fought Jenova on—Nanaki was on his side and not moving. Shalua had her prosthetic arm cradled against her chest, and Yuffie was sprawled out against the stone. He didn't see Cid. In the lake below, Sephiroth stood ankle deep in water, Masamune on the ground next to him. Beside him, Shelke had landed crouched, her cloak falling around her. The lake was dominated by the hulking corpse of Arch Azul, its metal plates gleaming in the light.

Aerith stood in the center of the lake, wreathed in light. Kunsel lay at her feet, still unmoving. Someone had laid him out straight, closing his eyes and folding his hands over his torso as though he was only sleeping. The sight of that corpse brought home everything that had happened over the past few hours, everything Jenova had said.

He felt his knees give, and held on tightly to the broken edge of the pillar as he watched the light slowly fade away, the streams of light flowing inward and sinking into Aerith before vanishing from view. Aerith stood, unmoving, until the last of the light disappeared, the glow fading from her. Then, she stumbled back, her eyes drifting closed as she landed with a splash in the water, her staff falling to the ground beside her.

It was over, he realized, staring numbly at the scene.

All over.

He closed his eyes, letting the relief and the weariness and the grief take him for a moment as he sank to his knees.

XxXxX

It was quiet in the aftermath.

AVALANCHE's official toll was an assortment of broken bones, gunshot wounds, cuts and gashes. Rosso's Bloodburst form had broken the fingers of one of Tifa's hands and two of her ribs, and Aerith was quickly at work setting that to rights. The flower girl was exhausted from summoning Holy, everyone could see that, but she hadn't left the area they had designated as the medical tent since getting back, and no one had tried to move her. She dealt with them one at a time, more serious injuries taking priority, less serious injuries getting tended to with ordinary first aid or other Materia.

And there were a lot of them.

Vincent had been shot twice in the chest—the gunman assured them all that he would heal. Cloud had a deep cut across his back, but his mako enhancements had saved him from anything worse. Shalua's prosthetic arm had been cut in half, and Cid had been found unconscious at the foot of the pillar, concussed, wounded, but alive. For her own part, Yuffie had her arm in a sling, and her usual white bandanna replaced with a roll of bandages while she waited for her turn to be healed. Blaire was inconsolable, Red's right side was a patchwork of gauze.

And Kunsel had died.

The thought still made her numb when she thought about it, and she settled down on one of the pillars, dropping her shuriken to the ground beside her and gingerly wrapping her uninjured arm around herself.

Kunsel had died.

She didn't have any way of knowing during the battle. Back then, all she'd been focused on was staying alive. But now that it was over, now that she could really think, she found her eyes drawn more and more to the sword that had been stabbed point down in the lake's shallows, to that simple grave.

She couldn't think of him as gone. If she closed her eyes, she could still see him, from Costa del Sol, from the number of times they had traveled together, from how she used to poke fun at him. They'd been friends, maybe not close, but he'd been there when she'd climbed the pagoda. He'd cheered with the rest of them. He was one of them, one of AVALANCHE. They'd traveled together, fought together, laughed together.

And now he was gone.

She wasn't a stranger to death, at least, she didn't think she was. Her mother died when she was younger, and the rest of her life throughout the Wutai War seemed to be funeral after funeral, a state affair for General this or Commander that, or the Honorable Lord such and such. Shinra had killed so many Wutaiians that it seemed impossible that any Wutaiian left alive would be so unaccustomed to death.

And yet, if she thought about it, the only person she knew, truly knew, from that time had been her mother.

And this death was bringing all of that back.

She looked up, over at the lake where Zack stood, keeping watch in front of the sword that rose up out of the earth. Nobody had been able to move him from that spot since the battle ended.

Nobody had really tried.

Something wet trickled down her cheek, landing on her knees. The droplet was followed by another and another, and she felt herself shaking. More tears fell, until she was blinded by them. She didn't raise a hand to wipe them away, because ninja didn't cry. They weren't supposed to. Ninja didn't cry. Princesses didn't cry.

Empresses didn't cry.

That scared, sniveling little girl couldn't be her. It couldn't be.

The tears fell, again and again, while she sat there, and shook, and watched Zack keep watch over a dead man.

She didn't know when she stopped crying, whether it was before she heard the sound or after. Perhaps she had been sitting there, her tears long since spent, by the time she heard the sound of someone walking through the forest, trying to go unseen. Or maybe she had been crying up until she heard the sound, the sound startling her back into reality. Either way, she heard it and looked up, one hand reaching for her shuriken.

It was only Cissnei.

The ex-Turk stood beside one of the trees, watching her. She looked slightly guilty, moving her eyes away from Yuffie's to the ground at her feet and back to Yuffie's eyes again. She didn't attempt to move closer. Yuffie sniffed, blinking tears out of her eyes and drawing herself straighter.

"What…" she asked, trying to will confidence back into her voice. The words sounded thick and hoarse, not at all what they should sound like, and not at all what she wanted them to. "…do you want, Turkey?"

"Aerith sent me to find you," said Cissnei. "It's your turn."

At first, Yuffie didn't understand what she was talking about. Then, Cissnei's eyes traveled to her arm and she looked away, her fingers brushing against the elbow of the arm in the sling. Pain shot up through the broken bones, but she managed to keep from crying out, her indrawn breath the only sign of how much it had hurt. "I'm okay," she said. "Tell Aerith to go to sleep."

Cissnei's expression softened, and she took a few steps forward, coming to a stop just out of Yuffie's reach. "You're not okay," she said, her voice uncommonly gentle.

"I am!" Yuffie insisted, turning towards her. She felt tears sting her eyes again. It was so stupid. She had a broken arm, a gash on her forehead, and a graze on her leg. She'd been completely outmatched in that fight. If she hadn't been so lucky, if she'd been just a little bit slower, if she'd lost her footing just one time—She should be dead. By all accounts, one hundred times over, she should have died. And yet, Kunsel, who was a SOLDIER First Class—

She wiped at her tears with her free hand. "I'll live," she told Cissnei. "I'll be okay."

"Yuffie…" She heard Cissnei pause, heard her take a deep breath. Yuffie didn't look up. She waited for the entreaty, waited for Cissnei to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that she was being stupid, that she needed to move on. She waited for that. What she got instead was a little more pragmatic. "You can't fight with a broken arm."

She guessed she should have expected that from Cissnei.

Yuffie glanced down at her hand, her fingers hanging limp inside the sling. Her shuriken, leaning against the stone she was sitting, was bloodied and dull. When she first started traveling with them, she'd been excited. She wanted the adventure, wanted to prove herself. And now that she had, she realized she didn't want to fight any more.

"…How do you do it?" she asked Cissnei, turning towards the other woman.

"Do what?" asked Cissnei, frowning at her.

"Keep moving," Yuffie said. "…When your friends die. How do you get over it?"

Cissnei's expression darkened. She glanced to the side, and Yuffie followed her gaze, noticing that she was watching Zack too. She wondered who Cissnei was thinking of—which friends she had had that had died like this. Did Cissnei even have any friends? She had to. She had the Turks, didn't she? Tseng and the others? Yuffie remembered the look on her face in the Temple of the Ancients, when they'd come across a wounded Tseng.

They had to mean something to her, didn't they?

Cissnei's breath caught, her hands curling at her side. For a moment, Yuffie thought she wouldn't answer. But then, she exhaled softly, uncurling her hands.

"You don't," she said. "You just…keep moving. One foot in front of another. And figure the rest out a little bit at a time."

Yuffie looked away, considering her answer. Her eyes moved back over the lake, over Zack, who still wasn't looking at her. She shivered, wrapping her free arm around her middle again. Her mind went back to the battle earlier, to the bright light that Aerith had summoned. "…Did we…really beat Jenova?" she asked.

Cissnei's silence was answer enough. Yuffie looked down at her hand, splaying the fingers of it across her knee as she waited for the ex-Turk to collect her thoughts. When she spoke at last, her tone was tentative, uncertain. "…I think…we won a battle," she said.

"But not the war?"

"…We…" Cissnei took a deep breath, shaking her head. "I don't know. I'd like to believe that that's the end of it, but…we don't know where Genesis is. Weiss, Nero, and Rosso are still alive. And Shelke…"

She didn't need to say anything more. Shelke had disappeared after the battle. By the time they had regrouped enough to start wondering where she was, and whose side she was on, she was gone. On an ordinary day, Red could have tracked her. Today…today, they let her go.

"There's something else," said Cissnei, making Yuffie look up. "We still haven't found the Black Materia."

Yuffie stared at her. She knew what that statement implied, and didn't _want _to consider it. She didn't want to think of the implications, to think of what might happen if the Black Materia was in enemy hands. She wanted it to be over. She wanted desperately to believe that it was over. But thinking about it wouldn't make it so.

"It's not over then…" she said, looking back at the ground.

"No," said Cissnei. "It's not. And you can't fight with a broken arm."

There was a pleading note in her voice. Yuffie looked at her, and thought about Aerith, pale and near-exhaustion, working herself to the bone to heal what the others could not. She thought of Zack, lending his healing Materia to the worst cases and then going out to begin the lonely task of digging a grave. She thought of Sephiroth, who was managing the camp even while they were standing out here talking, who was helping with the first aid even though he was in no way a medic. She thought of Barret, keeping guard because he was one of the few that hadn't been too injured to do so. And then she understood.

They were all fighting, in their own way. They were all fighting still.

And somehow, she'd given up. She didn't think she would ever let that happen.

She took a deep breath, then got to her feet. "Alright," she told Cissnei, picking her shuriken up off the ground. "I'll go over there."

XxXxX

His back hurt.

Cloud wondered why he even bothered to think about that now, after all that had happened. They'd won. They'd beaten back the Tsviets, killed Azul. They'd lost a friend. He should be feeling all sorts of things—happy, sad, regretful, _anything_. Instead, all he felt was numb. And his back hurt. He could still feel where Rosso had stabbed it, her blade cutting a line of pure fire across the skin.

It was funny how utterly insignificant it seemed now.

"Tifa will be alright."

Cloud looked up startled at the sound of the voice, glancing behind him. Sephiroth stood there, a few feet away as always. He met Cloud's eyes, and Cloud felt himself flinch away from the contact, felt himself turn and look out over the woods. "That's…good to know," he said. He didn't say anything more. He didn't trust his voice.

"Nanaki told me what happened," said Sephiroth. "He said you took that wound protecting her. If you hadn't, it would have been a lot worse. You did well today, Cloud."

Once, the praise would have thrilled him. Once, he would have been embarrassed, and privately ecstatic. Once, he would have smiled. Maybe at some point in the future, he would do the same, but for now, he found that he couldn't. The words that would have once filled him with pride seemed to fill him with only bitterness, and he found his eyes being drawn, unbidden, to Zack keeping his vigil over his friend's grave. "Really?" he asked, without thinking. "Then, why does it feel like I couldn't do anything at all?"

"Men die."

The coldness of the words startled him, making him look up. He knew Sephiroth was cold. He had seen it before, in the way he dealt with people. But somehow, he thought that this would be different. That he wouldn't say that now—not here, not in front of a fresh grave.

"How can you say that?" he asked.

"Because it's the truth," said Sephiroth. He looked back over the lake, at Zack and the solitary sword. "As long as people fight, people die. That's the reality of things. It could have been anyone today."

"Anyone," said Cloud, without looking up. "But not you."

Sephiroth fell silent, and Cloud knew he had gone too far. He inhaled slowly, the silence between them stretching to the breaking point. When Sephiroth spoke again, his voice was strangely soft, and Cloud felt ashamed of himself. "It could have been me. It might not have been so simple. But as far as I know, I can die."

"I know…" Cloud took a deep breath, looking down at his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Death is a reality of command," said Sephiroth. "Men will die on your orders, whether your plans succeed or fail. They'll die for you, whether or not you know what you're doing—whether or not you plan for it. And more often than not, you survive. So, then you have to ask yourself, were your orders worth it? Did these men die in vain? As long as humanity exists, there will always be war. And there will always be death. That's the kind of world we live in."

"And what if I don't want that?" asked Cloud. His hands clenched into fists; he didn't even realize they were shaking. If this was all it came down to, then what was that all for? Why had they come all the way out here? Why did he even leave Nibelheim in the first place? "What if I don't want to live in that kind of world?"

"Then turn in your sword," said Sephiroth. "And go home."

Cloud sucked in a breath. He didn't need to turn around to see the stern expression that accompanied the words. He could picture it. He thought back to the others, still fighting. He thought back to Sector 7, to Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. To Kunsel.

He couldn't help, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to let go. To look away, and let someone else take over the fight. To let it be someone else's problem. Zack would keep fighting even if he stopped, he knew, and Sephiroth as well, and Tifa, and Aerith, and Barret, and all of the people he had grown to care about. He knew he couldn't turn away. "I can't do that."

"Then change the world."

_Change the world. _

Sephiroth turned, and Cloud heard him walking away. He sat there, watching as the light came in from the gap in the stone, sunlight reflecting across the surface of the water, against the grave. He thought of that light he had seen earlier, and of those fragmented memories from their flight from Nibelheim, memories of Zack in the back of the truck, Zack loading him onto a motorcycle, Zack setting him down in a hollow in the rocks.

He remembered reaching his hand out, watching his friend walk away. He remembered how helpless he felt then, how helpless he felt watching the Sector 7 pillar fall, how he felt five years ago, watching Nibelheim burn.

He wouldn't be that helpless again. Not ever again.

No one else would die, he promised silently. Not for this. From here on out, all of them would survive.

He looked down at his clenched fist.

Change the world, hmm?

Cloud took a deep breath, getting to his feet. His back still hurt where Rosso had cut him, but he ignored the pain. First things first. Aerith, Sephiroth and the others had been working non-stop since the battle ended. He'd let them get some sleep, and relieve Barret of his watch duty. He'd see if Tifa was okay.

That would have to do for now.

**END FILE**


	132. Interlude 007: Sword Point Down

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N**: Well, guys, here you go. It's been a long ride, about three years long, but thank you for sticking with me. I'll be taking a short break from this fic, to breathe and plan, but expect **Final Fantasy VII: Another Story **to appear on the site sometime next month. With any luck, aside from some key scenes I still want to include, it'll be a bit different from the game. I don't expect it will be as long as this. Disc One is very content heavy, when you think about it.

Thanks go to **JazzQueen, DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Irish-Brigid, Symphony's Feather, Riku Uzumaki, Draconic, XXTakaraXX, **and **Angelwrath **for the reviews and support!

XxXxX

**Interlude 007: Sword Point Down**

His face was reflected in the sword.

Zack stared at it, watching the way light played against the sword's gleaming surface. It stood alone in the lake where Kunsel had fallen, ankle-deep in water. An old SOLDIER tradition, to place someone's sword at the spot where they had fallen, a memorial that served when there wasn't enough time to make a proper grave. There had been enough time, he'd seen to that. It was something he hadn't had a chance to do for Essai and Sebastian, something he hadn't been able to do for Angeal. He did it now, not wanting to leave his friend exposed in this place.

His hand reached out, fingers brushing against the metal of the sword, tracing the grooves and scratches on its surface. It wasn't much to look at, just an ordinary Shinra sword. And yet, there was something in the way it had been well-used and cared for, something in the meticulous detail that had been placed into keeping it sharp, keeping it ready, that spoke of the man that had born it. Unremarkable, but reliable, and worth more than it looked.

He pulled his hand away. It seemed like it hadn't been too long ago that he and Kunsel were standing in Kalm, talking about this.

_Sword point down. _

He'd done it countless times, in the Wutai War. He'd done it for Essai and Sebastian. Somehow, he had never pictured doing it again.

Zack sighed, letting his hand fall back to his side. "You deserved better than this," he said, facing the sword. It was true. He, and Angeal, and Essai and Sebastian—what had they done? They should have been heroes—instead they died traitors' deaths, and he'd killed three of them himself. Jenova hadn't been wrong there—maybe their deaths would have been different if they had never met him.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

He put the thought aside, shaking his head, and as he did so, caught sight of a figure in the sword's steel, moving slowly towards him. The figure was dark, with a splash of reddish-brown hair. He sighed, resting his hands on his waist and straightening up.

"Hey," he said, raising one hand in greeting. He didn't turn back. "Cissnei."

Cissnei drew to a stop; he saw her reflected in the sword. She remained a few feet behind him, not closing that distance, and her eyes were fixed on him. He didn't turn to face her. He heard her take in a breath, felt rather than saw her moment of hesitation.

"How…have you been holding up?" she finally asked.

He shook his head. How was he supposed to answer that question? "Same old, same old," he said. "I'm doing as well as I can, I guess."

She nodded. He couldn't tell whether or not she was satisfied with the answer. Cissnei said nothing, standing with him, and Zack found himself grateful for the silence. The smile that had been building up in the corner of his mouth fell away—he couldn't even bring himself to _fake _it today. He considered the sword, considered the man buried beneath it, considered the face that looked back at him, the face that suddenly seemed so much _older _than that of the boy that had set out from Gongaga—even older than that of the man that had left Midgar for Nibelheim.

Zack searched for grief and found nothing, not the kind of grief that he had first felt in the Wutai War, but an emptiness, a weariness so deep that it sank into his bones. He was tired, he realized, worn out. He'd fought too hard, for too long, for too much that seemed to amount to nothing, and it was hard to hold on to honor and dreams when he couldn't even remember on some days what he was fighting for.

"I can't help thinking that it should be me down there," he said. He watched Cissnei's reflection in the sword, felt the silence between them grow and deepen as she turned away from him to look at the ground. It occurred to him that if she were Aerith, he wouldn't have said it, but Cissnei was tired in the same way he was. They'd all been fighting for too long. "Is it wrong to think that way?"

"Kunsel wouldn't want it," said Cissnei, looking up. She hugged her arms close to herself.

"I guess he wouldn't," said Zack. Kunsel had always been loyal. It almost made him laugh, the idea that the both of them would fall all over themselves to die for the other. But in Zack's case, he wondered if it was because he wanted his friend to live, or because he didn't want to have to go through this again.

Another death, another grave, another memory.

"Dying is easy," said Cissnei, echoing his thoughts. She raised her eyes to the grave. "Living is hard."

"You've got that right," said Zack.

_Kunsel, _he thought, looking at the grave. _…How did we get here, man? _

He didn't want to continue fighting. For a moment, the sword on his back felt like something too heavy to bear. He wanted to close his eyes to the world, to let someone else take over the fight for once—to give away the sword…to let Cloud take it. Cloud was ready—he had seen that in the Temple of the Ancients—and he would do it too. Neither Cloud nor Sephiroth would begrudge him anything if he told them he couldn't fight anymore, if he went home to Gongaga.

But he couldn't do that. It went against everything he was, everything he'd ever claimed to stand for. And he couldn't dishonor their memories that way.

He couldn't leave Aerith alone either. He had to keep fighting. He owed that much to them, to everyone that had died to get him this far.

"How's everyone doing…back there?" he asked Cissnei. It was the first interest he'd shown in the camp since leaving it, the first time a part of him had looked back.

"They're doing fine, Zack," said Cissnei. "Everyone's healed up…as best as they can. They're resting. We'll be ready to move by tomorrow. And…they're worried about you." She took a breath. "_I'm_ worried about you."

"I'll be there soon," he promised, meaning it this time. He watched his face shift in the sword's reflection. "I just…need a longer, okay?"

"Alright." Cissnei sighed, starting to turn away. She paused, mid-turn, and looked back over her shoulder, watching him. "It wasn't your fault," he heard her say. "You know that, right?"

"I know," said Zack, even though he wasn't sure he did. She turned, starting to walk away.

"Cissnei," he said, stopping her.

Cissnei looked up, turning back to face him. "Hmm?"

"Have you talked to Sephiroth yet?" he asked.

Her expression darkened at the mention of that name, and she looked away. "No, I haven't," she said. "I…didn't think now was the best time."

"You might not get a better one," said Zack, looking at the sword. Cissnei followed his gaze to it, catching his meaning. She nodded, taking a deep breath.

"I understand," she said. "I'll talk to him. But, if I can say one thing, Zack?"

He shrugged. Zack had a feeling he knew what she was about to say.

"You should take your own advice," Cissnei said. "Aerith is waiting for you. She needs you, Zack, and I'm sure you need her too. This isn't the time to fight."

Zack said nothing, waiting until Cissnei's footsteps had finally faded away. He thought about Aerith, thought about the last time they'd met. She'd slapped him—it had been deserved, maybe—and then she'd left. With Sephiroth instead of him. He didn't want to admit that it still hurt him. In light of recent events, it seemed petty. Maybe Cissnei was right. Maybe it was.

He waited a few moments more, alone in the silence.

Then he sighed, turning and making his way towards camp.

XxXxX

Sephiroth stood alone, away from the rest of the group.

He'd chosen for his watch a position on the stairs of light that led down from the surface, at a bend in the stairs where he could see both the altar and the platforms leading up to it and the two houses that the group had appropriated for the night. The houses had been mostly stripped bare in the long period of time since anyone had last lived here, but the walls still stood, making them livable if not completely ideal. There was a building at the top of the stairs that was more comfortable, but Sephiroth had quickly vetoed the idea that they camp there. It was too exposed, too open for his liking.

There had been death down here, and he was aware that the reminder of that was uncomfortable for those that lived, but there was also safety here for the night—both the safety of having only one entrance to guard and another sort of safety—a safety that he didn't quite understand, but that somehow, more and more, he found himself trusting.

It wasn't ideal. But for tonight, it would do.

For tonight…he didn't think they had much other choice.

He stared down at the Capital below, quietly watching. Zack still stood at his post, but it looked like Cloud had relieved Barret from his watch outside the building they'd taken as the infirmary. He sat with his back towards the door, his sword propped up against the wall beside him. Cloud looked up at him, as if noticing that he was watching, and their eyes met for the briefest moment. Sephiroth nodded once, looking away. The others would be resting inside—those that were recovering and those that had stayed behind to care for them. Cid and Shalua, Yuffie and Tifa. Nanaki, Aerith. And Blaire.

He frowned, his mouth tightening as he remembered the scene in that tent. The girl wouldn't stop shaking. Aerith had finally cast Sleep on her. To get her to rest, she'd said, looking up at him with eyes that told him Blaire wasn't the only one who needed to sleep. He hadn't liked it at the time—still didn't. It reminded him too much of his own childhood, reminded him of days when he had gotten too emotional or too angry, and had been quietly slipped something in his drink to make him sleep. But he saw the wisdom in it. A child wouldn't be able to process what had just happened—an adult could barely do it. Best to let her sleep, to let the mind heal.

His eyes moved across the narrow street to the next house they had taken over, to where Vincent, Barret, and the former Turk known as Nico rested. It had been his insistence that they take two buildings, despite the fact that all of them could easily fit in one. He didn't want Nico near the wounded. They knew too little about the man.

Vincent was watching him now, and Vincent needed very little sleep. The two understood each other on some level, both being former Turks, and Sephiroth had every confidence that if it came to guns, Vincent would win in the end.

And speaking of Turks…

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder as a figure approached, the glance stopping her in her tracks a few steps below him. Once, easy familiarity would have made it so that she didn't need to stop, so that he didn't need to turn, to acknowledge her presence. There had been a time when no permission was required between them, when she could have just come up to him, and he would have let her. He didn't realize how much he valued that companionship until now, until it was almost gone, strained almost to the breaking point by whatever tension lay between them.

By the tension he had put there.

He was thirty years old, and he had thought himself above such things—beyond impulsiveness like that. He had resigned himself—been resigned for a long time—to be alone. Human companionship was never something he had craved—not in the way that Zack or Yuffie did, but he was quickly learning that he did cherish it when it was there. And in the matter of Cissnei…

He would, he decided, with a rush of feeling that was unlike him, do it again.

She lowered her eyes to the ground, hesitant to intrude, and played with her fingers before looking back at him. Her eyes moved past him, indicating the spot next to him, before turning towards him again. "Is this…" she finally said, trying to inject some of the old levity into her tone and not quite succeeding, "…a private party?"

"If that's what you want," he said, the words coming out colder than he'd expected. She lowered her eyes back to the ground at his tone, then looked up at him, her hesitance making her look almost shy.

"I wanted…to talk."

He stared at her for a moment longer before relenting, taking a step back and opening the space next to him. Sephiroth turned back towards the buildings, and she came to stand next to him, watching the camp as well. Neither of them spoke. It was an echo of many other days, the two of them comfortable in each other's silences. But there was nothing comfortable or companionable about this silence. It was a silence that stretched on between them, highlighting frayed nerves and tugging at emotions best left unraveled, while serving as a constant reminder of what once had been.

It was Cissnei who broke the silence first, looking out over the camp. "Cid woke up. He's doing better. We should be ready to move tomorrow."

"Do we have a destination in mind?" he asked, not begrudging the fact that she chose to drive the conversation back to business. He was comfortable with business. He could discuss it. Those other things that lay between them…those were more difficult to shape into words.

"I was considering Icicle Inn," Cissnei said. She clasped her hands behind her back. "It's as good enough a place as any, and isn't as policed as Bone Village. We'd be able to regroup there and consider our next move properly."

He considered the answer.

"Snowboarding," he said, glancing over at her. "Resort activities."

She gave him a guilty half-smile, turning away from him. He found his eyes drawn to the way her hair hid half of her face from the motion; they tracked the hand she raised to push it back. "I thought…given the circumstances, we could all use a few distractions to take our minds off things." Her eyes moved away from him, back towards the grave.

He nodded his approval. It wasn't something he would have thought about himself, but it was well done. "And after that?" he asked.

Her expression grew serious. "After that," she said. "…I was thinking we might need to return to Modeoheim."

His expression darkened. Modeoheim, the location of the abandoned reactor that he and Cissnei had hidden in for four years. It was also the site where Angeal had died. In their current situation, it was the last place he wanted to be.

"Why Modeoheim?" he asked.

"I want to pick up some things I left there," she said. "Notes, weapons, gear. I also want to see if I can get the Reactor's computers running again."

Sephiroth frowned. The computers, like the helicopter, had been another project of hers in their long isolation. She'd claimed that Hollander had used those computers—that he might have data on them pertaining to Genesis, or that the computers might still be connected to Shinra's mainframe. At first, things had looked positive, but there were, he recalled, problems with the security system, intricacies in Hollander's encryption that she had not been able to crack.

"Do you think it's worth another try?" he asked.

Cissnei considered her words carefully. "I think…" she finally said. "…that under the circumstances, it wouldn't be wrong to try it again."

He said nothing, looking back over the camp. He tried to consider Modeoheim without considering her and gave up. It was enough that it was necessary. Sephiroth looked over the camp, taking notice of the fact that Zack had left the grave. He scanned the area, wondering where the ex-SOLDIER had gone, when Cissnei spoke up next to him.

"It looks like Zack and Aerith are making up," she said.

He glanced down, following her gaze. Zack was standing outside of the door of the infirmary, talking to Cloud. Aerith stood beside him, easily visible in her pink dress. As he watched, Zack turned and Aerith went with him, the two leaving Cloud at his post.

"I've given up," Sephiroth said, watching the two of them as they made their way deeper into the city, where they could talk in private. He couldn't see their faces from here, but from the way they walked, he thought they might be holding hands.

Cissnei frowned in confusion. "On what?" she asked.

"On keeping some sort of order." He looked away from them. "They're never stronger or more focused than when they're together."

Cissnei said nothing, and he felt the tension between them suddenly return, a tightness in the air that made it difficult to breathe. He glanced at her, found that he couldn't, and glanced away, staring instead at some point off on the horizon, as though he was looking for threats from the sky. Cissnei, beside him, clenched her hands into fists, her knuckles turning white with the effort as she looked down at the city.

At length, she exhaled, then spoke. "Do you mind if we go upstairs?" she asked, causing him to turn to her.

"Upstairs?" he repeated.

She glanced upward, turning her eyes toward the entrance at the top of the stairs that led to the building over the entrance to the city. Sephiroth frowned, looking back over the camp. The building had only one entrance. It would still be possible to keep watch over the camp without seeing the camp itself. But there was still the opening in the stone, the threat that someone might fly in. And he wasn't sure he wanted to be alone with her, not in the state they were both in.

As if reading his mind, Cissnei turned her gaze back to the city. "Vincent will cover for us for a little while," she said, her expression growing sheepish. "I asked him."

"Ah."

He was, he found, becoming more and more aware of the tenuous web of connections the Turks spun between each other. Sephiroth wondered briefly what Vincent thought of the arrangement, then realized that he had no other reason to refuse. He was effectively…and quite skillfully trapped.

And perhaps that wasn't a bad thing.

"Not for long," he said, still unwilling to leave the group undefended with so many wounded, even if only for a little bit. Cissnei nodded, and the two of them made their way up the stairs into the shelter of the building, away from prying eyes.

It was quiet up here. The Sleeping Forest, visible through the windows, held the same hush, the same tranquility as it had when he and Aerith had descended, the stillness deepened by the twilit shadows that had seeped into it in their absence. It was almost as if nothing had happened down there, as if the forest existed in a world apart from their own struggles and concerns.

Knowing what he knew about the Ancients, it wouldn't surprise him if that was true.

Cissnei made her way towards one of the outward looking windows, where they could see both the door and the entrance to the stairs. Sephiroth followed, but not before turning on a light. There was no electricity in this place, but rather, glass orbs that were activated the same way one used Materia. Aerith had lit them on their way past, earlier this morning. They'd gone out in her absence, but he was able to do it from what he learned by watching her.

It would be dark soon, he thought as the orb cast the interior of the shell house in bluish green. He had a feeling that this wasn't the sort of conversation one interrupted for something as mundane as the coming of night.

He tried not to think that he was stalling for time, taking measured steps over to where Cissnei waited. He had never been adverse to conflict, but this was a conflict of a different kind. He did think, as she looked up at his approach, taking in the way her arms were folded and she was leaning against the wall, that Cissnei would not have minded if he delayed for longer. But that was more than enough reason to start the conversation now.

"I've been thinking…" she said, her voice hushed as though she was unwilling to disturb the forest's silence. "…about what happened in the Gold Saucer."

He nodded. He knew that was what this would be about from the beginning. She took a deep breath, not meeting his eyes, instead looking down at the floor—oddly clean, for a house that hadn't been lived in for centuries.

"…I shouldn't have run," she said.

He said nothing. His own opinion of that night, of what she should or shouldn't have done, or what he should or shouldn't have done, was so tangled that he didn't know where to begin. Instead, he waited, watching as she struggled with her own words.

"I shouldn't have…" She shook her head, changing her mind. "…You didn't deserve that. From me. I'm sorry."

"I should be the one to apologize," he found himself saying. "I overstepped my boundaries. You only reacted."

She shook her head. "No," she said. "I wanted…I—." She trailed off, shaking her head.

He understood, or he thought he did. "And what do you want now?" he asked, sparing her the trouble of having to explain.

She sucked in a breath, her hands unfolding only to clench into nervous fists. "What I've always wanted," she said. "What I've wanted…for a very long time."

Something jumped in his chest at her words. He kept it from showing on his face. She couldn't have seen anyway. She was refusing to look at him.

"I'm scared…" she finally said. "…of what I feel. I've learned—the hard way—not to trust in my feelings. My emotions…" She shook her head. "I don't…I'm not…I'm afraid of getting hurt. That's why I pushed you away. It wasn't you I was running from. I was…running away from myself." She looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since they had started talking. "I don't want to do that anymore." 

He didn't trust himself to speak. Words, language, all of these things seemed almost unfamiliar as he opened his mouth, grappled with a simple sentence. "What…" he asked. "…what do you want to do?"

She looked away. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of…" she said. "My past—_Our _pasts—." She shook her head. "If we…if we were to be…together…this wouldn't be the last time this would come up. We're not—either one of us—we're both so—"

_Broken. _

That was the word she was grasping for, he realized. The one that she couldn't say. He nodded, because it was true. Between the two of them, there was so much that was lost…so much that had shattered, almost beyond repair.

A part of him wondered if that might be the only reason why he considered this, the reason why he felt himself drawn to her. Because between them, this was also something that could be shared, understood. Their pasts made them what they were. There was no judgment there, for any wrongs they had committed then, for the way they were now.

There was acceptance, and a desire to heal. To move forward, one step at a time.

They would never be normal.

But that didn't mean they had to be alone.

"Cissnei," he said, stopping her from grasping for words. She looked up at him, met his eyes again, and he held her gaze. "I understand."

Cissnei fell silent, looking up at him. She didn't look away from him, and he was suddenly aware, as he had never been before, of how close they were, of the way she was watching him. She hadn't moved from the wall, he realized. It was he that had come closer. Closer to her.

He realized that that was where he'd wanted to be.

She realized it too—her eyes moved away from him briefly to consider the dwindling patch of floor between them, before looking back at up him. "I'm…not perfect," she said, meeting his eyes. "But…I'm willing to try to make it work…if you'll have me."

He said nothing. Couldn't. He was trapped again, he realized, held, this time, not by her words, but with her eyes. A part of his mind registered that she was dangerous, that he didn't understand her effect on him. The rest of his mind was focused on her, on her eyes, on her lips. He didn't take another step forward, keeping his hands at his side instead of reaching out to her.

He was still in control, even if that control was rapidly fading.

"Sephiroth?" she asked, reminding him that some response was expected. Her voice was dangerously close to breaking.

"…If I tried to kiss you again," he said, searching her eyes. "Would you run?"

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. And then, before he knew what had happened, she had crossed the distance between them, placing her arms around his neck, drawing herself up onto the balls of her feet, her mouth pressed to his. The kiss was so unlike the last, where he had pressed forward, and she had only returned. He found himself unable to do anything but stand there and return the kiss, his hands resting on her waist as he drew her to him, lost in the nearness of her.

They pulled apart, and he caught the words she half-whispered, half-exhaled into the space between them before he could open his eyes.

"_I love you…" _

He froze and turned towards her, not sure of what he had heard. Sephiroth opened his mouth, intending to speak, but Cissnei cut him off, pressing her lips to his again. She reached out a hand, and darkness fell.

He realized, with what awareness remained to him, that she had turned out the light.

XxXxX

Darkness fell on the mountainside.

Genesis snarled in anger, kicking away at the rocks and debris in his past as he landed on the ground, black feathers scattered around him. From the campfire nearest him, Weiss and Rosso looked up, their expressions carefully guarded. He glared at them, as if daring one of them to ask about the results of his search. His chest still burned from where the flower girl's attack had struck him, the pain only adding to his temper.

He sat down next to the fire, throwing a piece of wood onto it. The fire burst and crackled, in a way that did nothing to alleviate his anger.

"Have you found her?" asked Weiss.

He shot the man a glare. Weiss stared back at him, unflinchingly. One didn't easily intimidate Weiss the Immaculate, Genesis reminded himself. The man had been leader of the Tsviets for years. He was not someone to be bullied.

But neither was he.

"No," said Genesis, looking back to the fire.

"Well then," said Rosso from beside him. She stretched herself out, sinuously, like a cat. Genesis wondered if she understood the gravity of the situation. "What are we to do now?"

"We return," he said, although the words galled him. "There's nothing for us here."

"Retreat?" A voice spoke out of the dark, causing Genesis to sit up straighter. He looked over his shoulder, watching as the darkness coalesced behind him, becoming Nero the Sable again. "How very unlike you, Genesis."

"What other options do we have?" he asked. The flower girl's move had cut off the rest of their options—without Jenova, they had no hope of facing Holy. Not yet, at any rate. They would return, regroup. He would plan. The Cetra would die—today's events made him aware of that fact—die painfully for this. Shelke too, when they found her. But that would have to wait for another time.

Nero smirked, walking closer to the fire. "I am not the lady's chosen," he said. "Perhaps you should tell me."

"I'm not in the mood for riddles," said Genesis, looking up at Nero. "If you have something to say, say it."

Nero held out his hand, and shadow formed within it. Genesis watched as he turned his hand outward, letting the shadow fall. It tumbled out of his hand, taking shape and form as it did, until it landed on the ground. A single black orb, reflected in the firelight.

An orb with the power to end the world…and make it anew. Genesis stared. Across from him, Weiss leaned forward. Rosso laughed.

"We are not," Nero said, sounding pleased with himself. "entirely out of options."

Genesis found that he was right.

XxXxX

Deepground was quiet.

Shelke made her way through the halls, not bothering to turn on the light. She was still dressed as she had been in the Forgotten Capital, in the cloak and sword that Kunsel had gotten her. Her feet moved lightly over the tiled floors—she glanced around, alert for any threats. There were none, not at this hour. She had already dispatched the two SOLDIERs standing guard outside the hall, and had done so easily.

Apparently word of her betrayal had not made it back yet. And neither had the other Tsviets.

Shelke stopped in front of one door, placing her hand on the doorknob. She turned it slowly, opening it. The room beyond was dark, and empty, the floor strewn with discarded toys and crayons in the aftermath of what must have been a tantrum. Its only inhabitant lay huddled under her covers, not asleep, but awake. Shelke could see her shaking. As she watched, the figure beneath the covers moved, revealing a small child. The child's eyes widened as she saw her.

"Shelke…?" she asked, her voice soft in the stillness of the room.

"Be quiet," Shelke said, pulling away from the door. "Come with me."

Marlene blinked owlishly at her for a few moments, then slid out of bed, following her out of the room.

**END DISC**


	133. SEQUEL UPDATE

**Final Fantasy VII: Another Side**

**By:**

**Mystwalker**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

**A/N: **The sequel, **Final Fantasy VII: Another Story**, is finally up. Check my author page to find it. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!


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